What’s Ashley Reading?: Remarkably Bright Creatures

Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt

First line: Darkness suits me.

Summary: Tova Sullivan has spent her nights cleaning at the Sowell Bay Aquarium. It has helped her cope with the quietness of her life after the death of her husband. Over time she has developed a friendship with the aquarium’s octopus, Marcellus. Then when Tova has to take a leave of absence from her job, she befriends and teaches the young man who is her temporary replacement. As they interact, Marcellus starts to notice that there is a bond between the two and he has to reveal what he knows before it is too late.

My Thoughts: If you are looking for a feel good book to end your 2023 reading challenge then this is the book for you. This very much reminded me of Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman in the way I felt reading it. There is little to no romance, great friendships are made and at the end a secret is revealed that leaves the reader feeling all the feels.

I loved each chapter narrated by Marcellus the octopus. He plays such an important part to the story but is mostly an observer. His haughtiness about the humans around him was always funny to read.

Even though reading something like this it is pretty obvious how the story resolves it still feels right when it happens. It is like putting a puzzle together and the final piece being added. I would highly recommend listening to the audiobook because the narration is well done and the Marcellus’s voice is perfectly cast.

Amelia’s Favorites: Monkey & Me

Monkey & Me by Emily Gravett

Summary: This book was especially fun. It’s about a little girl and her monkey saying “Monkey and me, Monkey and me, Monkey and me, we went to see, we went to see…” and each time they see a different animal.

My Thoughts: This book was actually recommended to me by the Beanstack App. Which if you haven’t signed up for you really should. I use the app to log books for the 1000 Books Before Kindergarten program for Amelia. Each week it sends me an email with book recommendations and this week’s was Monkey and Me.

Now, I don’t know if they intended it to be this way, but I made it into a song, and after a few times Amelia was singing along which I couldn’t even take. It was SO CUTE! After we read it a few times through, the rest of the day I would hear her sing it, which it turn made me sing it too, and became somewhat of a learning game. I would sing the phrase, then choose an animal and ask her what noise that animal makes. SO MUCH FUN!

Amelia’s Rating: I think she would give it a solid 5 stars, I foresee us checking this book out several times!