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December is a hectic month for everyone, so we want to be respectful of your time and give you a quick book.

At 96 pages, this is the shortest of Murakami's books translated into English from his native Japanese. ("What I Talk About When I Talk About Running" is also pretty short, but not much information on librarians!)

If you have not yet read any of his books, you have an interesting adventure ahead of you! If you have already delved into the somewhat surrealistic world he creates, you will find many of his typical images here: sheep, cats, jazz, whisky.

This is not a library you would aspire to for yourself, but sometimes it's good to get out there and try some new ways of thinking. Holiday times can be a challenge for everyone, so breaking up your traditions (and traditions of holiday-induced stress!) with an interesting and odd little look into a new world might be just the thing to inspire you to enjoy your lives and your holiday traditions!

Have you read other Murakami books? They are nearly impossible to describe, but what was your favorite part? Were there books you particularly liked? If this is your first time in the Murakami world: welcome! There are adventures to be had here, and things to explore.

We are looking forward to hearing your responses!

In addition to the questions asked above, here are a few to answer as you finish reading The Strange Library

1. Do you view this work as a fable, fairy tale, fantasy, or possibly a YA book? Perhaps a different category entirely? Why?

2. If you happened to read an illustrated copy, how did the pictures add to your experience of the book?

3. If you found yourself in the main character's situation, having gone to the library only to have things go terribly wrong, how would you have handled the situation?

4. Why do you think the food was so delicious in the jail cell?

5. How do you feel about the ending, and the main character's feeling of intense loneliness?

I just started the book, and I'm loving this quote, "Tell me the manner of books that you seek and I will strive to locate their whereabouts." Love the language!

The Strange Library was strange! Indeed! I think I read the book overall as a fable, as a man eating brains seems to be a metaphor for something....right?!? I liked the little nuggets of wisdom or insight placed throughout. For example, I loved this quote about mazes, "The tricky thing about mazes is that you don't know if you've chosen the right path until the very end."
The illustrations were interesting. My favorite was the starling. I loved when the starling took over both pages to show the significance of that moment.
I'm interested to see what others say about this book! As an added bonus, on my 2016 book challenge list, I was supposed to read a book that has been translated. Check that off the list now!

All of his books are interesting, unusual, and generally...odd! But they are always worth reading!

Congrats on checking off another book on the challenge list!! Those are always fun to day!! :)

A strange library indeed! We've catalogued this as Adult Fiction rather than YA. When I finished, my impression was that the whole story was one wild dream. I couldn't imagine reading this without the illustrations.