Here's what happened: I wanted something like Harry Potter but set in the non-magical world with adults. Instead I got angst. SO much angst. There's a big difference between realistic fantasy (There's no doubt that these characters are real because they have real issues and problems...with a dash of fantasy thrown in i.e. this book.) and fantastic reality (Wait, is that a dragon? Holy cow, I just levitated! Gee willikers, I can control forces heretofore undreamed of by man or beast...with a dash of reality thrown in  i.e. most other fantasy novels.) I was looking for something fun which would transport me to another world. What I got instead were young adults abusing alcohol, having promiscuous sex, lamenting their genius level IQ's, and whining about the monotony of studying spells.

So ... October is almost over, and I have yet to recap my September progress on A Year in Reading Suggestions. I have good excuses, but rather than list them, I'm going to just dive into the recap instead. This was September's theme:

In September, read a book from an opposing viewpoint.
Everyone is entitled to an opinion, so read a book whose author has one totally different from yours. That’s intellectual freedom in action!

I have to admit, this was a difficult month! I managed two books with viewpoints I vehemently disagreed with, and one representing a lifestyle very different from my own.

The Anita Bryan Story by Anita Bryant - Anita Bryant was a crusader against equal rights for the GLBTQ community back in the 1970s. I found her memoir at a used bookstore and I picked it up for two reasons 1) I was morbidly fascinated by how she would justify her rabid bigotry; and 2) I didn't want someone who actually agreed with her to get their hands on the fuel for hatred in this book. Now that I've read it, I'm not sure what to do with the book -- chuck it into a recycling bin and get it out of circulation, or preserve it as a historical document chronicling a debate that still deeply affects people today.

In Praise of Stay-at-Home Moms by Laura Schlessinger - To be clear, I don't "oppose" women staying home with their kids, but I oppose the "viewpoint" that this is the choice every woman should make, or that this is the job for which women are best suited, and just, in general, the "one-size-fits-all" mentality of pundits like Dr. Laura. This book infuriated me probably even more than the prior, I think because I had to hear Dr. Laura's snide, condescending voice read it. Ugh.

Loose Girl: A Memoir of Promiscuity by Kerry Cohen - I don't actually "disagree" with promiscuity, but I needed a break from infuriating reading at this point and decided to throw this memoir in because it is from a perspective and experiences SO different from my own. This is the kind of book that can "open your eyes" to the way it might be to live someone else's life, rather than just rile you up with rhetoric, so it was a good book to end on -- beautifully written, and not pushing an agenda.

So, in October, this is the challenge:

 

In October, read a selection from a local book club.
Check out what your neighbors are reading and discussing over cookies and coffee.

I belong to a book club for adults who like to read YA titles, so I've read three books for the book club this month. The October book (From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankenweiler), the November book (OK for Now), and a "bonus" Mock Printz Award book (Noggin), since the group does a "mock Pritz Award" meeting in January. I may try to squeeze in one more Mock Printz book before the month is through.

I'm really astounded at how judgmental people get about memoirs. Someone puts their most vulnerable moments on display for all the world to see, and then readers gang up about what an [insert derogatory word here] person the author is?

There were definitely times while reading "Loose Girl" that I wanted to scream, "Stop, just stop!" I didn't want Kerry to keep making the same self-destructive choices. But I read on because there is always something fascinating in watching someone else's life slowly unravel, but there's more to this memoir than that. It is so beautifully written, immediate and vivid, often painfully so. Although there are quite a few descriptions of sex, it never becomes lurid or gratuitous because it is always focused on the underlying need and desperation driving the act. What drew me to this book was that Kerry's teenage and young adult years were so incredibly different from mine -- but I would be lying, as I think most people would, if I'd said I didn't recognize that same hunger to be loved in myself.

Although Kerry doesn't come right out and say why she felt this overwhelming need to find validation and men, she recounts several incredibly telling interactions with her parents that demonstrate the total lack of appropriate parental boundaries, including a hint of sexual abuse between her mother and sister. We all have strange dynamics in our families, and reading about Kerry's interactions with her parents and her sister was just as compelling as her various relationships with men, if not moreso.

I do wish the book had explored her transition to "monogamy" when she met her husband a little more. It feels like she never really "recovered," but rather had the intention to do so and then the right man came along at the right time. While a year of "sobriety" might have been more satisfying, sometimes life just happens the way it happens. Still, I think there's a whole book in the year leading up to her wedding -- and the fact that it's glossed over in a matter of pages makes me think that, as wide-open as this memoir seems to be, she's still keeping the most intimate details, the ones that really matter, close to her heart.

On Thursday I went to the Augustana College "Books and More" sale, which I've found to be one of the BEST sales for non-fiction. Since non-fiction has sort of been my thing for the past couple years, I was realistic and brought two tote bags instead of one. I filled them both, although I did have the self-control to return about 5 books at the end, which kept my tab neatly under $20 ($19.50). Although I never do the math while I'm filling my bag, I must have a secret internal calculator, because I don't think I've ever spent more than $20 at a used booksale. That $19.50 was well spent on the following:

Best-loved Folktales of the World, edited by Joanna Cole - I hemmed and hawed over whether to buy this book. I haven't made it through all the Grimms and Hans Christian Anderson folktales I already have in my collection. But they're from around the world! But most of those stories can be found online. But I won't know what to look for! Someday I can read them to my children! COME ON, LACEY, FAIRY TALES!!! Obviously, it made the final cut.

This Common Secret: My Journey as an Abortion Doctor by Susan Wickland - I shelved this book once when I was working at the library, and I added it to my "to-read" list. Might as well have it waiting in my personal library. My relationship with the pro-choice movement is complicated, and I think hearing people's stories is one of the most important things we can do, regardless of which side we fall on. 

Surprised by Truth: 11 Converts Give the Biblical and Historical Reasons for Becoming Catholic, edited by Patrick Madrid. When I told my mom about this book, she asked, Why would anyone convert to Catholicism? I've long wondered about Catholic converts myself; so much of the faith's pull for me has to do with personal history and the culture in which I was raised. Although I move further away from practicing Catholicism, it remains a topic of deep interest for me.

Loose Girl: A Memoir of Promiscuity by Kerry Cohen - I'm not really sure what to say about this choice. Voyeuristic tendencies? Sex?

The Journal Keeper: A Memoir by Phyllis Theroux - I really know nothing about this book, but its title caught my eye because I am also a journal keeper, and when I paged through it, I found the writing to be beautiful.

Callings: Finding and Following an Authentic Life by Gregg Michael Levoy - Well, who doesn't want to find and follow an authentic life?

101 Things I Wish I Knew When I Got Married: Simple Lessons to Make Love Last by Linda and Charlie Bloom - I have a very, very good thing in Ivan, and I want to do everything I can to keep it that way for a long, long time.

Feminist Interpretation of the Bible by Letty M. Russell - This is one of the "oldest" books I picked up, but feminist interpretations never get old! Neither does the Bible, methinks.

Roads Less Traveled: Dispatches from the Ends of the Earth; and Home on the Road: Further Dispatches from the Ends of the Earth by Catherine Watson - Because I want to see more of the world than my finances or stomach will allow, and reading is a good way to do that. I picked up Roads Less Traveled early in the sale, then put it back down. Then I saw Home on the Road on a different table, paged through it, liked the writing, and tucked it into my bag. Before checking out, while I was returning some other books to their proper tables, I decided to see whether Roads Less Traveled was still available. I found it in an instant, even though I didn't remember which table it had been on -- I took it as a sign and am glad to have these two as a "set."

Marriage and Other Acts of Charity: A Memoir by Kate Braestrup - I like marriage memoirs ever since I decided to do the marriage thing myself, but this one is written by a pastor AND a therapist, so it's like, a triple score.

Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism by John Shelby Spong - Because I've got quite the collection of Spong's writings, and thought this one might want to come to my home and be with its brethren.

The Bachelor's Cat: A Love Story by L.F. Hoffman - A cat memoir. Isn't that reason enough?

Pilgrimage to Dzhvari: A Woman's Journey of Spiritual Awakening by Valeria Alfeyeva - About a woman's journey to reclaim spiritual experience after the fall of Soviet Russia. I am drawn to spiritual memoirs, and this one intrigues me especially because I know so little about that time and place.

I Was Amelia Earhart by Jane Mendelsohn - Amelia Earhart is one of those historical figures who intrigues me. I relate to the tension she felt between marriage to a man she loved and a desire for full independence, and I'm also intrigued by her love of flying. Although I'm afraid of flying myself, I feel drawn to people who do not share this fear.

Cold Comfort: Life at the Top of the Map by Barton Sutter - This is a collection of essays about Duluth. It's the sort of thing I never would have bought when I lived in Duluth. Now that I don't, it seems like just the thing for those moments when I still feel homesick for the Twin Ports.

The Seeing Stone by Kevin Crossley-Holland - Arthurian!

Friendship with God: An Uncommon Dialogue by Neal Donald Walsch - I went back and forth on whether I should buy this one, too. I love the idea of someone who journals his conversations with God, but I heard Walsch interviewed on a podcast once and his personality sort of turned me off. Maybe he is just a nutjob. But can't spiritual insights also come through nutjobs? And if he's not? I wanna know one more person's interpretation of what God has to say. What finally sold me is that this is three books in one -- the first three in his "Conversations with God" collection.

Writers Dreaming by Naomi Epel - I like to pick up a writer/writing related book whenever I can.

I Never Came to You in White by Judith Farr - A novel about Emily Dickinson -- another literary/historical figure who intrigues me. Mostly the reclusiveness.

101 Myths of the Bible: How Ancient Scribes Invented Biblical History by Gary Greenberg - So much of our culture and morality are based on the Bible, that it's good to know what it actually says.

The Origin of Satan by Elaine Pagels - Because I trust and respect Elaine Pagels as a scholar, and because my husband and I had an interesting, thought-provoking discussion on this very subject while we were on a "creative retreat" in January.

 Now all I need is a few months off to read them!

Hotel of Lost Souls by H.S. Kallinger

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Read from March 05 to 10, 2014 — I own a copy, read count: 1

Strong presence of Capture-bonding/Stockholm Syndrome with a Unique Menage Romance

Hotel of Lost Souls is the first book in The Lost Humanity series. It is a story about the survival and bonding of three early 20s students during their captivity as the blood and sex slaves of a master vampire. The dynamics they form intrigues me so much I am compelled to continue reading the story although finding the pace draggy due to excessive mundane activities described in painful details. I guess this is one of the many pitfalls a new author tends to find difficult to avoid. Writing the right balance of details aren't an easy feat. Readers would scorn those with too little details as well as those that had too much in it. That's where practice and experience comes in as well as the ability to accept and listen to feedbacks, the positive ones as well as the negative ones. Life is a life-long learning experience after all. One would only excel if one could recognise and acknowledge their own weaknesses and not be afraid to change it.

Eventhough this book has a central vampirism theme it wasn't overly focused on it. We do still get snippets of their presence and background story every now and then, so no worries about that. The story is really all about the relationship between fellow captives and their kidnapper cum master cum owner. I am fascinated with the captives gradual progress in developing a strong bond with their captor in the form of Stockholm Syndrome. I am still unsure if what is between (view spoiler)[Zack and Lukas and Sarah and Lukas is real love. (hide spoiler)] It could well be the effect of falsehood their subconscious mind fashioned just to stay safe and pain free.

The Stockholm Syndrome is a psychological phenomenon I have always find to be utterly intriguing. It's the mysterious part of being human and how vulnerable we really are. When left in a hopeless situation and given the right incentive, one could bend to any extreme just to find that bit of comfort even when it was offered by your own abuser. These abused victims tends to find excuses for the abuser and would strongly believe whatever punishment on them are their of own fault and their abuser is only doing it for their own good out of love for them. The abused would usually choose to submit to the abuser because it felt safer and easier to do so than a confrontation. This isn't baseless guesswork on my part, I have been an abused victim before although not a very physical one but the damage to the soul is not something easy to erase or comprehend. I have lived and I have learned, the hard way. Please note that what I am saying here are only based on my personal experience therefore I am not implying it is the same for everyone. Do you know what is the saddest part? The saddest part was when the abuser didn't even know what was done to me was considered as abuse and I myself was too blind to see that.

I bet Lukas the captor in this story knows exactly what he is doing and trying to achieve. That whipping boy incident was a good proof of how he intents to condition his pets. Zack, Sarah and Jamie was confine in a gilded cage in the form of an upscale hotel complete with all the pampering amenities at their disposal in exchange of their freedom. Lukas would lavish them with expensive gifts and personal attention when they behave themselves. Bad behaviors are promptly nipped at the bud with effective physical punishments that also involves some manipulative mental persuasion of the importance of playing by the rules. Lukas is such a cunning one. Having lived for hundreds of years he should be smarter than most humans with the kind of experiences he had gone through.

Another point of interest was the unique menage and the sexual relationships between this group of youngsters and their master. This dynamic group consists of bisexuals and lesbians. So we get hetero, gay and lesbian sex in one swoop. That's pretty rare right? They even had an orgy with two guys and two girls enthusiastically going at each other. They were satisfyingly plugged by one another... uhmm except one the lesbian and the last guy behind the train of sexy sweaty bodies of course. Not enough penises to do all the plugging and thrusting considering the number of wanting holes we have here.

I think I have a love-hate thing going on with this book. I nearly DNF it due to the draggy pace. Yet there are parts that absorbs my attention and fueled my wish to know more. Like that unique foursome relationship and the captive cum abused victims mentality.

To sum up, the story is a promising one and the author has talent but needed further polishing to shine better. I did have issues with the story's delivery style but it could be down to personal preference I guess. More importantly, I am entertained enough to want to read the next installment of this series. In fact, I have already bought it and synced it to my reading device. I will be continuing these youngster's adventure and journey with their master in book two, Pet and three, Bridges soon.


BOOK DETAILS:
Title: Hotel of Lost Souls
Series: Book One of The Lost Humanity Series
Author: H.S. Kallinger
Publication Date: July 17th, 2012
Publisher:  Self-pub
Type: Novel, 101,468 words (approximate)
Genre: LGBTQ, Supernatural/Paranormal Fiction, Erotica
Characters: Zack Henderson (MC, 22 years old, an EMT student, Brunnette hair), Sarah Gallagher (supporting character, 24 years old, Art major college student, Red hair), Jamie Adams (supporting character, 23 years old, Psychology major, 2nd year college student, Blonde hair) and Lukas Ritter (antagonist, around nine-hundred to a thousand years old, died in his mid-twenties, a German with Viking blood).
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Description:
News-media segments about modern slavery are short and quickly forgotten by the average Joe or Jane. But it's out there. So are vampires. They're known, legal citizens—and they aren't the only relic from the past still alive and well. Their victims certainly don't have the opportunity to forget that slavery is still a very real problem.

On a train to Florida's tourist traps, Zack Henderson, an EMT in training, meets college students Sarah Gallagher and Jamie Adams. They're just hoping for a break from the tedium of college tests and professors. They can never imagine what is in store for them when vampires show up to take over their lives. When the smoke clears, they are left wondering: Did they really survive?



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* Reviewed on March 11th, 2014

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