The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami

I had this book waiting for me to read since December 09 and just this summer got the chance to pick it up and read.
This book is about the main character, Toru Okada living in a Tokyo suburb. It starts off by him searching for his wife's cat which meant a lot to her. Soon he's not only searching for the cat anymore but for his wife as well. During his searches he comes upon unique strangers such as a psychic prostitute, a cheerful morbid sixteen year old, and a war veteran. This books involves a detective story, a disintegrating marriage, excavating buried secrets of World War II making this book a dreamlike, imaginative book. It is a very interesting Japanese fiction novel and would recommend you picking this book up and take a read.

Reviews from other readers:

"Beautiful. Murakami recommends amazing pieces of art and music as well as weaving his mysterious and intricate tale. A story about loneliness in a city full of people, and in the midst of desperation and loss... humanity prevails.Must Read" -Alesan

"As confusing as the overall events are that take place in this novel, the surrealistic hero journey is an amazing read to see what a man will do to win in the face of odds that are unknown and beyond the hero's understanding." - Matthew

"Very strange book. I loved it. At times it dips in to the realms of the surreal." - Karen

The Boy Detective Fails by Joe Meno

I picked this book up at an independent bookstore I found with my friend in Berkeley California. Its quite a good read and I'm glad to have picked it up to buy it. The reason i bought it was because it said that it was the saddest book, and that got my attention. The boy detective is named Billy. He went off to college leaving behind a sister who he experienced fun detective games with as a child. His sister never got to solve mysteries herself. She wasn't as good as her brother who she looked up to. She commits suicide, a mystery Billy was unable to solve as to why she did it. Billy Argo stayed at a mental hospital for 10 years, and after leaving takes a job, takes anti depressant and anti anxiety pills and starts an investigation on a hard to crack case. He also starts working on putting together pieces of clues to his sister's death.

Here are some reviews I found from Shelfari members :

"What an amazing dreamlike world. Odd , sad and romantic with a dash of nostalgia for those who love Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, or superheroes" -andy

"I loved this. Dark humor, touching, , inventive = grand. " -Nick P.

"So heart warming yet very sad to read about this boy and his lost childhood" -Danielle

lack of updates

I been a bad blogger on this one. I haven't been updating books on here like I should have since that's the whole purpose of me making this page for you. I will be honest I have been quite lazy haha but I have been reading quite a few books which I'll soon post. Thanks all for being patient and keep on reading ♥ !