Those of you who know Tokyo may have heard that the Ochanomizu-Jinbocho area is sometimes called the Kanda Quartier Latin, because of the high concentration of colleges and clam schools. This is also one of the largest, if not THE largest, bookshop / used-book dealer area in the world; just think of the British museum and the Harvard Library come together, each isle selling a range of books.
Our headquarter is located in the area and each time we have some meeting I go there; on the average once a week or so. So I went there this afternoon to spend three very FRUITFUL hours, for the first time this year. Fruitful, I mean it. My old habit of not concentrating on what is in front of me helped me a lot. (But let me tell you I did my share of participation in the discussion!)
After the meeting was dismissed I went to a full-scale bookstore (Sanseido, namely). Here is the list of my acquisition today:
5. Claire Tomalin, ed., Poems of Thomas Hardy (Penguin Books)
6. Niall Ferguson, Empire (Penguin Books)
7. Philip Ball, The Elements: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford)
Happy reading.
