The Night Circus, Erin Morgenstern

Night Circus is based around a competition, whose playing field is a circus. Beautifully atmospheric with really good characterization, and very satisfying. Imaginative except when it comes to the aesthetics, some of which seemed like they'd been directed by Tim Burton in the 90's. The way the story unfolds seems original somehow, there are no huge reveals, it unravels naturally and while it is gripping, it doesn't seem that was the only aim of Morgenstern. I loved the way the novel spans time and weaves in other stories, it is certainly filmic. 

El Principito, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

This was lent to me by a friend, who was surprised I hadn't read it as a child. It's a lovely book, one that works with drawings as well as words, I don't mean illustrations, I mean drawings which are used as well as words to tell the story. I wonder why other books don't do that more, and why drawings apparently aren't considered in books for adults.

It's the first book I've read in Spanish, so the tone and the voices of the characters seems foggier than they would in English, nevertheless it is a lovely story and one I'm sure more people will be familiar with than not. It's about relationships and how we treat the world around us, and what is and should be valued. Though, saying that, I wonder if there are many people in the world who really do value ownership, vanity and power, some certainly, but I think there are more who value other things.

Never Let Me Go, Kazuo Ishiguro

Never Let Me Go follows three characters as they grow up in an institution akin to boarding school and enter the real world. Slowly they begin to discover the reason for their existence and the details of their future lives. Above all though they are children and then teenagers and their personalities and behaviour towards each other is the focus of the novel. As is redemption and closure which all the characters are ultimately given, and seems to be a theme for Ishiguro.

Maybe because I knew the story before I read this, it took away from the emotional impact of the novel. Though I think Ishiguro creates intellectual impact through the behaviour of his characters, their 'normal' lives and acceptance of their fate. The chilling backdrop is only a backdrop and whilst it creates drama and intrigue, it and the moral questions are not the focus of the story. I enjoyed it, and it is easy to read, so I finished it within a few days, but it doesn't compare to The Remains of the Day. 

Woolgathering, Patti Smith

Lovely, but needs to be read with more attention and a clearer mind, I'll be back to it.