August Challenge--I finished!

[L Y N N]

This discussion thread is to mark your completion of the August challenge to fulfill prompt #28 A book that features an unlikely friendship
World UFO Day is July 2, 2025!
https://www.calendarr.com/united-stat...
(My first thought was of the movie ET! "Phone home") 😃

Please include the following information about this book:

Title:
Author:
Would you recommend this book?

[Acidic Quagga]

Title: Remarkably Bright Creatures
Author: Shelby Van Pelt
Would you recommend this book?

Absolutely not. I found this book to be blasé trash. I managed to grind my way 2/3 of the way through this book before giving in and speed reading the rest. Its ending was as unremarkable as I expected it to be. I don't know how I managed to read as much as I did, because I thoroughly did not enjoy this book. (view spoiler)[The only character I came anywhere close to liking was Avery, who only appears a handful of times and only to be the object of affection and sexual outlet for the irritatingly self-piteous Cameron. Cameron, who creates all of his own misfortune and complains that it has everything to do with a mother who left him in better hands with her sister, raised up in a privileged and comfortable setting. I dislike this man and couldn't bear to read anything more about him. (hide spoiler)]

Additionally, the entire book could have been written without Marcellus with very few changes. He just feels like a waste of a page to read about, which is highly disappointing, as I tend to really enjoy the chance at reading from the perspective of non-human persons.

Remarkably Bright Creatures is overall what I'd call grey in the sense that it lacks life and failed to hold my attention without me counting down the pages to the end. Bleh.

[Jen W.]

Title: A Letter to the Luminous Deep
Author: Sylvie Cathrall
Would you recommend this book?
I really enjoyed it. The unlikely friendship in this one is two people searching for their missing siblings. They bond through sharing the letters and diary entries of their respective siblings, who were in communication before their disappearance.

[Lilith]

Title: Unlikely Friendships : 47 Remarkable Stories from the Animal Kingdom
Author: Jennifer S. Holland
Would you recommend this book? Yes, if you are a fan of micro-stories. This is more of a coffee table book, and the photographs are beautiful, sometimes humorous, sometimes touching. I enjoyed reading a few while unwinding at the end of the day.