You know when you say something is your favourite, and then you feel bad for all of your other favourites? Well that’s where we find ourselves this month….torn between a book and a hard place!.

But seriously. This must be Kazuo Ishiguro’s best book yet. It’s simple, subtle and enlightening. It’s what Ian McEwan was doing in Machines Like Me, but it’s, dare we say, better….

Klara is an AF, an artificial friend. She lives in the store and competes with other AF’s for the rays of the sun, and the attention of passing children. She hopes that one day she’ll be chosen, and begin her real life, forever energised (she is solar powered) and purposeful. When Josie shows up it seems a dream come true. But humans are not always logical, and the human heart is more complex than any of Klara’s algorithms.

This is a fine novel. Narrated in Klara’s voice it offers a curious and enlightening rumination on human nature, empathy and the future of artificial intelligence. It is Klara who becomes the hero and most loved character – a simple and effective illustration of how little humans really know of each other.

Want to know more about Klara and the Sun? Read Anne Enright’s review for the Guardian or Giles Harvey for the New York Times

As our March book of the year, we invite you to enjoy a cup of our renowned coffee with every purchase of Klara and the Sun.Buy Klara and the Sun

If you’d like to know more about the books we loved this March, click HERE!