Goodreads Choice Awards Book Club discussion

Voted by members as the Debut nominee additional read.



Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt

Remarkably Bright Creatures, an exploration of friendship, reckoning, and hope, tracing a widow's unlikely connection with a giant Pacific octopus.

After Tova Sullivan's husband died, she began working the night shift at the Sowell Bay Aquarium, mopping floors and tidying up. Keeping busy has always helped her cope, which she's been doing since her eighteen-year-old son, Erik, mysteriously vanished on a boat in Puget Sound over thirty years ago.

Tova becomes acquainted with curmudgeonly Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus living at the aquarium. Marcellus knows more than anyone can imagine but wouldn't dream of lifting one of his eight arms for his human captors--until he forms a remarkable friendship with Tova.

Ever the detective, Marcellus deduces what happened the night Tova's son disappeared. And now Marcellus must use every trick his old invertebrate body can muster to unearth the truth for her before it's too late.

Shelby Van Pelt's debut novel is a gentle reminder that sometimes taking a hard look at the past can help uncover a future that once felt impossible.

I thought this was such a sweet book! It was so good, certainly did not seem like a debut!

Marcellus FTW!!!!!

Yes!

Loved this book - in fact it was a five star read for me and on my favorites shelf. I loved the people part of the story as much as the octopus part.

I thought it was such a beautiful 'found family' story. Did you learn anything about octopus that you didn't know before? I did. I ended up googling giant Pacific octopus and there were some pretty cool pictures too.

I haven’t started this yet but I got this on audio because I heard it’s a great book to listen to, especially to hear the octopus narrate. Looking forward to it!

I just finished this. It was a great read for the holiday season. Really heartwarming with lovable characters .