1Q84

It seemed as if every time any famous creator of media for geeks has a Q&A session someone will ask them what their influences are. Something that was quite interesting was how every time a Japanese creator of anime or manga was asked this question the name Haruki Murakami came up. It could just be confirmation bias, but in recent memory I've heard his name come up more than Miyazaki or Tezuka. In addition I've seen lots of people reading his books on the subway and mentioning him in their online profiles. Despite being so popular, in and outside of geek circles, I felt it was a major oversight that I knew nothing about the man or his work. On top of that Japan is such an important place and source of geek culture that it is only right that any geek should read the works of perhaps its most important contemporary author. It was not difficult to choose his newest and highly acclaimed work "1Q84" as our next book club selection. This is relatively long compared to our previous selections, but it shouldn't be that much trouble. I've actually already finished reading it. It took me six days.

• Purchase "1Q84"