Welcome to Litsy!

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! 😃💕📚

Similar to Ghost Wall: characters‘ interior thoughts are explained at length. And in this case, many of these thoughts are very human: petty and mean. Well written, with a sad ending

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....⬇️

This is not a book you read for a plot because there really isn‘t one. Instead you get to crawl into the minds of people having their summer holidays interrupted by strong rain and experience their innermost thoughts. Some characters were more compelling than others and I sometimes lost track of the connections but overall each voice was so realistically rendered I felt as I intimately knew them within a few pages.

I started this book - about a rainy summer solstice in Scotland - on the shortest day of the year. It fit. The rain in the book drives everyone inward and each chapter is a vignette about a single character‘s inner life. Tension mounts as day end approaches, but otherwise not much happens. Read this book if you are looking for something Well-observed and atmospheric.

I love Sarah Moss‘ writing. I love the twisty way she unwinds a story. A short book but a read best enjoyed slowly and carefully read. #Netgalley #ARC

Gorgeous book so far.
I have never related to a book so hard as the chapter about the mum with young kids when the dad takes them out for an hour. And she keeps spending five minutes tidying something up, then reprimanding herself for not using that alone time optimally, then peeking out the window to see how her family are doing.
I can‘t wait to have five minutes to myself, then spend it looking out the window at my family 🙄

Let me start by saying, I love Sarah Moss, which is why it pains me to say, this was just okay. The book oozes atmosphere and setting, in a way that I could feel the rain creeping into my bones, but the story wasn‘t really gripping. There were too many characters, and not enough of an in-depth-look at the characters, which Moss normally do so well.

Oh well, you can‘t win them all 🤷‍♀️

#BookSpin - just in time 😅

I love this letter from the author in this special version only available from indie booksellers. This one I got in @squirrelbrain 's lovely local bookshop in Harrogate.

What a fabulous writer Sarah Moss is. Normally 'plot light' books aren't my favourite thing, but I couldn't put this down. I loved being in the different characters' heads. My only quibble is it's too short - I would like to explore the characters more!

A day in the life of a group of holidaymakers in a Scottish Highlands holiday park. Each section follows a different person as they kill time during a very wet day. Not all of them are particularly nice, but they‘re very normal people, with the usual worries of children, work, retirement, illness. I really liked this, it had a great atmosphere running through it, almost a dread of something happening. Moss writes good atmosphere 😉

I read this today in a very fitting place - on a lake in the hot afternoon sun ☀️! #Summerwater is at the same time a book about nothing and a book about everything. I kind of wished that the short chapters would have fitted better and sooner together. This would have made the ending more powerful. Nevertheless, the writing is beautiful and I really enjoyed it.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ stars

Brilliant. Not long enough is my only grumble. Her characters are so real, the landscape is amazing and I can still feel the rain. She is so clever with words.

#bookmail
Tagged book is completely the fault of @Mitch . I didn‘t know she had a new one out until your review and this looks gorgeous.
Sisters has so many good reviews from friends I just went for it!
Have read so much on kindle lately (not a problem - they‘re books!) that it feels like these are in multi technicolour. I do miss lovely covers on kindle.

#augustwrapup
A very cover coordinated month and some great stories to get consumed by. I've travelled to Dublin during the flu epidemic, felt the spit and blood of the female boxing scene in eighteenth century England, mourned loss with the AIDS community and marvelled at how forward thinking some of Austen's characters really were. I've soaked up the damp on a Scottish lochside and been somewhat underwhelmed with essays on the true crime scene.

Moss writes about people & landscape brilliantly. She has the ability to get under the skin of the invisible lives we each hide from the world, the small gestures & habits we live with when alone. Taking place over one day, in a set of holiday cabins beside a Scottish loch - we feel the tension, there is an ominous air of violence building right from page one. In amongst the family dramas the landscape heaves, and pulses and of course - it rains!

Treated myself to this ( I ♥️Sarah Moss) whenI had my 15 mins slot in our local Indie. It‘s a beautiful edition especially printed for independent bookshops with special end papers, signed and a letter from the author explaining her love of bookshops. 🥰

Sarah Moss can write a character like no one else. In Summerwater, I felt like I knew and understood each character, their strengths and flaws. I just needed this to go on a little longer. It left me with too many questions.

It never rains but it pours. Sarah Moss sets another of her brilliant studies of character and atmosphere on a long, rainy summer day in the Scottish wilderness. It has many of the features that made Ghost Wall a perfect novella, a superbly realised setting, clashing, desperation-tinged interior monologues and a creeping tension that doesn't reach it's height until the last sentence. Moss writes people brilliantly in all their darkness and light.