Pick up some good reads to show Mom your appreciation.
Kafka on the Shore
By Haruki Murakami
Kafka on the Shore follows the fortunes of two remarkable characters. Kafka Tamura runs away from home at fifteen, under the shadow of his father’s dark prophesy. Meanwhile, the aging Nakata, tracker of lost cats who never recovered from a bizarre childhood affliction, finds his pleasantly simplified life suddenly turned upside down. Their parallel odysseys are enriched throughout by vivid accomplices and mesmerizing dramas. Cats converse with people; fish tumble from the sky; a ghostlike pimp deploys a Hegel-spouting girl of the night. Murakami’s new novel is at once a classic tale of quest, but it is also a bold exploration of mythic and contemporary taboos.
Lust, Caution
By Eileen Chang
In 1940’s Shanghai, beautiful young Jiazhi spends her days playing mahjong and drinking tea with high-society ladies. But China is occupied by invading Japanese forces, and in wartime things are not always what they seem. A patriotic student radical, Jiazhi’s mission is to seduce a powerful employee of the occupying government and lead him to the assassin’s bullet. Yet as their liaison develops, Jiazhi wonders if she is cut out to be a femme fatale and coldly take Mr. Yi to his death or is beginning to fall in love with him. A passionate tale of espionage, deception and love, Lust, Caution is accompanied here by four further short stories by Eileen Chang
Shopaholic & Baby
By Sophie Kinsella
Becky’s life is blooming. She’s working at London’s newest fashion store, The Look, house-hunting with husband Luke (her secret wish is a shoe room), and she’s pregnant. She couldn’t be more overjoyed, especially since discovering that shopping cures morning sickness. Everything has got to be perfect for her baby, from the designer nursery to the latest, coolest pram to the must-have celebrity obstetrician. But when that very obstetrician turns out to be her husband Luke’s glamorous, intellectual ex-girlfriend, Becky’s perfect world starts to crumble.
Mother, Missing
By Joyce Carol Oates
When her mother uncharacteristically fails to return her phone calls, 31-year-old Nikki Eaton reluctantly travels home to check up on her. When Nikki arrives, she finds the house turned upside-down and her mother stabbed to death on the garage floor. Single, sexually liberated and economically self-supporting, Nikki has never particularly thought of herself as a daughter. But she learns to cope with the unexpected loss of her mother over the course of a tumultuous year of mourning that brings sorrow, and even, from an unexpected source, a nurturing love.
