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OooOooh, Smekday movie!

Just found out that this is a thing. Apparently, the movie will be called "Happy Smekday!" That makes sense to me, as "The True Meaning of Smekday" would be a long movie title, and probably not a great fit, since it's supposed to be the title of Tip's essay for school. It looks like it's going to be animated, rather than live-action. I think it could make a great movie, but I hope it's done well!

Have you read The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex? Would you see it as a movie? Smekday is one of my favorite books to lend out to friends. It's funny, poignant, hilarious, clean, and side-splitting. Also it makes me laugh.
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Previous post about Smekday
(& thanks for the heads-up, Ashlee!)

Cybils winners!

Yesterday the 2012 Cybils winners were announced! I had the honor of being a judge in the second round of the graphic novels category. It was so much fun!

Here are the winners that we picked:

Young Adult: Friends with Boys by Faith Erin Hicks 
Middle Grade: Giants Beware by Jorge Aguirre and Rafael Rosado  
They're both great books, I promise! I plan to post my thoughts on them each soon.
Alysa

The Checklist Manifesto and other non-fiction

So lately I have noticed a shift in my personal reading habits. I have been more inclined than ever before to pick up non-fiction! That is rather new and sort of strange for me, and so for a while I was in a reading slump. No fiction book I tried would float my boat. Finally I realized that what I wanted was some good non-fiction. How novel! ;-)

I thoroughly enjoyed reading The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande. I highly recommend it. It is short. It is fascinating. It teaches you about airplane pilots, building construction, and doctors. And, of course, it teaches you about checklists.

Gawande is an excellent writer. I found this book to be very nicely balanced between information and anecdote. Personal experiences he had made the facts meaningful, and the facts tied all the stories together. I confess I envied the author -- he pursued his interest (checklists) into all sorts of interesting places and physical spaces. I wonder what amazing things I could experience if I were writing a nonfiction book.

After reading this book, I'm convinced that checklists can be applied in many, many situations to prevent human error, circumvent misunderstandings and encourage communication. If this book sounds interesting to you, you should definitely pick it up.
Other nonfiction I've been reading and enjoying lately:



  • 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think by Laura Vanderkam. 
  • Momma Zen: Walking the Crooked Path of Motherhood by Karen Maezen Miller.
  • Happier at Home: Kiss More, Jump More, Abandon a Project, Read Samuel Johnson, and My Other Experiments in the Practice of Everyday Life by Gretchen Rubin
  • Cinderella Ate My Daughter: Dispatches from the Front Lines of the New Girlie-Girl Culture by Peggy Orenstein
 



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