Since I am going to write about this properly on a blog tour when the book is released, I will just give a little visual teaser now. Agora Books is a small London-based independent publisher who I have been fortunate enough to have discovered last year. When they asked if I would like to read The Flower Arranger by JJ Ellis, I could not pass up the opportunity as it works perfectly with my Reading Japan project that I have been enjoying so much.
I have just started the novel, which came in the mail yesterday (note the very cool packaging--I love that they send out their books with a little added fanfare!). This is a thriller set in Tokyo and featuring a British journalist trying to break into serious news, Holly Blain, and a detective, Tetsu Tanaka, who are going to cross paths and become involved in a series of murders. I am not far into the story but I am already hooked. This is apparently the first of a planned trilogy, so if I like this as much as I am anticipating I will have more to look forward to.
I am nearing the end of Yasunari Kawabata's The Old Capital, which is one of the books that helped the author win the Nobel Prize in 1968. The story is lovely and very evocative. I want to Google all the temples and festivals and places that are mentioned in the text as they are so lovingly described. The story is almost secondary to the imagery. The book has been adapted to film twice, but I don't think I can get my hands on either film, sadly. The Ellis crime novel will be a decided change and I am always happy to switch gears to something new (especially as I let the Kawabata sink in and percolate a little). Is it too soon to look forward to the long upcoming weekend? My reading is all set out and ready to go.