Look at all the different cover art for Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami. Emily introduced me to him, and he never disappoints.  I downloaded this book from the library and burned it onto CDs to listen to in the car.  That process is pretty cumbersome, since I don't have the right combination of iPods, etc., it works out.

One thing about Murakami, you never quite know where he's going, and I love that.  This book features a runaway 15-year-old boy who finds a quirky library with people who just naturally take him in.  Then there is an old man who is "not very bright" who lives on a government stipend and makes extra money by finding lost cats.  He's good at this because he can talk to cats.  I'm not sure if Murakami loves or hates cats, however...  At one point he walks into a police station to confess to a murder -- and it reminded me of Emily saying that people would just do that in Japan.  At the police station he mentioned that the next day the police officer should bring an umbrella because fish would be raining from the sky, and sure enough, down came the fish (but the old man had disappeared by then.)  Well, I'm not finished, and have not idea where these characters will find themselves, but it will be an interesting ride.