Some people have a superpower that allows them to see colors when they hear music or associate personalities to numbers. This is called synesthesia and it presents itself in many different ways. Explained simplistically, wires cross in the brain that activate multiple senses or perceptive abilities in response to a single stimuli that should only activate one.
I recently had a conversation (okay, more of an argument) with friends about what color the letter A is (the correct answer is a dark green) and whether the number 5 is a con artist. While this sort of (very important) nonsense is not an unusual dialogue for the people I choose to associate with, it made me curious about other things I blend together in unconventional ways.
Which, as most trains of thought do, got me thinking about books.
As I read a book, a color representing that book forms in my mind and becomes more vivid the further I read. When I have the color, other books with similar hues come to mind, forming a gradient like those paint chip cards you find at hardware stores. When I think more concretely about these titles, I see they all tie together in some thematic way as well. Quirky side characters, a second act coming-of-age, a heartwarming narrative, all coalesce to form a specific palette.
Here is a list of some orange reads to take us into fall.
The Music Shop by Rachel Joyce (Fiction, Quirky, Upbeat, Found Family, Bittersweet)
In 1988, shop owner Frank is a vinyl-only music whisperer. People come into his store and tell him their troubles. He listens and sends them into one of his homemade listening booths to hear just the right track (jazz, rock, classical) that cures what ails them. Frank and his fellow business owners, a close-knit, ragtag group hanging on in their cul-de-sac to a vanishing way of life, are being pressured by developers to sell and get out. Then Ilsa Brauchmann literally falls into their lives when she passes out in front of the music shop . These gentle, damaged people find common ground in the weekly lessons about music Frank gives to Ilsa, and there's instant attraction, as his boundless knowledge of music both charms and terrifies her. Misunderstandings, missed opportunities, and a catastrophic accident threaten the fragile bonds that begin to draw them together. An ode to music and its power to heal the soul and unite a community.
The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers by Samuel Burr (Fiction, Feel-Good, Family Secrets, Found Family, Self-Discovery, Parallel Narratives)
In the Fellowship of Puzzlemakers —communal home for England's best and brightest quiz masters, cruciverbalists, and cryptographers—Clayton is the biggest enigma of all. He's not a puzzlemaker. He just showed up on their doorstep as a baby, left in a hatbox. The fellowship, led by the esteemed Pippa Allsbrook, took Clayton in and raised him, and he never really left the safety of the rambling country manor they all share. Now Pippa has died, and Clayton is determined to finally solve the riddle of his origins. His adoptive mother may no longer be available to ask, but she did leave him one last gift—a puzzle to lead him on the adventure of self-discovery. The story flips between Clayton's journey and Pippa's efforts to establish the fellowship decades earlier.
Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt (Fiction, Feel-Good, Family Secrets, Second Chances, Anthropomorphic Narrator, Multiple Perspectives)
In the sleepy town of Sowell Bay, Washington, Tova Sullivan stands on the precipice of a new life. There’s nothing left for her in her childhood home. Her husband is dead, and her son Erik drowned many years ago. With her grief threatening to consume her, Tova considers how she’s going to move on while finding comfort in her job at the local aquarium. She’s made friends with an intelligent octopus, Marcellus, who also provides his perspective on the matter. Especially adept at crawling out of his tank, Marcellus is searching for meaning as he comes to terms with the end of his own short life. Additionally, Cameron Cassmore, a Californian in Sowell Bay looking for his lost father, and Ethan Mack, a grocery-store owner who fancies Tova, also take turns telling the story.
The Secret Life of Albert Entwistle by Matt Cain (Fiction, Second Chances, Self-Discovery, Bittersweet, Heartwarming)
Anonymity is the only way Albert Entwistle knows how to live his life. People in his quiet Northern England town know he is a postman and that’s about it. When Albert learns he is being forced into retirement before his 65th birthday, an uncertain future stretches out before him with routine or people to fill his days. After receiving even more devastating news, he realizes it's finally time to be honest about who he is. He must learn to ask for what he wants. And he must find the courage to look for George, the man that, many years ago, he lost--but has never forgotten. Keep the tissues handy for this one, folks.
Ellie and the Harpmaker by Hazel Prior (Fiction, Feel-Good, Neurodiversity, Unlikely Friendship, Family Secrets)
Ellie Jacobs walks in the English countryside to clear her head. While taking such a walk on the anniversary of her beloved father’s death, she stumbles across a Celtic harp workshop run by the eclectic and charming Dan Hollis. After returning home, she can’t get the idyllic setting or the quirky proprietor out of her head. She strikes up a friendship with him, and even learns how to play the harp herself, but can’t figure out why she feels the need to keep her new friendship a secret from her husband. Secrets continue to snowball until the discovery of one could lead to the ending of more than one relationship.
