The To Read Shelf Challenge: Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler

Title:  Why We Broke Up 
#150 of 158 on the Too Read Shelf
By Daniel Handler and Maria Kalman

I feel really bad about this, but I couldn't finish this book.  It's a Printz Honor!  It's illustrated!  It's an award winner teens would actually want to read!  I should be supporting it.

This is a total, "It's not you, it's me" situation.   I am not a Daniel Handler fan.  I found the Series of Unfortunate Events too precious and repetitive.  And, I found this book to be more of the same.

The book is one long letter, written by Min, a drama girl, to Ed a brainy jock, after their big split.  It tells the story of their relationship and of course, why it ended.   Problem was, I didn't like either of these people very much, so spending time with them was a chore.

When a book becomes a chore, I put it down.

This book has many passionate fans.  I can see the appeal.  Handler gives this temporary relationship all the drama and gravitas a real-live teen would.  Kalman's illustrations are charming.   But, Min is a manic pixie dream girl of the highest degree, and I didn't care about her enough to see her story to the end.

Excuse Me While I Freak Out Quietly Over Here.... And a New Challenge

So, It's been more than 6 weeks since my last post.  That's bad.

However, I have a good excuse!  Namely, I've been quietly freaking out over the fact that I might not have a day job anymore.   My city is facing "draconian" budget cuts.  The library looks to be taking a huge hit, following the other huge hit we took 2 years ago.

I would love to tell you more, give you specifics, but I must be discreet.   My city is very sensitive, and I live in a hire-at-will state.  How much would it suck to not get laid off, but then get terminated for shooting my mouth off?

And I am really good at shooting my mouth off.  So, as much as it galls me,  I can't really say much.  So as much as I want to have a big old-fashioned-breath holding hissyfit, I can't.

So, to distract myself, I am setting a new challenge.

My GoodReads "To Read" Shelf just spiked at over 150 books.  That is a lot of books.

I will clear off this shelf by the end of 2012.  

Here are the rules:

• I will attempt to read every book marked To Read on my GoodReads shelf by December 31, 2012.  
• The 50 page rule still applies.  If any book I pick up does not work for me in the first 50 pages, I reserve the right to abandon it. 
• Audio books count. 
• To choose what I read, I will set the sort to random, and read the first thing I can get a hold of.  
• I will blog about each book.  
• Only books added before March 17, 2012 are eligible for the challenge.  I'm sure my "To Read" List will continue to grow, but I'm human, damn it. 

To start, I will read The Girl of Fire and Thorns and Why We Broke Up.