Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler art by Maira Kalman

Min is giving Ed all of their memories back and she’s writing this note to him with it. This is why they broke up.

This book has been sitting on my shelf for ages! I was super excited about it when I got it, but after a few of my friends read it and weren’t too thrilled, I’d lost interest. As I’m trying to read through all the books that have been on my TBR for way too long, this one came up. So read it I did.

The format of this book was very strange and I didn’t feel like it flowed very well. Min’s interests were just, not interesting. The whole book you know this relationship isn’t going to work out because, obviously, they break up.

I did love her friendship with Al. I liked that they talked about sex like maybe it isn’t this thing that’s so holy and is only to be had with one person.

Overall this book was just okay. At times I was enjoying it and interested and at others I just want to be done with it.

I gave Why We Broke Up 3/5 stars.

I would recommend this to middle school readers.

Introduction: Who I Am

In case you’re wondering who all these thoughts are going to be coming from I thought I would tell you a little bit about myself

My name is Bailey and I am 18. I live in the midwest and I just graduated high school this spring. Even though I’m 18 I do still live at home. My parents are divorced and live an hour away from each other. They actually live in different states. I do still travel between my parent houses about twice a week. I currently work at a tanning salon in the town where my dad lives once a week and I work at a bar as a cocktail waitress in the town where my mom lives. I keep myself really busy between working and traveling between my two houses. In the fall I will be staying with my mom more permanently and going to a local community college. I’ve been in a relationship with a wonderful boy since September and he is also going to the same college I will be attending next fall.

My interest in books has always existed. I read Junie B. Jones and Harry Potter and other wonderful things when I was younger. I was always the kid who would happily sit down with a book, you wouldn’t have to fight me on it. I would say my reading really picked up as an adult (teen?) though when I moved my junior year in high school. I moved at the beginning of summer after my Sophomore year, so I was stuck with a whole summer ahead of me and no friends close by. I spent a lot of time falling back in love with books that summer. It’s been two full years now since that summer and I am reading almost constantly. In the past two years I have read mostly young adult fiction. I am slowing branching out to more new adult and have sprinkled some adult and non-fiction books in the mix. My interests are growing as I am getting older.

Planning has become a hobby of mine more recently. I have only been planning since about November of last year. I started off with just a generic planner from Wal-Mart. I was watching YouTube videos one day and found a video about an Erin Condren Life Planner. I was immediately intrigued by the whole community and starting researching the planner. While learning about the Erin Condren planner, I was seeing it being compared to the Plum Paper Planner from PlumPaperDesigns on Etsy. Being a broke high school student I decided to purchase the Plum Paper Planner instead of the Erin Condren Life Planner because of the price difference. I planned primarily with my Plum Paper Planner from February 2015 until April 2015. At this time I did crack and purchase myself an Erin Condren Life Planner. I am currently using both planners. I do my pre-planning in my Plum Paper and my official decorative planning in my Erin Condren. This method is working really good for me and I’l have to see how I decide to plan when the new year comes around. I do use stickers to decorate in my planner but I do go insane. Again, broke soon-to-be college student.

I hope this information about me helps you understand where my opinions are coming from and how I got started with these hobbies. Someday I’ll update this information so it’s in a more comprehensible manner but these are the things that I found important to share as I’m starting out here.

Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry

The synopsis for this book starts out with “So wrong for each other… and yet so right.” This immediately made me think this was about to be the cheesiest book I’d ever read, which I was ready. Echo has gone from the popular girl to a freak with scars, but she can’t seem to remember the night she got them. Noah, bad boy with commitment issues, is trying to get his family back together after the night of his parents tragic death. The two can’t seem to resist each other, and a troubling love story ensues.

When I started this book I really did expect it to be cheesy. As Katie was setting up the plot in the beginning it seemed like it might be directed at a much younger audience than me at 18. I wasn’t sure if I was going to enjoy this. I was pleasantly surprised. Once I got about a fourth of the way through this, I could not put it down. I was so intrigued about what happened to Echo on the night she got her scars, and I needed to know how Noah was going to get his brothers back. This book seemed pretty fast paced for how long it is (almost 400 pages). The relationship was definitely a cliche bad-boy and good-girl shouldn’t be together but they can’t seem to resist it. It would still appeal to younger readers (14-17) than I am but I did enjoy it. The story is more than just the relationship but if this cliche bothers you, this book might not be for you.

I would recommend this to young teens who love contemporary or the concept of solving a mystery.

I gave Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry 5/5 stars. It was exactly what I needed to get back into YA contemporary.

Starting Out

I have contemplated starting a blog for years now. I’m someone who has always used social media to discuss my passions, but I want to get better at talking about them in a formal writing fashion.

I am a reader, I read mostly YA fiction but am slowly starting to branch out into more New Adult and Adult fiction as I am getting older. I am also a planner, I currently use a Plum Paper Planner from PlumPaperDesigns on Etsy, and an Erin Condren Life Planner from ErinCondren.com.

As of now, my most used social media platform is my Instagram. You can find me @PlanAndRead. I want this platform on WordPress to be a place for more discussions and reviews regarding both books and planner supplies. I am hoping to keep up with this blog for myself and for something for me to look back on and I would love if other people have interest they would follow along with my passions with me.