Currently, I am reading [i]1Q84[/i] by Haruki Murakami. I recently read [i]The Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World[/i] and [i]The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle.[/i] I am enjoying [i]1Q84[/i] more than the other two, but I have skipped several erotic parts of the book. So far, I highly recommend it. It’s a good book with moral dilemmas that circle around sexual abuse of women (and girls) and religious cults while also incorporating an intriguing romance. I have not yet once felt bored with the novel, despite many mundane details.

I also started re-reading [i]Lord of the Rings[/i] last night. It’s just as enjoyable if not more so than the last time I read it. (This re-reading is partially inspired by [i]The Rings of Power[/i].) Obviously, this is recommended. The only person I know who wouldn’t recommend this series is Hayao Miyazaki. But he’s Hayao Miyazaki, so he gets a pass.

On the back burner, several of the books that I am reading are [i]The Unconsoled[/i] by Kazuo Ishiguro, [i]Death by Water[/i] by Kenzaburo Oe, [i]The Guest Book[/i] by Sarah Blake, and [i]Turning Point[/i] by Hayao Miyazaki. I am not too terribly far into these books, but they are interesting and thought provoking. (In fact, [i]The Guest Book[/i] pops into my mind periodically when I contemplate parenting my children.) Needless to say, I can’t wait to finish them.