Welcome to Litsy!

Playing review catchup today. When their youngest daughter goes missing in Maine during berry picking season, all the members of a Mi'kmaq family are left reeling, with consequences cascading down the years. But they aren't the only ones with questions. Norma has always known her parents kept secrets, but when her mothers worsening dementia reveals the worst one of all, her entire life is brought into question. A haunting read.

While I didn't cry, my heart ached the entire time I read this, which wasn't longer than 2 days because I was quickly immersed.The passage of time is swift but never confusing. The setting is rich, and the characters are vast, but the ones that are most vibrant are Joe and Norma. What a story!

📙 𝑪𝒖𝒓𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒍𝒚 𝑹𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 🌧

Finally . . . a day with 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 on the calendar! Summer seemed endless, but it finally feels like it's almost time to pop the turkey into the oven -- cold & rainy. It's a perfect day to stay home, light a fire, snuggle under a blanket, & finish reading 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐲 𝐏𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐫𝐬 by 𝐀𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐚 𝐏𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬. The folks at BookBrowse gifted me a hardcover copy, & I'm completely engrossed. 📖

Chefs kiss, this was an incredible read. This is a story about second chances, ones that come at the end of the line. I was stressing for Joe getting his second chance with bad things happening all the time. Same with Norma. Because you know practically immediately, it drags out. (In a good way) The story timeline took a bit to get used to, being all over the place, though it fit well with the theme. The ending made me cry, after all that occurred

5🌟/5🌟
This book made me cry. I don't often cry during books I read. Beautifully written.

5 ⭐️s. It's a beautifully written story about Mi'kmaq family from Nova Scotia and how their lives play out after the youngest child, a 4 year old girl, goes missing. I felt a connection to the characters almost from the start, and the structure and back and forth between the dual narrators worked really well in this case. This was my September #Doublespin @TheAromaofBooks

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This book is truly beautiful, the first of my recommendations from my Book Spa and it was everything and more. Joe is a character than will live in your heart for a long time. The emotions in this book are raw, the content unsettling and a subtle view of life for Native Americans. This approach makes you think deeper without telling you what you should feel. A wonderful debut and I‘ll eagerly await her next .

When 5 year old Ruthie disappears, it sends the rest of her family, especially her brother Joe, spiraling, the effects that last for decades.
As a child, Norma was plagued by dreams of a mother different than her own, brothers & sisters, and a house full of laughter. It wasn‘t until a lifetime of gaslighting & emotional abuse later, does she find out that the dreams are actually memories of her childhood.
A lot of sad moments but such a good book

Really lovely. 💗 I found this quiet story of two families sad, beautiful, and hopeful. Tomorrow I‘m going to discuss it in a new-to-me book club!

Loved this!

Devastatingly good.

I finished up this book after a gorgeous day of hiking with Sietje. 2 waterfalls, 4 miles, over 1500 ft elevation, perfect hiking weather.

I liked the story and the writing though I felt the wrap up was a bit too simplistic.

Things always seem the worst just after they happen. Time will take care of this as time always does 🫐🪨

Such a good book! It‘s pretty clear from the second chapter where the book is headed but the point is how these characters get to point B, not what point B is. And that journey is so interesting. I did get lost in time once or twice but I didn‘t let that hold me up from enjoying the narrative Peters wove.

Four yo Ruthie disappears while her parents are berry-picking in Maine. I guessed what happened but still enjoyed the read🫐

#ReadAway2024
#Bookspinbingo
#Doublespin

@Andrew65 @DieAReader @GHABI4ROSES @TheAromaofBooks @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

5 ⭐

Our book picks for #MummyDaughterBookClub never cease to surprise me. Though, I think this is the first year I‘ve never even heard of my mom‘s OR my sister‘s picks!

#FirstLineFridays
@ShyBookOwl

This story of a missing 4 year old girl draws you in immediately. The story is narrated by only two people in alternating chapters: her older brother who was with her the day she disappeared, and the girl herself, brought up as someone else. You can‘t help but be immersed in the lives of these two people, along with their respective families. Such a good story!

4⭐️ I really enjoyed the book and definitely lived up to the hype of the book. If there was one complaint it was that the book seemed a little rushed at the end. #2024 #fiction #canadian #indiginous #contemporary #historicalfiction

My #bookspinbingo for July

A beautifully told story about a family tragedy.

When Joe and Ruthie are very young, Ruthie is kidnapped, and Joe is the last family member to see her.

The chapters in this book alternate between Joe and Ruthie (now known as Norma).

I thought Peters did an excellent job with this story.

Hurt people hurt people.
Many reviewers have used the word “heartbreaking” to describe this one and it‘s the word that‘s coming to mind for me as well. Readers follow two characters: Joe and Norma. Joe‘s 4 year old sister is missing while his indigenous family travels south to Maine to pick blueberries. Norma doesn‘t feel she fits in with her family. The two stories span decades.

[As pictured with my mom‘s blueberry bush 🫐]

A gift from the lovely and inimitable @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks 💙🫐💚

#Fruity

#SummerSouls

@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

This is a heartbreaking story of an Indigenous Mi‘kmaq child being stolen from her family as happened too many times throughout history.

This is a pick, kinda sorta. Norma has never felt like she fit in. Joe has spent his whole life running away from his guilt. This is a story about family. It took me forever to read. #theslumpisreal
Hopefully we will get a chance to chat about it @ShelleyBooksie & @dabbe

Ahhh this was HEARTBREAKING!! It wasn‘t hard to figure out what had happened from the very beginning but seeing how this one selfish act leads to just devastation for an entire family and more was powerful. It‘s nicely written and had great narrators. I found the ending bittersweet which just makes it feel that much more realistic. Highly recommend! 🌟🌟🌟🌟

I loved this story about a 4-year-old Indigenous girl who goes missing. The story that evolves is both intriguing and moving. Highly recommended!

#gottacatchemall @PuddleJumper (prompt 21. Karrablast Blue cover)

I really liked this when I was reading it. A young girl is kidnapped from the side of the road near a berry field in Maine. It's told from the brother that feels guilty about losing her and the girl herself who is basically gaslit by the new mother. My new book club (did I need another) picked this. I love the cover.

#BookSpinBingo @TheAromaofBooks

I highly recommend this book. I did the audiobook, and it was wonderful! I couldn‘t wait to see what happened to little Ruthie, who was kidnapped when she was very young. She was brought up having no clue about her background. She didn‘t even know that she was from the Mi‘Kmaq tribe from Nova Scotia. This story touches on many of the topics that the indigenous people still face today. Family and “finding yourself“ were major themes in this book.

Today's book bestie is this gorgeous thing. 💙💙💙

Shiloh says this was a good one!! Loved the narrators on the audio ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ #dogsoflitsy #grammaslibrary #bookphotography #theberrypickers

For a book about the disappearance of a child, this is a surprisingly quiet, character-driven story. We don‘t remain in ignorance of what happened to Ruthie for very long, and that knowledge allows the story to just flow. After I finished it, I started Way Station, but I think it‘s something my husband will also like, so I‘ll choose a new #audiowalk book, and Way Station will become our road trip listen.

I started this yesterday after finishing Desolation Mountain in the middle of my #audiowalk. It feels very much like William Kent Krueger‘s stand-alone novels — especially This Tender Land. I like it so far.

Took two tries to get past the first couple pages but then I was sucked in to an amazing story of family!

Four year old Ruthie disappears during her family's yearly seasonal work as berry pickers in Maine. They spend the next 50 years wondering what happened to their beloved girl. Meanwhile, "Norma" grows up having dreams she can't quite explain with a family she often doesn't understand. The mystery unravels over the decades as the two families experience very different lives. It was good. A compelling family saga.

I went into this book relatively blind, and my gosh it didn‘t disappoint. It‘s a heartbreakingly beautiful story of family, love, and loss that spans decades….and I just couldn‘t put it down 🫐❤️‍🩹🫐

I started this today…and am almost done. I can‘t seem to put it down 🫣

There‘s just something about the feeling of starting a new book ◡̈

It took me a bit to finish this one, but it was really good! It was a little on the depressing side though. 💔💔💔

Trigger warnings for abuse, domestic violence, substance abuse, miscarriage, racism, terminal illness, grief, kidnapping…

#LitsyLove
#LitsyLoveReads

April 5, 2024

💚 🫐 💜

“Time quickens the older you get, as if the universe is trying to push you toward the finish line, to make room for the younger, the stronger, to mark your brief place in history and move on.” 😢

Loving this one 🫐 💚

Google says this book is set in spring. I haven‘t read it yet, but it‘s on my shelf! #sundayfunday

Thank you for the #FoundFamilySwap package, @forestandcrow ❤️. Both these books have been on my TBR forever so hopefully I‘ll actually get to them now! I‘m also a big fan of those chips so good choice! Thanks again!

“When you‘re an only child, semi-imprisoned, books become more than paper between hard cardboard, more than the alphabet organized into words and printed on a page.”

This is so true!!

🫐💚

#LitsyLove
#LitsyLoveReads

Picking this one back up! Hoping to finish it this weekend!

💚 🫐 💚🫐

What an incredible book! 10/10❤️❤️. I loved this in the same way I loved Anne Patchett‘s novels. This the story of an indigenous family in Nova Scotia whose youngest daughter goes missing one summer when they are picking the berry harvest in Maine. I‘m still crying, but they are good tears. Brilliant and gorgeous novel.

#MarvellousMarchReadathon #TheBookSpinBingo #SeriesLove2024 #ReadAway2024

A four-year-old Mi‘kmaq girl goes missing from the blueberry fields of Maine, sparking a tragic mystery that haunts the survivors, unravels a community, and remains unsolved for nearly fifty years.

Starting this one today! Love this cover 🫐 💜