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Ok. Hi. We hope all is well with all of you. World news this month has been ''so'' horribly unhappy and depressing, hasn't it? Sometimes, it makes you feel utterly hopeless. We don't have any answers here at Bookbag but we do wish peace for all people in every country and we hope that one day humanity will achieve it. One possible way is, in the words of the proverb, to walk a mile in another man's shoes. Books can help us do this. Books allow us to see the world through someone else's eyes, to put ourselves in someone else's place. They can be distractions but they can also be tools of comings-together. And it's in that spirit of comings-together that we bring you this month's newsletter.
Anyone who frequents Twitter will know that it's a mixed blessing. It's a mine of wonderful information and supportive camaraderie. It's also - unfortunately - home to a lot of people who take great pleasure in causing pain to others. But in amongst all this are a few gems and one of them is [https://twitter.com/Queen_UK @Queen_UK], a delightful satire on members of the royal family, celebrities, the political classes and the state of Her Majesty's nation. Or, ''one's nation'' as Ma'am would say. [[Still Reigning by The Queen|Still Reigning]] is her second bookand book and it's the sort of parody which leaves you wondering if the writer might not be someone ''very'' close to the original. You really must read it.
Her Majesty does not do interviews, but all at Bookbag dropped their Union Jack flags and waved a curtsy when The Queen of Twitter [[The Interview: Bookbag Talks To The Queen|made a royal visit]] to Bookbag Towers. Go and read all about it!
'''Books of the Month'''
And on to to the new... <br><br>
In fiction, we have a slice of smart sci-fi for you this month. Sam loved [[Afterparty by Daryl Gregory]]. People have been taking pills and seeing God for years, but in ''Afterparty'' Daryl Gregory is taking the idea of smart drugs one step further. What happens if after a particularly bad trip you have an omnipresent God with you? Is this a sense of wellbeing, or are you now just schizophrenic? In the near future people take drugs not only for their cures, but also their side effects and seeing deities may be the worst side effect of all. This is a darkly comic creation that questions why we are here and should we really care?
For tweens, Jill is recommending one of her favourite books of the year so far. [[Apple and Rain by Sarah Crossan]] is the gorgeous story of a girl reuniting with her mother after 11 years. Things don't go as she'd hoped - you knew they wouldn't, didn't you? It's beautifully written and heartwrenching in all the right ways. This is one you really should not miss. So don't!
And for the little ones, John loved [[A is Amazing!: Poems about Feelings by Wendy Cooling and Piet Grobler]]. How do you get young children interested in poetry? I guess you hope that you don't have to – you want them to be aware of clapping and skipping songs by nature, and of lyrics to music heard in school and at home. Surely it's a case of making sure a child never learns to hold verse in disfavour, and carries a natural eagerness for poetry through to adulthood. But just in case, there are books such as this wonderfully thought-through compilation. It's really quite lovely.
'''Features'''
'''''All at Bookbag Towers'''''
See what we were reading [[August 2013 Newsletter|last year]].
(PS – if you don't want to receive further copies of our newsletter please [mailto:unsubscribe@thebookbag.co.uk email us] and we'll see that you're deleted from the mailing list.)
[[Category:Newsletters|* 2014 08]]
