by Shelby Van Pelt
Ecco, 2022. 360 pages. Fiction
When 70-year-old Tova Sullivan's husband dies, Tova knows that the best way to cope is to keep busy. She's been doing this since her 18-year-old son, Erik, mysteriously vanished on a boat on the Puget Sound over 30 years ago. Tova takes a job cleaning the local aquarium at nights, where she meets Marcellus, a rescued giant Pacific octopus who likes to escape from his tank to eat his neighbors and explore. As Tova faces the reality of her ever-shrinking circle of friends and acquaintances, she comes to appreciate her time with Marcellus and finds new connections to the outside world through his interference.
If you like quirky books with a mixture of sadness, happiness, and hope, this book is for you. Having an octopus as one of the main characters can be seen as a little gimmicky, but for me Marcellus was one of the best parts of the book. His self-important attitude, and the bond he and Tova eventually build gave this book a little extra life, meaning, and spunk.
This story is told from three different perspectives: that of Tova, Marcellus, and Cameron, a man who is trying to find his birth father. The tone and pacing of Tova and Cameron's stories intersect nicely, with Marcellus narrating some short occasional chapters. While this book isn't exactly like the popular documentary My Octopus Teacher, this book is an entertaining and heartwarming read.
by Fredrik Backman
Atria Books, 2014. 337 pages. Fiction
A curmudgeon hides a terrible personal loss beneath a cranky and short-tempered exterior while clashing with new neighbors; a boisterous family whose chattiness and habits lead to unexpected friendship.
by Sara Nisha Adams
William Morrow, 2021. 373 pages. Fiction
Widower Mukesh lives a quiet life after losing his beloved wife. Working at the local library for the summer, Aleisha discovers a list of novels that she's never heard of before. Intrigued, she impulsively decides to read every book on the list. When Mukesh arrives at the library, desperate to forge a connection with his bookworm granddaughter, Aleisha passes along the reading list hoping that it will be a lifeline for him too. Slowly, the shared books create a connection between two lonely souls, as fiction helps them escape their grief and everyday troubles and find joy again.
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