Welcome to Litsy!

The trees are so beautiful right now! If you look closely, you can see a little bee that decided to fly by when I was taking this picture! 🌸🐝
I‘m almost done the tagged audiobook, but I‘m not sure how I feel about it yet. #audiowalk

The “bird sisters” - beautiful, talented Robin and quiet, focused Lark - pretty much raise themselves in Montreal thanks to their tempestuous mother, but grow apart later in life as their passions lead them to New York and rural Quebec.

Read October 8-14
Rated 4.5/5 ⭐️
Book 41/60

We celebrated my son and nephew last nigh, the 2 B‘s, who are officially done and graduated from high school. What a final year this has been 🙃😣. My book was really good. I loved the Montreal/New York setting ( and rural areas by both) the author is wonderful at character complexity

Dual Citizens is about two sisters, Lark and Robin, and their childhood with a neglectful mother, then adulthoods starting out together but separating for very different life paths. There is a bittersweet twinge of not understanding each other while also having a bond that only comes with siblings.

I‘m glad I came across this author at last year‘s #TXBookFestival. I‘d read more by her.

Loved the dynamic between the sisters - best friends and at times strangers. The character of Lark was at times annoying and endearing - she was so competent at her job, but so uncertain in her relationships. Robin was very sure of herself, occasionally at the expense of other‘s pain. I didn‘t understand Lark‘s motivation for a child, and appreciated both sisters having different ideas about motherhood

I normally enjoy quiet, character-based fiction about sisterhood & dysfunctional families & artists… but this one is too melodramatic for my taste, plus it gets sappy at the end. And there are continuity errors. And, while Therese Plummer has done a superb job on countless other audiobooks, & voices multiple characters convincingly, she mangles French pronunciation. Don‘t let me discourage you: this was shortlisted for the #Canadian Giller prize.

I don‘t know what kind of French accent audiobook narrator Therese Plummer is using in this novel set in Montreal, but it doesn‘t sound québécois or Parisian. Two daughters call their mother by her first name all the time and it sounds like they are saying “Marie Âne” (Marie Donkey). I searched online: it‘s actually Marianne (different pronunciation). Plummer is also unfamiliar with Canadian candy because she can‘t pronounce Gosette‘s.

My concussion is slow to heal and I‘m still not able to read print or spend more than a few minutes with screens, unfortunately. The good news is that audiobooks are now fine. The quote from the tagged audiobook is serendipitously apropos.

One of my favorite narratives to read is about sisterhood and the bonds that both strengthen and strain the connections that sisters have. It's been awhile since I've read such a story. And the reading gods decided to bless me twice in a row both times with stories about Canadian sisters.

#currentlyreading #sisterhood

My final #TXBookFest2019 #BookHaul. I would have gotten more, but several books sold out before the end of the day Sunday. Which is great! I‘m glad for the authors and for Book People! (TX largest indie bookstore provided sales for the fest.)

Photobombed by #Froedrick. He‘s grouchy because he couldn‘t go to the fest.

Alix Ohlin and Michael Parker talking about novels of sisterhood. They spoke about family and sibling relationships in general. Alix said something about shared history with siblings shaping who we are as whole people, and that relationship being like no other. That really spoke to me. I bought her book.
#TXBookFest2019

😕 not what I was going for. I only felt at arm's length from Lark, and no feelings one way or the other about her sister Robin. It just felt flat and distant the whole way through.

Next up!

5🌟A beautifully written and tender story! This book hit me pretty hard. The storytelling was so real and intimate. It reveals so many truths about relationships, life, heartache, lonliness, desire, personal fulfillment and sisterhood. This book is beautifully written, very character driver. This one will stick with me for a while.It will be available June 4th!
#bookreview #bookblogger #bookstagram #canlit #canadianauthor