Remarkably Bright Creatures (Ven Pelt)
Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt (2022) (Not a review, just some notes to help me remember the things I've read. But written this way because it's the Internet, and some people will stumble across this page.) This has been sitting as a draft since July. I honestly thought I'd posted it. Oops. This was a pandemic book club selection. I listened to it as well as read it. This was a first novel, and it was a very good one. What put it over the top was that portions of the book were narrated by a Giant Pacific Octopus named Marcellus (McSquiddles, but he's not a squid) who can escape his tank and wander around the aquarium. Thankfully, Van Pelt realizes that too much of a good thing would be bad, and Marcellus's chapters are more like short interludes. That said, Marcellus makes the book. Without his point of view, the rest of the book would be a little monotonous and "by the book" with coincidences and missed chances. The