I started 2012 reading the last installment of 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami. With an incredible build up in the first two books I expected good things. Murakami is a master  of detail with an intelligence in his writing that challenges the reader to look beyond the first layer and see more in the story. In 1Q84 He uses magic realism elements to take the story from an everyday tale to a surreal setting which takes it beyond the normal fiction category. Some have said that it is his  best work and its intensity in the first two books blew my mind but I was disappointed in his summing up of the story in the last book. But overall is was a challenging and clever read that left me in appreciation on Murakami as an author.