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.
Abandoning a Cat: a Personal Story 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.
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.
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?
