Battle Royale by Koushun Takami Translated by Yuji Oniki

If there's a better way to examine Japanese Youth Culture than to write a book about 42 kids trapped on an island with a mission to kill each other by any means necessary, I'd like to hear it.
The book suffers a bit in translation, and it's difficult to tell whether it's a function of the phrase not having an English equivalent or some part of the culture itself that doesn't touch American sensibilities. But it is an interesting look at how Americanized Japanese youth are becoming, particularly in their level of violence. This book--and the film and Manga it spawned -- were some of the most controversial things to ever come out of Japan. America still hasn't allowed the movie to be released - primarily because in the wake of Columbine, kids shooting kids is just not popular here, no matter what the message. I have yet to see the film, but I've heard it doesn't quite do justice to the book, glorifying the violence more without letting the audience see the motivation and fear of the participants in the game.
Shuya and Noriko and all of the kids are trapped in a world and a government of their parents creating. Probably the most shocking part of the book is the aspect of peer pressure. Not only do the kids have the traditional American aspects (fashion, sports, sex, etc), but there's an added burden: academics. These kids judge each other not only by who has the coolest clothes, who is the best at baseball or basketball, but also...who gets the best grades? It's a vicious machine built to shred souls, and there's simply nothing that can be done about it. And yet they try. Sometimes they fail, sometimes they succumb, but they never stop running. And they leave us with hope.
And that's precisely why this book needs to be read. The take home message here is in watching how quickly these kids have to "grow up", how fast they are forced to make adult decisions, and the depths that they will sink to in order to survive, all to get back into a culture where they're basically doomed. It's bleak, it's Orwellian, it's one hell of a read.

The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson

Ah, my favorite time period... the birth of the twentieth century, when the world moved from outward pretentiousness amid urban decay to narcissism and urban gentrification...and nothing is really different...
Larson details the creation, planning and execution of the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago, the fable White City. This gleaming utopia, completed against all odds, is wonderfully counterpointed with the Black City - Chicago itself. It's great to see the veneer of Victorian politeness, forced courtesies, and caste bickering cracking under the pressure of the labor movement, the filth in the streets, the blight of urban decay. I love Chicago as it is now...but I love this Chicago more: sewage seeping up through rough pavement, dead, bloated horses and cats floating downriver to the city's drinking water intake in Lake Michigan, kidnappings, murders... the kind of thing that may all seem overdone in fiction, real, real, all of it real!
Follow architect Daniel Burnham through personal tragedy and professional triumph. Marvel at Mr. Mudgett a.k.a. H.H. Holmes, the prototype of the 20th century sociopath. The man was a killing machine. The transient nature of the beauty of the fair is almost heartbreaking...a flash of American brilliance that fell just as the economy prepared to boom and bust, and the world went to war. A must read!

Fun things: The Columbian Exposition brought us Juicy Fruit, Shredded Wheat, the Ferris Wheel, Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer (It actually WON a prize! Can you imagine?), and Aunt Jemima Pancake Mix.