or more properly: The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex.

I’ve been meaning to read this book for a long time but didn’t get around to it until very recently. I’m sorry I waited — it’s truly wonderful.

Smekday is smart, funny and it should be on the required reading list of every entity seeking to be a fully rounded rational sort of being (with a sense of humor). It’s chock full of delicious salty, crunchy sarcasm; it doesn’t pull any punches; and it made me laugh, repeatedly. I loved this book.

Things that stood out for me: Happy Mouse Kingdom, the always perfect, antiseptic fantasy, the land of fake rubber noses on a string. The wonderful comic book sequences. The day they went into a store and Tip says to J.Lo to get only essentials and he turns up with an armload of paper, pencils and other art stuff (and she lets him keep them).

My favorite quote: “The Boov weren’t anything special. They were just people. They were too smart and too stupid to be anything else.”

Go read it — Now! First chapter available as “look inside” on Amazon. Buy it , borrow it from the library (I did), just be sure to read it.

Then wait with me for the movie to come out. It’s expected to release for Thanksgiving 2014. In the meantime, Dreamworks has made a promotional short called “Almost Home”. Go watch that on YouTube. Watch it five or six times; you’ll feel better, I did.

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Yes, The Hobbit finally opens on Friday the 14th. I can hardly wait — that said, I will be waiting as I never go the first weekend. I wait for the crush of fans to subside a bit. We’ll be going over the Christmas holidays to see what promises to be another gem from Peter Jackson and his team at WETA.

Yes, I love The Hobbit and have done since I first read it at age 11. I know for certain that I was 11 as that year the math teacher was reading it to his home room students and wouldn’t read it to the class I was in — ran out and bought my own copy, HA! John loves The Hobbit so much that it is the one book he always takes on vacation every single year. We’ve been on pins and needles ever since the announcement of the filming finally being settled on Peter Jackson. I’m definitely relieved that the book is being split into two parts as the prospect of cramming it into one film would have forced the leaving out of some of my favorite bits. Like this one:

Oh, the trolls would have to be in any acceptable version, but would you get a lovely long segment about the debate over how to prepare the dwarves for consumption? Boiled, baked, or simply sat on and squashed into jelly? I think not. So I am immeasurably glad that the book part of The Hobbit will be in two parts. I should also say that we are also very much hoping for a reasonably lengthy view of Beorn’s house, as well as a short visit to Rivendell.

Yes, I know that there are now going to be three films. I confess to still being a bit nervous about the third film which is meant to comprise of appendix information/action. I will go see it absolutely, being myself in the minority of Tolkien fans who’ve actually read the appendix material.

It will be lovely, I’m certain it will . . . just still feeling a bit jittery in the tummy.

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