I was delighted to receive this book (thank you Mumsnet and Granta!) as I have a great affection for, and interest in, Iceland having worked with Icelandic colleagues and been lucky enough to visit the country for both business and pleasure. I was immeditately drawn to the book, by the titles and also by the fantastic cover art, which I thought at first was seed-pods from a plant, but then realised (days later!) was actually an aerial view of people swimming - very clever! Now that I've finished the book, and had time to mull it over, I've realised that I did really enjoy it, and that I found it really thought-provoking. The reason I only recognised this once I'd finished the book is that it took me a bit of time to "gel" with it, as Sarah Moss's experience of Iceland is very Reykjavik-centric, and mine is pretty much the opposite having spent more time in the East and North of the country. I found her honesty really refreshing - this was no gushy, effusive travel book; the author was quite candid about the isolation she felt as a foreigner in a country which ,on the face of it, we'd expect it to be quite similar to the UK culturally.
Some things did really resonate with me - I had to smile when she talked about how Icelanders only say thank you when something actually deserves gratitude, and find the British habit of thanking everyone profusely for everything odd. It reminded me very much of my Icelandic colleagues (and other scandinavian colleagues) telling me how they sometimes found it hard to work out from my emails what I needed them to do, as they couldn't get past the sea of "sorry to bother you"s and "if it's not too much trouble"s!
I found the sections about the "kreppa" really interesting - my time there was in 2007, before the banking crisis, and life certainly seemed good for most Icelanders and I've often wondered how things might have changed.
I think the thing I liked most about the book was Sarah Moss's lovely descriptions of the Icelandic friends she made and people she met - she managed to characterise them so well, they almost leapt off the page, just like characters in a novel.
I found the discussion of childcare and family life in Iceland really interesting too - again, a culture you'd expect to be fairly similar to ours, but with quite different attitudes.
Like others, whilst the elf section was interesting, and certainly merits inclusion as it's such a unique feature or Icelandic life, I felt that it was perhaps dwelled upon too much.
All in all, I really liked this book, and will certainly be seeking out "Night-waking" and keeping a look out for Sarah Moss's future work.