If you haven’t read Ruth Ozeki then you’re in for a wild and wonderful ride; no one writes quite like Ozeki. Start with A Tale for the Time Being.

The Book of Form and Emptiness is her latest novel. In it we follow 13 year old Benny Oh, who starts to hear ordinary objects talking to him after the death of his father. His mother is dealing with his father’s death in her own way and starts hoarding things, at which point the voices in Benny’s head grow louder. He befriends an artist and a poet and finally takes refuge in the silence of the Library. All the while the book of his own life is writing and narrating itself.

A wonderful, magical, philosophical journey through one boys process of healing and understanding his place in the world. Ozeki is a Zen Buddhist priest as well as a novelist and filmmaker. Her books are filled with layer upon layer of meaning and questioning the very nature of reality. A fantastically original read.