Welcome to Litsy!

Probably my lowest reading month in 5 years! But there were a few I loved. Really enjoying Rachel Harrison! The other two are novel-in-stories type books that fit my short story theme this year.

I did do a #bookspin list at the beginning of the month and never posted it. I saw that Summerwater (an old fave from my #roll100) and Shanghailanders (a new find at BN) were chosen.

Things are still crazy here. We‘ve gotten Dad mostly settled in the nursing home (after his second major stroke), and Mom or I is visiting every day. Today, I got clearance to bring Molly, and she came with me. It‘s just still a lot logistically and emotionally. ⬇️

I reworked my #roll100 list earlier this month, and boy am I happy about it!
1-50 is short story collections I‘d like to reread - like Summerwater and Faraway World.
51-75 is new short story collections on my TBR shelf.
76-100 is other books I‘d like to reread. Aesthetica is an early @AardvarkBookClub selection that I‘m excited to revisit. I hope I can get to all/most of these next month!

#AboutABook #NewToMeAuthor One of her books, Ghost Wall, got a lot of attention here on Litsy . I found this at a cheap sale, still on my THR

I finally locked down August‘s #Bookspin list. I didn‘t mean to do this, but I love how Summerwater is sitting on the horizon 😍. Pictured is the place we spend the last week of summer in Glen Arbor, a perfect way to end summer.

One rainy day in a Scottish holiday village we meet several of the residents and through their individual voices learn of the frustrations and disappointment of life mirrored by the weather but with beautiful nature writing that is a stark contradiction. But it also references subtly through a child's voice the cruelty of intolerance post 2016. Sarah moss is a brilliant writer and I am sure she could make her shopping list poetic.

Absolutely brilliant.
I was in awe of her writing, her characters, everything in this book was superb.
I love her books. Fear I'm a fangirl!!😂😂🤩🤩

Cor, she's great! Second of my signed books and read 50 pages in the night!
Love her rambling prose from women's brains as they perform daily life.

Wow!🤩thank you so much @alexus_sb for the #SliceOfSummerSwap box. So many things. I love the books you chose, perfect for the summer. The stationary items are so pretty, love the candle, very summery scent👌The booksleeve is so pretty and the tumbler perfect for my iced tea🧋Ok, you and @BeaG are going to make me run miles and miles after I eat those delicious chocolates, candies and cookies. Well, no complain at all😋Those will be happy miles🤗

Interconnected stories taking place over the course of one rainy day? This was right up my alley. The writing is beautiful. I loved getting a peek into the thoughts of ordinary people going about their days doing ordinary things. #librofm

Told through thoughts and the inner lives of the characters, the story - if there really is one in the traditional sense - moves slowly, but the writing is wonderful and gripping. Quite a unique book, especially after we‘ve by now all experienced cabin fever during various lockdowns - the claustrophobic feelings, the boredom are relatable. It‘s not been raining here, but snowing all afternoon …

You ever pick up a book on your TBR and you can‘t remember why you wanted to read it?

#12BooksOf2021

I am sharing my almost-favorites of the year. The ones who didn‘t make my #Top21Of21 but are favorites nevertheless. One for each month.

This book I read in #October and it still lingers in my mind. That says a lot I think.

I‘m a SUPER fan of interconnected short stories & this book was right in my wheelhouse. Told from multiple points of views, each chapter highlights a resident staying at a vacation park in Scotland on a single rainy filled day. As the book progresses so does the dread & anticipation that something awful is going to occur. I must say the ending caught me completely off guard (in the best way possible)!! Audio narration was excellent #Scribd 👇🏽

This book from BD arrived yesterday too, but I'm not sure who it is from. Who do I have to thank for it?

My first Sarah Moss but it certainly won‘t be my last. Wow. This was just extraordinary. And THIS is why I don‘t do a top reads of the year list until the 31st. 😉

A 5⭐️ short story collection set around a holiday park in Scotland. It‘s summer and it‘s busy: old people young people, families are visiting, and a story follows each except the mysterious Roma who won‘t turn their music down. I loved the story about the couple mid-coitus. I loved the teen who gets a different kind of action in a kayak. But my surprise favorite was a young girl and her brother playing and their encounter with “Shit-chenko.”

Barbara, you spoil me!! I was expecting Summerwater, but then I received two more books from my TBR that I haven‘t read and don‘t own! Plus the honey. Oh god the honey. I had to make toast and try it out before dinner. So good! Dutch bees know what they‘re doing. Thank you!! 💕💕💕

Another rainy day in a Scottish holiday park. In short stories we learn how twelve persons staying there, deal with the rain.
Some go out, some have sex, some want to die, some go to the pub: to all of them I could relate one way or another. And then there is that of the blue ending 😱

My favorite Sarah Moss so far!

This is so sweet Tanisha, thank you so much for sending me this book, that I‘ve wanted to read for a long time! I hope my book will reach you soon! ❤️😘

I‘ve been out shopping for some Littens birthdays 🤫 mission accomplished 🎉🎉.. and I got a book for myself too. Summer water. Now for some lunch with my husband ( he always runs a bit late 🙄😂

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Twelve people are staying in a holiday park on the edge of a Scottish loch. It rains incessantly. Each person narrates a different chapter; some are sad, some frustrated, some despairing. This really affected me. I felt trapped and claustrophobic. The themes are timely yet there‘s some comedic elements too. One I keep thinking about…

My July wrap-up 📚😊. I liked every one of these this month!

Just started this (I loved her short and powerful book Ghost Wall this spring) and the prose is already so good.

Wow that was an unexpected ending.

Summerwater is comprised of many very short snippets from the lives of different people vacationing or living along a loch at the end of a very long one lane road. Each one is completely engrossing, giving a true feel for what it is to be an overworked mom, a bored teen with no tech access, a woman with dementia, a little girl who is a bully. The wildlife even have brief narratives.

No real plot, I loved it.

I am posting one book per day (ish) from my extensive to-be-read collection. No description and providing no reason for wanting to read it, I just do. Some will be old, some will be new. Don‘t judge me - I have a lot of books. Join the fun if you want.
This is day 227
#BooksToRead #TBRPile #TBRMountain

a fave read of 2021 💘 moss gorgeously observes the way we subtly edit ourselves in both the presence & absence of others and the internal conflict we have we ourselves. i loved how easily it was to slip from household to household and never have it feel like awkward intrusion— it flows beautifully & lyrically

Moss has such keen eyes for human nature, the family relationships. I liked going inside the minds of the different characters, all very relatable. I love the evocative writing. The endless rain, the weariness..ominous as the tension builds up by each chapter, leading to an ending which is not what I expected. The prose is suspenseful, especially the chapter on the boy on the kayak. A brilliant read with some important topical themes.👍💙

Starting this one before heading in to work! Happy Friday! 😃💕📚

I really enjoyed this little book. A picture of human nature - its flaws and quirks and insecurities, and also ability to come together - illustrated in a vacation community at a lake.

Three pretty great books to have read so far on this vacation! 😀

I think this might be my first Kate Moss. If you like peeping into the minds of others, check this one out. She does a great job capturing personalities and states of mind by conveying the perception of each character in a single background setting.

The best chapter was the one wherein the older woman is going out the cabin door, or trying to go out, to gather some leaves for the potatoes. Lots said there without many words.

Thank you for the sweet and thoughtful birthday gifts @Mitch ❤️. This is such a nice heavy duty tote bag, and I‘m looking forward to the book. Somehow I have never read any Sarah Moss, though I‘ve heard great things. Thank Mel as well, sending best wishes to you both. 💕

A book really about nothing but every single character's perspective was so spot on and with Morven Christie's narration it made this book incredibly enjoyable.

Ahhhh wonderful to hear Morven Christie narrate this one!

Although beautiful written, this book didn‘t captivate me like Ghost Wall did.

Each chapter is from the point of view of one of the vacationers at a rural area of Scotland that contains a handful of cabins. Each group of people staying in the cabins don‘t know or really talk to one another but they do take notice of each other.

Each chapter in this book is from the perspective of a different character. It‘s a snapshot of a day at a summer holiday spot. It is a simple story, but each character was wonderfully realized with distinct voices for each. Most of the chapters center on family relationships. Lovely writing too. 4⭐️ #hoopla

This is a fairly short audiobook, but Morven Christie narrates so it is a must listen to for me.

Sarah Moss is masterful at underlying trouble and trepidation. An isolated vacation spot and tensions with everyone cooped up because of very rainy weather, everything escalates but quietly and ultimately sorrowfully. I think I liked Ghost Wall a bit more but the writing is beautiful and she captures modern life and relationships so well.

Thank you for this one @TrishB , I liked it s lot! A miserable holiday all round, I knew "something bad" was going to happen but it might have centred on any of the characters that we meet. She's great at the tensions in families/relationships, isn't she? And I enjoyed the flashes of humour, too. Like Ghost Wall, though, the ending felt very abrupt, a swift change of gear that I'm not sure entirely worked.

Love Sarah Miss. Loved Ghost Wall. This novella has same spot-on writing, more dark humor. Set during holiday at an isolated Scottish lake resort on a day with torrential rain. People forced to deal with themselves and others. Class friction, lives not meeting expectations, xenophobia, and specter of Brexit and Trump works. Chapters are vignettes focused on individual characters. Each a great read but don‘t tie together in satisfying way.

Moss is so good at writing the hypnotic nature of ennui. This didn‘t work as well for me as Ghost Wall but it‘s a short character study.

This is such an interesting little book. It feels simple, yet it‘s not. Moss moves from person to person staying at a Scottish vacation spot, giving us a picture of who‘s there and how they are all interacting, even when they aren‘t, and steadily building to the climactic event. Not only is it a good read, it‘s one where you could really study the structure to try to see how she did it.

5 ?!! I loved Ghost Wall and this has the same slow tension in the writing. Tight writing. Sarah Moss is becoming one of my favorite writers. I love her subtle and not so subtle portraits of how we "other" each other. Highly readable.

Ghost Wall was a favourite read of mine from 2018, so I don‘t know how I missed finding out that this came out in 2020.

#wondrousWednesday @Eggs Love these questions! 💕

1. Summer girl by Haim has a dreamy, ethereal mellow vibe like this tagged book.
https://open.spotify.com/track/4iVAyRRWdgjwBooBaSkSRc?si=GhfCdQnWTMme3u8T6BkvdQ
2. My various ‘Out of Print‘ tees that I wear to my bookstore job.. (Matilda, Hermione, P&P, Handmaid‘s tale, Princess Leia)
3. I actually love to read about old/aging characters.... they tend to move me in a profound way... (I‘m 46)....

Summerwater is Sarah Moss at her finest. This is a taut, oppressively claustrophobic novella which chronicles a rainy day at an isolated Scottish holiday park on the loch. Through this series of internal monologue vignettes, Moss showcases her incisive ability to capture the human condition. Her eye for human nature is uncompromising. This novella has atmosphere plus. I remain as much of a Moss fan girl as I was before I read this.

Releases in US on 1/12/21
My first read of the year was a spectacular one. Not for the plot-lite averse, but I loved it. The writing is just fantastic. This slim novel set in one endlessly rainy day at a holiday camp of log cabins, by a remote Scottish loch, is all about the atmosphere and observations.
As each vignette touches on the inner lives, frustrations and micro-aggressions of the inhabitants, an ominous feeling begins to creep in....⬇️