Goodreads Monday is a weekly meme that was started by @Lauren’s Page Turners but is now currently being hosted by Emily @ Budget Tales Book Blog. This meme is quite easy to follow – just randomly pick a book from your to-be-read list and give the reasons why you want to read it. It is that simple.

This week’s book:

Battle Royale by Koushun Takami

Blurb from Goodreads

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.

Why I Want To Read It

Happy Monday everyone! At least I hope that everyone had a happy Monday. For my fellow accountants, today marks an integral part of our lives. Today is the deadline for the filing of the 2022 annual income tax return. I hope everyone is still sane. Hold on tight as the proverbial sun above the clouds is about to shine. The busy season is slowly drawing to a close. As the old adage goes, the end of one marks the beginning of another. Indeed, the end of the busy season marks the start of a new week. I hope that the coming week will be great. More importantly, I hope everyone is doing well, in body, mind, and spirit.

Kicking off another week of blogging is a new Goodreads Monday update. Goodreads Mondays have become part of a weekly ritual that has allowed me to plow through my (perpetually) growing reading list and reevaluate why these books are even part of my list. As I am currently in the midst of a Japanese literature month, I will be featuring a work of Japanese literature in this week’s Goodreads Monday update; I have also featured two works of Japanese literature in my first two Goodredsm Moday update this month. For this week, I am featuring Koushun Takami’s Battle Royale.

This isn’t my first encounter with Battle Royale for it is a title that I keep encountering whenever I drop by the bookstore. However, I keep on ignoring it because I felt like it was not a book for me. I thought it was a comic/manga series. The book’s cover also did little to convince me to try and give the book a chance. My first impression of the book is that of a high school book, hence, it had little to do with me; the book does feature junior high school students. I recently relented after it came out as a recommendation for Japanese literature. I want to give the book a chance. Moreover, the book was tagged as a work of horror and dystopian fiction. My interest is now piqued further. This somehow brings to mind All of Us Are Dead, a popular Korean high school zombie drama.

Apparently, Battle Royale is the debut novel of Takami who also worked as a journalist while working on the novel. It would be a commercial success and was even adapted into a film and even mangas. At over 600 pages, it seems like no easy read but then again, I am no stranger to long reads. How about you fellow reader? How was your Monday? What books have you added to your reading list? Do drop it in the comment box. For now, happy Monday and, as always, happy reading!

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