Kazuo Ishiguro, consummate British novelist and 2014 Library Lion, won the Nobel Prize in Literature today.

He's the author of seven novels, translated into dozens of languages and spanning 35 years, as well as several short stories and plays. Ishiguro was born in Japan and moved to the UK when at age 5, and many of his novels address his characters' relationship with their own sense of place in the world.  

And he's a library supporter, too; in 2015, he told The New York Times that he had "discovered literature as a young boy when he came upon Sherlock Holmes stories in the local library." 

His work is varied, complicated, and fascinating — and these three books are a good place to start.

Never Let Me Go (2006)

Set in a dystopian version of England, this book about teens at a British bording school with a dark twist: They're clones being raised as organ donors. Ishiguro delved fully into fantasy in his most recent novel, The Buried Giant, but Never Let Me Go is more of a gentle slide into an alarming dystopia the reader didn't fully see coming. (It was also made into a 2010 film, also available from the Library.)

Nocturnes: Five Stories of Music and Nightfall (2009)

Although Ishiguro isn't best known for his short fiction, these interconnected stories serve as a great introduction to his work. They blend music -- Ishiguro is a songwriter himself, and music is one of his great passions -- with the kind of bittersweet, moving, often-witty writing that characterizes his longer work as well. 

The Unconsoled (1996)

Music takes center stage in this novel as well. A concert pianist arrives in a European city and proceeds through a dreamscape reminiscent of Alice in Wonderland, with maze-like confusion around every turn. Suspenseful and stylistically complex, this novel winds its way through a maze of a city and immerses the reader in the intricate pathways of the protagonist's mind.

What's your favorite Ishiguro book? Let us know in the comments. And check out more of his work from NYPL!

Kazuo Ishiguro was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature today. Which book is your favorite? https://t.co/59CA3fIfat

— NY Public Library (@nypl) October 5, 2017

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Staff picks are chosen by NYPL staff members and are not intended to be comprehensive lists. We'd love to hear your ideas too, so leave a comment and tell us what you’d recommend. And check out our Staff Picks browse tool for more recommendations!