Books 2020

Happy New Year.

After very busy 2019, now I have rested well. I went back to the studio on the third of January despite terrible cold I caught from a gathering. Spring commissions were waiting, and I had to start. Yesterday is the first time I took a day off this year. It sounds lovely, but actually I did house cleaning. It's nice to live in a small house. It doesn't take too long to clean it.

Today I'm going to tell you about the books I have enjoyed last 12 months or so. You might wonder why books? It's because they are important part of my life and also of my creativity. Although I used to be a bookworm in Japan, since I moved to the UK in the 90's I hadn't read enough. But finally reading has come back to part of my life. My main reading time is one month at year end and during illness. So I have just read a couple of books.

There are five books I have truly enjoyed, Uprooted and Spinning silver by Naomi Novik, Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, The song of Achilles and Circe by Madeline Miller.

Naomi Novik is a excellent story teller. She is witty and insightful and her writing is crisp and it has good rhythm. I also like her tempo. I am not patient enough to wait something happening until the middle of the book. I want every page full of magic, especially I don't have much time to read. If Uprooted was a strong chubby small child, Spinning silver was a delicate, complex and more sophisticated adult. Both are about brave females. And I love strong and intelligent females.

  


I liked The song of Achilles a bit more than Circe. I read Circe first, and saw reviews by readers saying Circe is better. So I managed my expectation, but the book exceeded. Marvelous. Achilles was written with a full of aestheticism. I like that. There is the fate, but it won't come in the way it was expected. I had empathy with Achilles because I am a person of principles; I saw myself in Achilles at the end of the story. I read the last chapters three times and I cried three times. Circe was interesting and I enjoyed it enough. I always like those highly talented craftsmen/women in reality or in fiction. I was very attracted to Daedalus. I can't say more without spoiling.

 

Night circus is amazing. I loved it from the first sentence. It is beautifully written. Attention to details is perfect. I had enjoyed floating in the world. if the circus appears suddenly in my city, I would go there every night. When I read the review on the covers afterwards, it says romance. I even didn't notice that it was. It is utterly absorbing. Details are everything. Another superb craftsman in it caught my attention. There is tension in the story all the way through. I almost felt I didn't need the conclusion. It reminds me of an old film called Rondo.



I have also one book about trees I enjoyed so much. I love trees. I am definitely a forest person than a beach person. The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben. Everyone should read.