The Daughters by Leslie Jamison: The Greek Myth of the Minotaur

 

The Daughters by Leslie Jamison

Publication: Feb. 9, 2027; Little, Brown and Company,  NetGalley 
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I started reading this early in the morning, after I had woken up early. What a devastating read, one I couldn't put down till I had come to the end of the sections on the Minotaur. 

The author turns the Greek myth of the minotaur on its head, focusing on the minotaur's mother and how he was conceived, born, and weaned. All horrific and yet mezmerizing.

It all comes together, how the minotaur is confined to the labyrinth, how and why, and how he finally reaches the stars in the Taurus constellation. I am still reeling from the unusual quality of this book.

Note: I skipped the modern section, with the daughters. I have yet to go back and see how it fits in with the minotaur theme.

My next read, a modern one

Abandoning a Cat: a Personal Story by Haruki Murakami,

Publication: Oct. 27, 2026; Knopf, NetGalley

Book description:  Originally published in the New Yorker in 2019, and now presented in a full, unabridged form, Abandoning a Cat is a poignant, self-reflective work by Haruki Murakami.

Here he writes about his father, the son of a priest who might have become a priest himself had a clerical error not sent him into the second world war. Murakami's father wrote accomplished haiku and eventually became a teacher. As Haruki grew older -- as he became an adult and then a writer, he and his father found they had little in common. They were later estranged for twenty years, only reconciling on his father's deathbed.

What are you reading this week?

Memes:  The Sunday Post, It's Monday: What Are You Reading, Sunday Salon, and Stacking the Shelves

Winter Reading List: Multiple Genres in Fiction

 Books Chosen for Winter Reading

Sept. 28, 2026, romance

This cozy Christmas romance follows an overworked publicist who is snowed in at the Honeycrisp Orchard Inn with her nemesis, a sexy brewery owner, for the holidays. The festive spirit, hot chocolate, and six feet of sparkling snowdrifts conspire to turn these enemies into lovers.

April 6, 2027, general fiction 

An uproariously funny and surprisingly tender debut novel following a junior ping pong player who travels from Los Angeles to rural China to spend a transformative summer at an elite Table Tennis Academy

April 13, 2027, magical realism

A humorous and heartwarming novel that explores life, love, and loss through the eyes of Little Mister, a mischievous and curious cat who mingles with a wide range of human and animal friends in his Amsterdam neighborhood over the course of one year

Jan. 26, 2027, thriller, adventure

Wildlife biologist Alex Carter leads a hike through the mountains of Wyoming, where treacherous landscapes, majestic wolves, and a staggering discovery await—only for the hikers to reveal deadly motivations and shifting loyalties.

Jan. 12, 2027, adult fiction

Over the course of a three-day funeral, a woman discovers new sides to her deceased father in this hilarious and heart-tugging masterwork from one of Korea's most fearless writers.

Books and descriptions from NetGalley. 

What are you reading this week?

Memes:  The Sunday Post, It's Monday: What Are You Reading, Sunday Salon, and Stacking the Shelves

Frenchman's Creek and Other Famous Books by Daphne du Maurier

 

I'm re-reading an old favorite, Frenchman's Creek by du Maurier, originally published in 2003. 

Romance, suspense, drama, and adventure rolled into one book. A bored but wealthy housewife in Restoration London, Lady Dona escapes to her other house in Cornwall. She meets a daring French pirate and joins him in an adventure she has always dreamed of. 

I forgot the ending, and am wondering how the story will pan out at the end of the novel. 

Jamaica Inn is another of du Maurier's books I've read and want to revisit. Set in Cornwall among smugglers, this is another adventure novel. Young Mary Yellan joins her uncle at Jamaica Inn and finds romance and danger.

The House on the Strand is another book that was intriguing, with some magical realism. A young man is offered a potion that sends him back to medieval Cornwall. However, he finds he wants to go back time and again when the potions wear off after several hours. 

The Scapegoat is one of my favorites. John and Jean meet by chance at a railway station and notice their uncanny resemblance to each other. Jean takes John's satchel containing all his id's and disappears, leaving John to switch identities and manage a crumbling French chateau, where failing properties and dismal family relationships will challenge all his wits.

And of course, there is du Maurier's most famous  book, Rebecca, made into several films over time.

In this book, a new wife arrives at her husband's mansion on the Cornish coast and must deal with the memory of his deceased wife, Rebecca, who has a strange hold on the household and even on her husband. 

What are you reading this week?

Memes:  The Sunday Post, It's Monday: What Are You Reading, Sunday Salon, and Stacking the Shelves

Nine Coaches Waiting: Drama and Suspense in this Gothic Romance

 

More Gothic romances by Mary Stewart

I had to wait a while to get Nine Coaches Waiting at my local library as it was buried in the stacks of our downtown library. It was an old copy, well used, but all the pages were intact.

Story: Governess Linda Martin arrives at a French mansion/chateau in eastern France near the Swiss border, to teach the young Count Philippe de Valmy the English language. She fears his uncle whom she thinks wants the death of her charge in order to inherit the Valmy estate. Linda falls in love with another uncle, Raoul, whom she fears is in on the plan to murder young Philippe. 

Setting: The chateau is set in the woods and forests, with a winding road leading uphill to it.  There is a wooden bridge over a stream that spans this road. Some of the drama of the story takes place on this very bridge.

Review: Wonderful suspense mixed with romance and drama as Linda tries to save young Philippe from her wicked uncles. Too bad she has fallen in love with one of the uncles. But is he really as wicked as the thinks?  I loved the days she spent running in the woods with Philippe in order to get away from the ones trying to kill him. A satisfying ending to the family story of inheritance and greed.

What are you reading this week?

Memes:  The Sunday Post, It's Monday: What Are You Reading, Sunday Salon, and Stacking the Shelves

Megan Ridley Mysteries - Cozies

 

Five short cozy mysteries by Maisy Marple Publications

The cute dog and the pile of books on the covers grabbed my attention. I don't know who the real authors are, but the six books are put out by the group, Maisy Marple Publications. 

The books feature Megan Ridley and her dog, Gatsby, playing amateur sleuth in the book world. 

I like mysteries featuring dogs and books, so I look forward to reading this series.

The south side of Chicago is familiar to me, and so is the food! 

Savvy Summers and the Po'boy Perils

A Mystery

by Sandra Jackson-Opoku

July 21, 2026, Minotaur Books, NetGalley

Description:  Savvy Summers, owner of a soul food café in Chicago.

Savvy has her work cut out when an old friend hires her to cater a company luncheon at a nearby office building on Chicago's South Side. Stepping out of her traditional soul food comfort zone, Savvy whips together a menu of Creole classics, with her own spin, of course—mini po’boys with assorted fillings, sunburst salad, and bread pudding using Great Aunt Essie’s famous buttermilk biscuits.

But when someone is found dead in the company’s conference room, Savvy’s culinary creations are suddenly in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons. 

What are you reading this week?

Memes:  The Sunday Post, It's Monday: What Are You Reading, Sunday Salon, and Stacking the Shelves