Sputnik Sweetheart

For Murakami’s novel—a portrait of love in modern-day Japan—narrator Adam Sims delivers a straightforward but layered performance that manages to capture the essence of the book’s protagonist, a writer who falls in love with a classmate, but whose dedication to his art precludes him from truly seeking her heart. Sims’s delivery is subtle and understated. The voices he lends the characters boast only slight shifts in tone and style, but are each original and effective. Fans of the author will find that Sims’s performance enhances Murakami’s prose and makes for a moving listen. A Vintage paperback. (Oct.)