Reckless

Title: Reckless (Thoughtless #3)
Author: S. C. Stephens
Genre: Adult
Rating: 5/5
Cover: 10/10


To those of you just starting: deep breaths, grab your tissues, a box of chocolates, and never despair... or maybe do. I'm not telling :P

Oh, wow... where do I even start? I'm aware I need to keep the spoilers away from here, lest I be murdered by an enraged Heather (hi, hun! *waves*), so bear with me ;)

I wasn't quite sure what to expect from Reckless. I was so happy for Stephens for having gotten herself a contract with a major publishing house, but I was a bit miffed that the release date was pushed back because of it. Gotta say, though. Totally worth the wait.
Kellan and Kiera's story grabbed me from the first, and Effortless was just... I read that book twice, one in the tail of the other. I literally finished it the first time, turned to the beginning and started again, that's how bloody great it was. And Reckless... hell, if I didn't have a teetering pile of unread books balancing precariously on my nightstand, I'd be very tempted to do the same. What. A. Ride.
There are good books, there are great books, and then there are those books that make you say 'to hell with life, I need to read this shit!'. I stayed up way too late (Kellan does that to me, what can a girl say?), almost forgot to eat, and thoroughly neglected all homework sent my way. I even read while walking home from the bus. Not even kidding. First time I've actually done that, and I don't even want to know how nuts I seemed these last two days, smiling like a moron throughout the day, giggling out of the blue and then almost sobbing the next moment. I'd forgotten what an emotional mess these books always left me. Thoughtless broke me into a thousand tiny pieces, only to glue me back together at the end; still, it was so painful, I've yet to go back an re-read it - unlike Effortless which, like I mentioned before, got a twofer. But even Effortless, with all it's awesome, romantic mush, still exhausted me emotionally. And Reckless was no different. The ups and downs with Kellan and Kiera are from cloud nine to hell and back again in the span of one chapter.
I loved seeing more of Denny. I really didn't like him in Thoughtless, but he's grown on me, and I love the fact that, unrealistic as that is, he was able to look over what my babies had done to him, and still be good friends with both of them. I am glad he read Kiera's book and finally apologised, though. He had more than his fair share of blame in what happened, and my main problem with him was how self-righteous he acted.
I really liked Kiera in this book. In fact, the only person I disliked was Sienna (I even loved - yes, LOVED - Griffin in this book. I guess miracles do happen), and that's self explanatory, really. I never trusted that backstabbing bitch, and I was just itching for someone - Kiera, preferably, though I'd be fine if it were Kellan - to bitchslap the bejeesus out of her.

The reality of this being the end hasn't quite sunk in yet, and I'm still wandering the house, smiling maniacally because that ending was as perfect as could be, considering *shrugs*.

Religion for Atheists

Title: Religion for Atheists
Author: Alain de Botton
Genre: religious? idk, to be honest. Philosophical, maybe
Rating: 4/5

This is very different from the stuff I usually read, but it was nice to branch off a bit, though it did take me some time to get into it. I think I'll stick with fiction for now ;)

So much discussion goes on daily about the world, and the sad state it's in. Of course, we all know this, but reading Alain Botton's Religion for Atheists was quite an eye-opener.

Religion for Atheists is a thought-provoking book that uses the three most famous religions (which includes the two most infamous ones - Judaism and Christianity) to try and explain why we sometimes feel alone in a crowded room, why we might love next to a family for years on end, and sometimes never even know their names - and most importantly, how to fix that.

As an atheist myself, de Botton's ideas were certainly intriguing, and there sure seems to a lot to be said about his suggestion of a restaurant that would join only the best traits of all the religions, like the feeling of caring and interest towards those around us created in Mass, or the idea of total liberation of rules and impositions for a certain period of time (in old times, it used to be 3 days). There is a certain alluring quality to his suggestions, and there is much to be said about meshing different aspects of different religions, taking only the best from each. I'll probably get stoned by any religious person for saying this, but I've been to countless Masses, quite a few Mormon services and even a  few protestant services, and while I didn't agree with all the dogmas from any of them, what de Botton says about every religion having its merit wasn't lost on me. Their ideas aren't altogether bad, it's just the way they go about it that can be scary, and reading Religion for Atheists was a great way to see that maybe one day even those of us without any religious inclining can find the comfort of singing together with a room.