Check out the full lists of [[:Category: Interviews|interviews]], [[:Category: Lists|top tens]] and [[:Category: Comments|articles]].__NOTOC__<!-- Remove -->
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|title=The Interview: Bookbag Talks To Gerry Brown, Andrew Kakabadse and Filipe Morais about The Independent Director in Society|summary=Sue was an enthusiastic reader of [[The Independent Director in Society: Our current crisis of governance and what to do by Gerry Brown, Andrew Kakabadse and Filipe Morais|The Independent Director in Society: Our current crisis of governance and what to do]] and she had several points she wanted to discuss with the authors when they popped into Bookbag Towers.
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|title=Comic Books Where the Bad Guys Won
|summary=Comic books and movies, in general, have been given the portrayal of good; always winning and saving the day. however, thanks to the creativity of writers, we have a few writers of comics who have managed to alter this unsaid rule, 'evil wins at the end of the day'. While it may not be a great thought to bear in mind, it is still something a bit fascinating to dwell on. And, we believe that it is a breath of fresh air to discover that we have something different from the cliché where the hero always emerges as the victor.
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|title=The Interview: Bookbag Talks To Gerry Brown About Making a Difference: Leadership, Change and Giving Back the Independent Director Way
|summary=Gerry Brown is so keen to see people geting involved that there's a free digital [https://www.degruyter.com/view/title/580618 download] of this £42 book.
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|title=Top Ten Self-Published Books 2020
|summary= In this strangest of years we've been delighted by the self-published books we've read and they're all books which compare well with traditionally-published books in the same genres. We really couldn't narrow the choice down any further - so this year's top ten consists of eleven books and here they are, in alphabetical order by author...
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|title=The Interview: Bookbag Talks To Olga Kokshagina and Allen Alexander
|summary=Sue was so impressed by [[The Radical Innovation Playbook: A Practical Guide for Harnessing New, Novel or Game-Changing Breakthroughs by Olga Kokshagina and Allen Alexander]] that she wished that she had a good business idea of her own so that she could use the book. Perhaps that was what she was talking about when Olga and Allen popped into Bookbag Towers to chat to us.
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|title=The Interview: Bookbag Talks To Andrew Hampshire
|summary=Technology can seem frightening to people who don't have the background. In [[Creating Value Through Technology: Discover the Tech that Can Transform Your Business by Andrew Hampshire|Creating Value Through Technology: Discover the Tech that Can Transform Your Business]] Andrew Hampshire discusses the tech that can add quantifiable value to your business and how to get the most out of it. He and Sue had a lot to chat about when he dropped into Bookbag Towers.
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|title=Stand Up to Bullying With a Pulitzer Prize Winner
|summary=In every generation, there are kids who become bullies. They bully their siblings, neighbor kids, and their classmates. They seem to believe that other kids look up to them and respect them. That is self-delusion, as most adults are aware, but kids don't have the experience to properly judge what is respect and what is merely fear.
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|title=From Sci Fi to Reality: How Dreams Turn Into Innovations
|summary=The gap between sci-fi and reality is not so big anymore. You don’t have to go that far back in time to see huge developments in technology. For example, the smartphone has been around for over 10 years now, but if you don’t have one in today’s society, you’d either be seen as crazy or just out of touch.
}}
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|title=5 Great AI books to read in 2020
|summary=Artificial intelligence (AI) has expanded into one of the most important technologies in human history. It comes with so many benefits, from improving the efficiency of simple, basic tasks to helping to solve advanced problems by quickly analyzing large data sets.
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|title=A Baker's Dozen of Books to Keep the Kids Occupied When They Can't Go Out
|summary= Are you running out of inspiration for what to do with the kids when they can't go out? We've come up with a baker's dozen of books to give you some brilliant ideas.
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|title=Top Ten Self-Published Books 2019
|summary= We've seen some cracking self-published books this year and they're all books which compare well with traditionally-published books in the same genres. We really couldn't narrow the choice down any further - so this year's top ten consists of eleven books and here they are, in alphabetical order by author...
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|title=Desiree Villena Talks To Bookbag About 5 Key Tips for Writing a Critical-Yet-Fair Book Review
|summary=Writing a book review isn't difficult, you know, but there are a few things you need to keep us in mind. Desiree Villena gives us five tips.
}}
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|title=The Interview: Bookbag Talks To Melanie Martin
|summary=|summary=In [[War and Love: A family's testament of anguish, endurance and devotion in occupied Amsterdam by Melanie Martin|War and Love: A family's testament of anguish, endurance and devotion in occupied Amsterdam]] Melanie Martin reconstructs what happened to her family in occupied Amsterdam in WWII. It's a highly compelling if occasionally shocking read. Days after she finished the book Sue could not stop thinking about what she had read and was delighted when the author agreed to chat with her.
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|title=Framing the Brexit narrative: immigration, myths and public perception
|summary=Loobna Joomun looks at how Brexit is likely to affect the publishing industry - and the wider country.
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|title=8 ways to motivate yourself to write, right NOW by Jessica Jarlvi
|summary=Ever felt that you've hit a brick wall with your writing? Jessica Jarlvi has eight tips yo get you writing again.
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|title=Greg Hickey Talks To Bookbag About The Old Guard of Dystopian Fiction
|summary=Where do you go when you move beyond classics like ''1984'' and ''Brave New World''?
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{{newfeature
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|title=Top Ten Self-Published Books 2018
|summary= Choosing the top ten self-published books we read in 2018 was difficult as we're constantly surprised at just how good some self-published books are. Here's our final top ten in alphabetical order by author...
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|title=James Donald Talks To Bookbag About The Death Of Norman Breyfogle
|summary=One of the finest storytellers you've never heard of, who died in September 2018 at the age of 58.
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|title=The Interview: Bookbag Talks To Melissa Leet
|summary=Sue was impressed when she read [[Landslide by Melissa Leet|Landslide]] by Melissa Leet and was surprised to find that it was a debut novel. She had quite a few questions for Melissa when she popped into Bookbag Towers.
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|title=Faiz Kermani talks to Bookbag about how a blue frog is helping Malawi's vulnerable children to live safe, healthy and happy lives
|summary=Every child has a right to medical care
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|title=Abi Silver Talks To The Bookbag About A Few Of Her Favourite Things
|summary=''We could definitely make a flying car – but that's not the hard part. The hard part is, how do you make a flying car that's super safe and quiet?'': Elon Musk
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|category=lists
|title=Top Ten Self-Published Books 2017
|summary= Choosing the top ten self-published books we read in 2017 was one of the toughest jobes jobs we did all year and involved a great deal of discussion. Here's our final top ten in alphabetical order by author...
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|title=The Interview: Bookbag Talks To Gabe Riggs
|summary=Luke thought that [[Punk Love Foucault by Gabe Riggs]] was an intense, emotional and visceral read that illuminates and educates with a strong voice and clear, capable prose. There was a lot to talk about when Gabe popped into Bookbag Towers to chat to us.
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|title=October 2017 Newsletter
|summary=
Hi, hello and welcome to October's witterings from all of us here at Bookbag Towers.
The list of titles for 2018's World Book Day has [http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-41429806 been announced]. So good to see a [[Paddington's Finest Hour by Michael Bond |Paddington]] book on there. RIP Michael Bond and his wonderful messages about openness and inclusivity. But the 2018 list isn't universally popular. Many children's authors, among them Bookbag favourites David Almond and Anthony McGowan, have [https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/oct/02/childrens-authors-slam-celebrity-heavy-world-book-day-lineup criticised it] for the number of celebrity authors it contains. Almond says '' It’s demeaning to children, because it is assuming that children don’t read properly.'' What do you think? Here at Bookbag, we are inclined to agree. World Book Day should feature quality writing, not famous names. Even so, good luck to an important event. Oh, and good luck in advance to all frazzled parents helping with costumes when the big day eventually arrives!
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|title=The Interview: Bookbag Talks To Stuart Burrell
|summary=Sue found Start Burrell's book [[Twelve Times To The Max: One Man's Journey to, and Recollections of, Setting Twelve Verified World Records by Stuart Burrell|Twelve Times To The Max: One Man's Journey to, and Recollections of, Setting Twelve Verified World Records]] an inspiring, feel-good read. She wanted to know more when Stuart popped into Bookbag Towers to chat to us.
}}
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|title=September 2017 Newsletter
|summary=
Oh man, Bookbaggers. Summer is over. Did you go on holiday? If so, we hope you had a lovely time and got to read a book or two. If you didn't, we bet you managed to get some reading time in anyway, didn't you? Which summer book did you enjoy the most?
The latest figures tell us that children are [https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/sep/02/young-readers-drive-book-sales driving book sales]. Sales of children's titles rose 16% last year alone. This is such great news. But it does lead us back to that drum we like to bang from time to time - the Cover Kids Books [http://www.thebookseller.com/news/gaiman-pullman-support-cover-kids-books-campaign-371596 campaign]. Why does a third of the market get only 3% coverage in newspapers and magazines? It's as though children, and the authors who write for them, don't matter at all. Do better, British press, do better.
}}
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|title=The Interview: Bookbag Talks To Annie Ingram
|summary=Very few people believe that dogs can talk so it was something of a relief when Sue met author , Annie Ingram. She has lengthy conversations with her cocker spaniel Kammie and has shared them with us in her [[Conversations with Kammie by Annie Ingram|book]]. There was a lot to talk about when she popped into Bookbag Towers to chat to us.
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|title=The Interview: Bookbag Talks To Stephan Santiago
|summary=Ani was quietly moved by [[Returning Home by Stephan Santiago|Returning Home]] and there were a several points she wanted to discuss with author Stephan Santiago when he popped in to into Bookbag Towers to chat to us.}}{{newfeature|category=newsletters|title=August 2017 Newsletter|summary= Happy August, Bookbaggers! Here's hoping you get the opportunity to make the most of summer's good weather by taking some time to read in the sun. Not that we spend much time sympathising with politicians here at Bookbag Towers but oh, poor old Andrea Leadsom! Her slip of the tongue - at least we hope it was a slip of the tongue - in referring to Jane Austen as one of our greatest ''living'' authors has resulted in [http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/news/andrea-leadsom-jane-austen-waterstones-throw-shade-a7851571.html much merriment]. ''Anyone know who Jane Austen's agent is? We'd love to book her for an event,'' said Waterstone's. Teehee.
}}
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|title=The Interview: Bookbag Talks To Tessa Buckley
|summary=Jill's really taken by author Tessa Buckley's mystery and family drama series, Eye Spy Investigations and enjoyed [[Eye Spy II by Tessa Buckley|Eye Spy II]]. There were quite a few questions for Tessa when she popped into Bookbag Towers to chat to us.
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|title=July 2017 Newsletter
|summary=
Hello Bookbaggers! How the devil are you? Well, we hope.
The best bit of book news recently comes right after one of the worst news stories for the country generally. Philip Pullman [http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2017-06-27/philip-pullman-set-to-name-character-in-new-book-after-grenfell-tower-victim-following-charity-campaign is set to name] one of the characters in his upcoming novel after a victim of the Grenfell Tower fire. Teacher James Clements pledged £1,500 in memory of his former pupil Nur Huda El-Wahabi, who died in the fire, and hundreds of others added more cash to his bid in the Authors for Grenfell fundraising auction. The whole auction raised £150k. And we don't mind telling you that we shed a few tears over it all. We hope the authorities get their stuff together and show a similar generosity of spirit. We're not holding our breath on the showing so far, sadly.
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|title=The Interview: Bookbag Talks To Saqib Noor
|summary=Sue laughed and cried when she read [[Surgery on the Shoulders of Giants: Letters from a doctor abroad by Saqib Noor|Surgery on the Shoulders of Giants: Letters from a doctor abroad]], touched and humbled by a man who has provided medical aid in some of the most needy neediest parts of the world. She had quite a few questions when author Saqib Noor popped into Bookbag Towers to see us.
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|title=The Interview: Bookbag Talks To Johnny Ringwood
|summary=Peter enjoyed [[Cargoes & Capers: The life and times of a London Docklands man by Johnny Ringwood|Cargoes & Capers]] with its memories of life in the East End and stories how the author, Johnny Ringwood, turned his life around. He had rather a lot of questions when Johnny popped into Bookbag Towers to chat to us.
}}
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|title=June 2017 Newsletter
|summary=
Hello you lovely Bookbaggers. It's been a sad and angry month since we last spoke, what with terror attacks and general elections. We hope all is well with all of you and you are all coping as best you can. But we are going to try to distract you from it all just for a minute or two by pointing you in the direction of some great books to read. When all else fails, books can comfort, right? So let's have some positivity, if only on the subject of books and reading.
So here's some exciting news! We have a title, a character and an [http://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/may/26/before-his-dark-materials-how-lyras-story-began-exclusive-extract extract] for the first volume in Philip Pullman's new trilogy, out in October. ''La Belle Sauvage'' is the canoe owned by Malcolm Polstead. His daemon is Asta. And you can read an interview about it with Philip Pullman [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rE45VHtSzw here]. As you can imagine, we at Bookbag Towers are beyond excited. Roll on October! And while we're on the topic of young readers, here's some more good news. [http://www.tes.com/news/school-news/breaking-news/record-number-teenagers-say-they-enjoy-reading Record numbers] of children say they enjoy reading. A survey by the Literacy Trust has found that more than half of children and young people say that they read for pleasure. Isn't that great?
}}
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|title=The Interview: Bookbag Talks To Hugo Driscoll
|summary=Sue thought that [[Seven Days with You by Hugo Driscoll|Seven Days With You]] was a quick but suprisingly surprisingly deep read which looks sensitively at young love and terminal illness and that it's more uplifting than you might expect from that description! There was a lot to chat about when author Hugo Driscoll popped into Bookbag Towers.}}{{newfeature|category=newsletters|title=May 2017 Newsletter|summary= Hi, hello and how the devil are you, fellow Bookbaggers? We want to start out this month by mentioning not one, but two, good causes. Anna Boatman, along with 29 of her Hachette publishing colleagues have cycled 185 miles from London to Paris, in order to raise money for TWO amazing charities: the Literacy Trust and The PSP Association. Progressive Supranuclear Palsy is a little-known disease similar to Parkinson's that Anna's lovely Dad has been suffering with for 17 years. We think these are great charities to support and if you do too, you can contribute towards them by donating to this sterling effort. Anna's Just Giving page is [http://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Anna-Boatman?newPage=True here] and the Hachette team's page is [http://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Hachette-Connect-Team here]. Well done, you guys. You've more cycling courage than we have!
}}
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|title=The Interview: Bookbag Talks To David Windle
|summary=After reading [[Spudboy and Chip by David Windle]] Jill wants a potato superhero. There was a lot to talk about when the author popped into Bookbag Towers.
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|title=The Interview: Bookbag Talks To B C R Fegan
|summary=Jill thought that [[The Grumpface by B C R Fegan and Daniela Frongia]] was sweet, funny and vividly illustrated. She had quite a few questions for author Bryce Fegan when he popped into Bookbag Towers.
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|title=April 2017 Newsletter
|summary=
Hello Bookbaggers! How are you? Well, we hope.
First up this month, our great friend SF Said reminded us of an important campaign the other day, and we want to remind you in turn.#coverkidsbooks draws attention to the lack of representative coverage of children's books in newspapers and other media. You can read about it here.As this blogpost points out, according to The Bookseller, sales of children's books overtook adult fiction for the first time in 2014, and they now account for over 30% of the UK publishing market. And yet children's books currently get just 3% of all book review space, despite accounting for that 30% of the market. That is an entire order of magnitude of under-representation. We couldn't agree more and we at Bookbag give equal priority to adult and children's books. But we know that we are preaching to the converted and we wish that newspapers would make more effort to get on board. There is more to children's fiction than Harry Potter, guys. A lot more.
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|title=The Interview: Bookbag Talks To Spadge Whittaker About Confessions of Modern Women
|summary=Jill thought that ''Confessions of Modern Women'' was both fun and funny to read and occasionally bawdy to boot. There was a lot to chat about when Spadge popped into Bookbag Towers to chat to us.
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|title=The Interview: Bookbag Talks To Tormod V Burkey
|summary=Sean was impressed when he read [[Ethics for a Full World or, Can Animal-Lovers Save the World? by Tormod V Burkey|Ethics for a Full World or, Can Animal-Lovers Save the World?]]. There was a lot to chat about when author Tormod V Burkey popped in to Bookbag Towers.
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|title=The Interview: Bookbag Talks To Marilyn Bennett
|summary=Sue's only problem with [[Granny with Benefits by Marilyn Bennett]] was that she would have loved to spend more time with the characters. When the author popped into Bookbag Towers there was quite a lot to chat about.
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|title=Keren David Talks To Bookbag About Alternative Facts
|summary=Keren David Talks To Bookbag About #alternativefacts
|summary=It wasn't until someone on Twitter tagged her book [[The Liar's Handbook by Keren David|The Liar's Handbook]] with #alternativefacts that Karen David realised quite how well the title and themes hit the zeitgeist.
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|title=February 2017 Newsletter
|summary=
Hi, hello and how are you all?
We don't want to dwell too much on convulsive world events - not because they don't concern us but because everyone is doing it and probably doing it much better than we could. But how could we ''not'' point out that George Orwell's ''newspeak'' classic ''1984'' is, as we write, back in [http://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/jan/24/george-orwell-1984-sales-surge-kellyanne-conway-alternative-facts Amazon's bestseller list]. Alternative facts are not facts. And thank you, George Orwell, for warning us.
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|title=Linda Newbery Talks To Bookbag About The Power Of Protest
|summary=Linda Newbery Talks To Bookbag About The Power Of Protest
|summary=We were very impressed by Linda Newbery's [[Until We Win by Linda Newbery|Until We Win]] a dramatized example of Suffragist ideas. She's been chatting to us about the power of protest.
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|category=lists
|title=Top Ten Self-Published Books 2016
|summary= It's never an easy job picking our top ten self published books of any year, but 2016 was particularly difficult as we've seen some exceptional books.
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|title=The Interview: Bookbag Talks To Charles D Blanchard
|summary=Luke thought that [[Kingdom's End by Charles D Blanchard]] was an adventurous take on a political thriller. It features rats but offers some facinating insights into the world of us humans. Luke had quite a few questions for the author when he popped in to Bookbag Towers to chat to us.
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|title=January 2017 Newsletter
|summary=
Hello, hello, hello! And a very happy New Year to you all. May 2017 bring joy and prosperity to every one of you. The world may well be heading to hell in a handcart but we hope it finds a new direction this year and, even if it doesn't, all our readers find at least the small pleasures that make life worth living come their way.
Have you seen the film of [[A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness|A Monster Calls]]? It's lovely! As lovely as the book - and we rarely say that hereabouts. The cast is super and the film balances its emotional and fantastical elements beautifully. If you haven't seen it yet, then you really should.
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|category=lists
|title=Top Ten Non-Fiction Books of 2016
|summary= If fiction's not your bag then we've chosen some special non-fiction books for you. As always they're in alphabetical order by author.
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{{newfeature
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|title=Top Ten Teens Books of 2016
|summary= There have been some cracking books for teens and young adults this year. These are our favourites in alphabetical order by author.
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{{newfeature
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|title=Top Ten Books for Confident Readers 2016
|summary= We've quite a range of books in our confident readers category - it stretches from the time that children are nicely reading on their own right through to the point where they're looking at books for teens. we think we've got something for everyone is this selection which is in alphabetical order by author.
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|title=Top Ten Children's Picture Books 2016
|summary= We've found some wondefful picture books this year and they#re all going to appeal to adults ''and'' children. Here they are in alphabetical order by author.
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|title=Top Ten Children's Non-Fiction Books of 2016
|summary= We really struggled to pick just ten of the wonderful children's non-fiction books which we've seen this year, but here they are, in alphabetical order by author.
}}
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|title=Top Ten General Fiction Books of 2016
|summary= We look for cracking good reads from our General Fiction favourites and here they are in alphabetical order by author.
}}
{{newfeature
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|title=November 2016 Newsletter
|summary=
Everything has gone a little bit crazy in dear old Blightly of late, hasn't it? Brexit has sent us all into a spin and there is a great deal of anger about. Our hope, in this November newsletter, is to bring you - whichever side of the Brexit divide you find yourself on - some of the joy and happiness found in reading for pleasure. Reading is the best escape of all. We'll never change our minds about that here at Bookbag Towers.
}}
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|title=Top Ten Crime Novels 2016
|summary= For the most part we've avoided the big names in our favourites this year: it's good to see some new names coming through! These are our favourites in alphabetical order by author.
}}
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|title=Top Ten Historical Fiction Books of 2016
|summary= A few years ago historical fiction was a niche genre, but now it's mainstream and we've seen some cracking books this year. These are our favourites in alphabetical order by author.
}}
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|title=Top Ten Women's Fiction Books of 2016
|summary= There should be something for everyone's tastes here: they're all great fun and we've presented them alphabetically by author.
}}
{{newfeature
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|title=Top Ten Autobiographies and Biographies 2016
|summary= We've seen a lot of biographies and autobiographies in 2016 and it hasn't been easy to select just ten as our favourites, but here's what we finally settled on in alphabetical order by author.
}}
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|category=interviews
|title=The Interview: Bookbag Talks To Leigh Bardugo
|summary=Olivia thought that [[Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo|Crooked Kingdom]] was all that she could want from a book and more, so she had quite a few questions when Leigh Bardugo popped in to Bookbag Towers to chat to us.
}}
{{newfeature
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|title=Top Ten Literary Fiction Books of 2016
|summary= It's been a rich year for literary fiction and we had great fun debating which were our favourites - but here they are in alphabetical order by author.
}}
{{newfeature
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|title=Top Ten Science Fiction and Fantasy Novels 2016
|summary= We've got some old favourites and some new names in this year's selection of our favourites. Here they are - in alphabetical order by author.
}}
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[[Category:Features|*]]