Dear Readers,

Sorry to be getting this information out a bit late, but I like Forrest Gump have been enjoying some time on our nation's capitol.  I read about the final four teams in my complementary USA Today.

I have to say that I was a bit shocked to see A Whole Nother Story (Butler) there.  I was convinced that Cryptid Hunters (Kansas State) had that bracket in the bag.

I was pleasantly surprised to see Science Fair still alive.  I didn't completely hate When You Reach Me (Kentucky), but I surely enjoyed Science Fair (West Virginia) much more.

The Schwa Was Here (Michigan State) and Leviathan (Duke) round out the final four.  What is you pick to win it all?  I have to say that even though I was born in Lansing and my dad was a professor at Michigan State, I have to pull for that crazy sock puppet and A Whole Nother Story (Butler) to pull a big upset and take it all.

See you in the finals!

Read On,

Mr. H

Dear Readers,

Well the Book and Basketball Championship has seen another early exit for a powerful number one seed.  The Hunger Games just couldn't get their game together as the sock puppet of A Whole Nother Story ushered them to the end of their games.

I wonder if the players from Syracuse will return to find their campus in rebellion and revolt?

In other tournament news When You Reach Me (Kentucky) easily took out the darling of the round, One Small Step(Cornell).  Science Fair (West Virginia) managed to get by No More Dead Dogs (Washington) but neither team really wanted to hold on to the ball.  Cryptid Hunters (Kansas State) also handled their opponent, Mudshark(Xavier) without any real trouble.  On a side note Roland Smith, author of Cryptid Hunters along with lots of other great Guys Read books will be visiting our school on April 6.  I, of course, will be tracked out and will miss him. Bummer!

Tonight we start it back up again.

Enjoy the games and check back for some updates.

Read On,

Mr. H

Dear Readers,

After a few days to recover from the wild and woolly opening rounds we sit here today eagerly awaiting the start of the Sweet Sixteen.

Tonight at a poetic 7:07 pm EST the first game will tip off.  The first game includes The Hunger Games (Syracuse) versus A Whole Nother Story (Butler).  Then at a less poetic 7:27 pm the game that sees No More Dead Dogs (Washington) facing Science Fair (West Virginia) will get started.

The late games start after 9:00, which is after my bed time, so I will have to check up on those scores tomorrow morning.

Enjoy the matches and check back in tomorrow for some updates.

Read on,

Dear Readers,

We have completed the inaugural weekend of the SMS Guys Read Books and Basketball Tournament and let me just say it has been a wild one.

While many of the top seeded teams still are alive, many upsets have caused this year's tournament to get very exciting.  Who would have every thought that the Printz winning Going Bovine (an early pick to win it all) would fall to Peter and the Starcatchers!

I am very interested to see how One Small Step(Cornell) handles the Newberry winning When You Reach Me (Kentucky) who have been destroying all in their path.

So here comes a much needed little break until the battle resumes next Thursday.

Bring on the Sweet Sixteen...

 9. Peter and the Starcatchers (Northern Iowa) versus 5. The Schwa Was Here (Michigan State)

6. Harry Potter (Tennessee) versus 2. The Roar (Ohio State)

West Region

1. Hunger Games (Syracuse) versus 5. A Whole Nother Story (Butler)

6. Mudshark (Xavier) versus 2. Cryptid Hunters (Kansas St.)

East Region

1. When You Reach Me (Kentucky) versus 12. One Small Step (Cornell)

11. No More Dead Dogs (Washington) versus 2. Science Fair (West Virginia)

South Region

1. Leviathan (Duke) versus 4. Doom Machine (Purdue)

3. The Mysterious Benedict Society (Baylor) versus 10. Ender's Game (St. Mary's)

So who is your pick?  Who will win it all?  Is your book out?  How are you feeling, hit that comment button and let us know what you are thinking!

Read On,

Mr. H

Dear Readers,

Tonight we must celebrate the underdog.  Tiny Peter and the Starcatchers(Northern Iowa) a number 9 seed has taken down the mighty Printz winning novel Going Bovine (Kansas) a number 1 seed. 

The Mad Cow Disease must have caught up with the Jayhawks allowing an inspired game by the Barry and Pearson novel. 

Little Ender's Game (St Mary's) is becoming a darling of these games as they took down the number two seeded Maze Runner(Villanova) this afternoon.

At this time Harry Potter (Tennessee), A Whole Nother Story (Butler), No More Dead Dogs (Washington)and The Mysterious Benedict Society (Baylor) have all advanced to the next round.

That's all for tonight.  We still have a few games in progress, but I am signing off.

See you tomorrow.

Read On,

Mr. H

Dear Readers,

What an exciting opening round of Books and Basketball.  We had upsets galore and some very good books go down.

I am dealing with the tragedy that I left my brackets attached to my board at school, so this weekend will see me updating via my web brackets.

I hope you are all as excited as I am for the next rounds and the finals.  I'm not sure if we ever explained what we do at the end of this fiasco, but the plan is to read the champion book as a club, of if we have already read it something by that author.

So here are the books that advanced yesterday

The Schwa Was Here (Michigan State)

Life As We Knew It (Maryland)

100 Cupboards (Ga Tech)

The Roar (Ohio St)

Drums, Girls and Dangerous Pie (Gonzaga)

The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg (Pitt)

Mudshark (Xavier)

One Small Step (Cornell)

Airborn (Wisconsin)

Artemis Fowl (Missouri)

Science Fair (West Virgina)

Leviathan (Duke)

The Series of Unfortunate Events (California)

The Mysterious Case of Origami Yoda (Texas A&M)

Doom Machine (Purdue)

Check back for more updates throughout the weekend.

Read On,

Mr. H

Dear Readers,

Yesterday was a very exciting day for me.  I have never in all my years cared so much about a basketball tournament.  I found myself almost glued to games played by teams I couldn't find on a map.

Day one of the tournament did see some big upsets.  How to Train Your Dragon (Old Dominion) must have taken some steam from their upcoming movie adaptation to upset Operation Red Jericho (Notre Dame).  Not to worry though Joshua Mowll is finishing a new book called The Great Space Race that could find its way in to the tourney next near.

Little Ender's Game (St. Mary's of California) managed to act as god killers as they took down the higher ranked Gods of Manhattan (Richmond).

Peter and the Starcatchers (Northern Iowa) made 8th Grade really Bite as they sent 8th Grade Bites (UNLV) back to Vegas.

One big buzzer beater that I was happy to witness, but upset with the outcome.  The darling of my bracket, The Brooklyn Nine (Vanderbilt) looked like they might just have the guts to take down Elijah of Buxton (Murry State), or at least take them to overtime, but in the dying seconds Elijah channeled their inner Michael Jordan and struck out the Brooklyn team.

The other games all ended as predicted.  At this point the next round will see..

Going Bovine take on Peter and the Starcatchers

Simon Bloom versus Harry Potter

A Whole Nother Story against Elijah of Buxton

Diary of A Wimpy Kid takes on the very strong Cryptid Hunters

The Mysterious Benedict Society vs. How To Train Your Dragon

Little Ender's Game takes on The Maze Runner

When You Reach Me easily moves on to meet Tales From Outer Suburbia

39 Clues takes out it's daddy in The Lightning Thief and get to face No More Dead Dogs (who also is sort of a daddy here)

Enjoy the games today.  Check back tomorrow as we finalize the first round.

Read On,

Mr. H

Dear Readers,

We here at SMS Guys Read find ourselves in the middle of the basketball crazed world.  Major basketball programs are mere miles from our headquarters, but yet many of us couldn't care less who made the round of 64 and who was left out.  Many of us could not tell you one player for the Duke Blue Devils or even where Lehigh even is.  To us this is just another opportunity to add some Guys Read love to an other wise boring, mundane March Madness.

So, without further ado we present to you for your viewing pleasure the SMS Guys Read Book and Basketball Championship.

The idea is quite simple, we picked 64 great Guys Read books or series and attached them to univerisities in the NCAA Tournament.  We tried to give books that were popular in our club or in our school higher seeds.  You will see that Going Bovine (Printz Award) and When You Reach Me (Newberry Award) both have number one seeds  We then took The Hunger Games and Leviathan (club favorites) as the other two number one seeds.  Maybe you agree with us and our seeding, maybe a favorite book of yours is absent (think NIT).  Hit that comment button and let us know what you are thinking.

Now we sit back and let this silly basketball tournament play out.  I don't know about you, but I care very little about the basketball games, especially after the opening rounds end and the same old teams end up playing each other.  I get bored and loose interest by the weekend.  I mean really Marquette vs. Washington means nothing to me, but Hatchet vs. No More Dead Dogs...now I have a dog in that hunt. How about Alan Gratz's Brooklyn Nine vs. Christopher Paul Curtis and Elijah of Buxton.  Two great historical fiction novels.  Brooklyn Nine takes a four seed and Vanderbilt versus the 13 seed of Murry State.  Come on Vanderbilt vs Murry State, does anyone outside of the home towns give a care?  I know I care a lot more now that I am currently reading The Brooklyn Nine, come on Vandy!.

Download SMSGuysRead_BooksBasketballBrackets

So if you are like me and more comfortable in Duke Gardens than Camron Indoor get ready for a tournament to remember.  I can't recall a NCAA tournament I cared more about than this one, even when I have had money riding on it (which I don't...gambling is illegal and immoral and like Frankie says in The Brooklyn Nine..."A suckers bet." 

Enjoy the tournament, let us know what you are thinking and check back in as we update the battles and wait for the upsets.  I personally am hoping UTEP...I mean  ABe Lincoln - Vampire Hunter is the Cinderella team of the tournament.

Read on,

Mr. H.

The Extremely Awesome Chapter of Revealing What is going to Happen after the Extremely Dramatic Ending of Doom from the Last Chapter

…And there it was, the extremely terrifying entity of terror. It raised it’s sword, when suddenly, the lights turned on. It was even worse than what they feared. It was the only thing worse than Kane Kong.

It was the Janitor.

The one thing everyone learned to fear. It was a ruthless cleaning machine, showing no mercy, and disposing of everything in it’s path. And here it was, right in front of them, it’s eyes glaring. And then our beloved hero did what everyone else would do…he wet his pants. Wow! What an amazing hero. But wait, is Mr. String Bean really our hero? Will we have to endure the incredible destruction and fury the janitor will unleash on our hero? Or will he only be thrown in the trash can? All these burning questions will be answered after the short coffee break.

OK, Coffee break over.

Now, where were we? Right. As Mr. String Bean stares death into the eye, an amazing idea hatches in his not-so-miniscule mind. It is the best idea known to man, a skill that they have all ma