Posted September 9, 2024
One Book One Community – The Plymouth Chapter has selected “Remarkably Bright Creatures” for the ninth Community Book Read!
From the publisher:
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 18-year-old son, Erik, mysteriously vanished on a boat in Puget Sound more than 30 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.
This debut novel by Shelby Van Pelt is a gentle reminder that sometimes taking a hard look at the past can help uncover a future that once felt impossible. Born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, Mrs. Van Pelt now lives in the Chicago area with her family.
“Remarkably Bright Creatures” has sold over a million copies. It was an instant New York Times Bestseller and spent more than a year on the NYT Hardcover Bestseller list. The book also was a Read With Jenna Today Show Book Club pick and earned its author the Heartland Prize for Fiction and the McLaughlin-Esstman-Stearns First Novel Prize from The Writer’s Center.
Limited reserved copies are available to check out with a library card at Plymouth Public Library. Copies also may be purchased at Books and More, 214 E. Mill St., Plymouth.
These events are free and open to the public; no registration needed. Reading the book is encouraged, but not required.
Book Lovers Social Hour Kickoff Party
Do you love books? Do you love talking about and sharing books? Want to meet other people in the community and get reading and book club ideas? This event is for you! Bring your favorite book recommendations to share.
Light hors d'oeuvres will be served.
5:30pm Tuesday Sept. 17 at Plymouth Arts Center
Book Discussions
Discuss “Remarkably Bright Creatures” with others.
• 10am Thursday Oct. 3 at Plymouth Public Library
• 2pm and 6pm Tuesday Oct. 15 at Books and More
• 3pm Monday Oct. 28 at Generations
Movie Showing: “My Octopus Teacher”
This unrated documentary features a filmmaker who forges an unusual friendship with an octopus living in a South African kelp forest, learning as the animal shares the mysteries of her world.
6pm Wednesday Oct. 23 in the Plymouth High School Auditorium
The annual One Book One Community – The Plymouth Chapter book read is sponsored by Plymouth School District Community Education & Recreation, Plymouth Public Library, Generations, and Books and More.
The overall objective is to select a book annually as a community joint reading venture, in the spirit of newspaper columnist Mary McGrory’s observation that “the city that opens the same book closes it in greater harmony.”
• “Go Set a Watchman” by Harper Lee in 2015
• “The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics” by Daniel James Brown in 2016
• “Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet” by Jamie Ford in 2017
• “The Things They Carried” by Tim O'Brien in 2018
• “How To Make a Life: A Tibetan Refugee Family and the Midwestern Woman They Adopted” by Madeline Uraneck in 2019
• “She Rode a Yellow Stallion” by local author Warren Reed in 2021
• “My Happiness Counts” by local author Charm Joy Der for kids, “Starfish” by Lisa Fipps for young adults, and “Little Fires Everywhere” Celeste Ng for adults in 2022
• “Delete the Adjective: A Soldier's Adventures in Ranger School” by Plymouth native Lisa Jaster in 2023
• Visit the One Book One Community – the Plymouth Chapter website at plymouthbookread.weebly.com.
• Follow One Book One Community – the Plymouth Chapter on Facebook at facebook.com/OneBookPlymouthWI
• Explore the Community Engagement section of our interactive, award-winning District Report Card to learn more about how our school and community partnerships yield lifelong learning opportunities.
Copies of “Remarkably Bright Creatures” are available at Plymouth Public Library and at Books and More.
