One Book, One Community Of Monroe County
What if everyone read the same book and then joined all those readers in talking about it? That’s the idea behind One Book, One Community of Monroe County.
Each year, the One Book, One Community of Monroe County selection committee chooses a readily available and discussible book written by a major author, and invites Monroe County residents to read the same book at the same time and discuss it through a series of free programs running approximately one month. Each year’s events feature book discussions and free county-wide community activities related to the themes raised by these provocative and inspiring stories. One Book, One Community of Monroe County aims to enrich the experience of reading for everyone, regardless of race, gender, age, income or the neighborhood they call home.
One Book One Community of Monroe County 2025
The Committee is excited to announce that the One Book One Community selection for 2025 is Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt.
About the Book
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 the Puget Sound over 30 years ago. As she works, 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 tentacles for his human captors—until he forms an unlikely friendship with Tova.
Ever the detective, Marcellus deduces what happened the night Tova’s son disappeared. As his affection for Tova grows, Marcellus must use every trick his old, invertebrate body can muster to unearth the truth for her before it’s too late.
Charming, compulsively readable, and full of wit, Shelby Van Pelt’s debut novel is a beautiful exploration of friendship, reckoning, and hope–a reminder that sometimes taking a hard look at the past can help uncover a future that once felt impossible.
About the Author
When Shelby Van Pelt isn’t writing, she’s herding cats and wrangling children. Her debut novel, Remarkably Bright Creatures, was an Instant New York Times Bestseller and a Read With Jenna Today Show book club pick. In 2023, she was awarded the Heartland Prize for Fiction and the McLaughlin-Esstman-Stearns First Novel Prize from The Writer’s Center. Remarkably Bright Creatures has sold over a million copies. It has spent, in aggregate, a year-plus on the NYT Hardcover Bestseller list.
Born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, she’s now missing the mountains in the Chicago area with her family.
Learn More About the Book
To learn more about the book, or to find great One Book One Community events and companion titles, visit 2025 One Book One Community of Monroe County
Let us browse for you
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