Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman

I am almost three weeks into being 39 and never finished really talking about all the cool stuff I got for my birthday. I was going to devote a post to each item but I lost steam (must be my advanced age). So, you won't hear about my "Pearl Jam: Live at the Garden" DVD, my Timberland sneakers, my as-yet-unredeemed Century 21 Department Stores gift card, or my cool bottle of Belgian beer (tho I may talk about that after I crack it open). However, I did buy myself something, and I wanted to share here what it was.

One of my favorite authors, Haruki Murakami, has published a new book of short stories called Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman. This is what it will look like when published in the U.S. on August 29:



Here's the problem, the book was actually released in the U.K. six weeks earlier, on July 6. And here's the cover of the U.K. edition:



So, what's a Murakami fan to do? Why order the book from Amazon.uk, of course. If interested, click the link in the title of this post. I haven't started it yet, but hope to soon, and will report back accordingly. I am in the final pages of Helen DeWitt's The Last Samurai, which is incredibly good and will also be reviewed in the immediate future.