Recommend: 1Q84

I picked up Haruki Murakami's 1Q84 for a number of reasons, despite its genre being a bit more sci-fi than I tend to gravitate towards. First, the cover is absolutely compelling with its semi-transparent dust jacket. Second, I'd read a number of rave reviews, with some comparisons to Orwell's 1984. It sounded like an interesting read, and I was ready for a departure from my typical historical dramas.

This novel certainly did not disappoint! The chapters jump back and forth between the two main characters, slowly putting pieces together and inexorably linking their past and present while they navigate through 1Q84, a parallel universe that seems the same and yet altogether different from the 1984 they started out in. At first, it's hard to tell which world the characters are living in - that is, until they each realize that there are two moons in the sky, one of the distinguishing features of 1Q84. From this realization, they desperately start searching for each other, the key to their own escape, before it's too late.

Set in Japan, this novel not only entertained, but also gave me a glimpse into a foreign culture I have no experience with.... I love it when books do that!

Have you read Murakami's 1Q84? What did you think?