Battle Royale by Koushun Takami

Publisher: VIZ
Pages: 617 (Paperback)

Koushun Takami’s notorious high-octane thriller is based on an irresistible premise: a class of junior high school students is taken to a deserted island where, as part of a ruthless authoritarian program, they are provided arms and forced to kill one another until only one survivor is left standing. Criticized as violent exploitation when first published in Japan – where it then proceeded to become a runaway bestseller – Battle Royale is a Lord of the Flies for the 21st century, a potent allegory of what it means to be young and (barely) alive in a dog-eat-dog world. Made into a controversial hit movie of the same name, Battle Royale is already a contemporary Japanese pulp classic, now available for the first time in the English language.

Dear all fans of the Hunger Games (both the book and the movie),

Don’t you just love the Hunger Games?

Extreme Authoring AKA Interview with Ben Hennessy

Steph and I metaphorically sat down and interviewed indie author Ben Hennessy and discussed his epic adventure while writing his debut novel, Queen of the World, which was released on July 1st.

1. Can you give us the general story of the experience you went through when writing your novel.

A: It’s a pretty weird one. Basically I quit my well-paid career position with a large online game developer in Ireland, deciding instead to travel around Southeast Asia. A sensible life choice, clearly. I had two objectives; experience the culture and beauty of these new lands, and write my first full novel. I arrived in Hanoi, Vietnam in October 2010, shacked up in a tiny little apartment and then started working for an international backpacker hostel. During the day I would write, explore the city and risk personal injury on a moped – Hanoi’s traffic system is mental – and by night I’d work as the manager of a hospitality bar, meeting travellers from all over the world.

Hot New Titles

This week’s How New Titles includes the much anticipated release of Seraphina by Rachel Hartman, Such a Rush by Jennifer Echols and The Forsaken by Lisa M. Stasse.  As well as cover reveals for Lauren Oliver’s Requiem, Mila 2.0 and Fragments.  As usual, thanks to  Stories and Sweeties for helping us compile this list.

Hot New Titles is Cuddlebuggery’s weekly Friday post for all the hottest new YA releases and Cover reveals.  For book world news and the latest book blogging scandals, check out our weekly Monday post Buzz Worthy News.

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

Publisher: Bloomsbury Children’s Books
Pages: 416 (Hardcover)
Series: Throne of Glass, #1
Release date: August 7th 2012

After serving out a year of hard labor in the salt mines of Endovier for her crimes, 18-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien is dragged before the Crown Prince. Prince Dorian offers her her freedom on one condition: she must act as his champion in a competition to find a new royal assassin.

Her opponents are men—thieves and assassins and warriors from across the empire, each sponsored by a member of the kings council. If she beats her opponents in a series of eliminations, she’ll serve the kingdom for three years and then be granted her freedom.

Celaena finds her training sessions with the captain of the guard, Westfall, challenging and exhilirating. But she’s bored stiff by court life. Things get a little more interesting when the prince starts to show interest in her… but it’s the gruff Captain Westfall who seems to understand her best.

To all of our American readers,

Today is the day where we can all sit back and reflect on the day in which we officially became the good old U.S. of A. I’m sure there will be plenty of fireworks going off all night long that’ll be sure to keep my kids up (damn you). Something similar to this:

But not to be confused with this: