The County Library discussion

The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration Into the Wonder of Consciousness by Sy Montgomery

Do octopuses have personalities? Did you know that octopuses is the correct plural form? Please feel free to add your first thoughts and impressions of the book here.

For those who have not seen the video, My Octopus Teacher is available streaming on Netflix. It won Best Documentary at last year's Academy Awards. Its well worth the time.

So we're reading The Soul of an Octopus in April? Am I reading this right?
It sounds fascinating. And now I need to look up that documentary, Debbie.

Is this just for the Daybreak library or for everyone in the Library goodreads group?

In the Start Here thread, she said anyone is welcome.

With Goodreads, anyone can attend virtually, but it is run from our new (hopefully soon to open) Daybreak branch! Hence, the title Daybreak Online Book Club.

My first thoughts about The Soul of an Octopus from reading the description and title, were that octopuses are interesting, a little scary, some people eat them...NOT ME, and I was intrigued by the idea of an octopus with a soul, a personality, and intelligence.

I already have enough books on slate for April, but if it works for the summer challenge, I'll read it then.

My first thought, based on the title, was that Octopuses are awesome and a little bit scary, because they are so smart. My favorite octopus story is that there was an octopus in a lab, and the lab tech fed it some shrimp, and a few minutes later something hit him in the back of the head. The Octopus he was feeding found a bad shrimp, in the bucket that he gave him, OPENED THE ENCLOSURE, found the SPECIFIC labtech who fed him, and then BOOM! Nailed him with the bad shrimp. Like, that is super smart - and creepy, that it was able to do that.

What!! Sounds like my kind of octopus. That's what you get when you serve bad food.

This was a very intriguing book! So cool to learn more about them, their habits, how intelligent, and fun they really are. After Sy's descriptions of her interactions with them, I want to go to the aquarium and spend all day with an octopus.
Sy also mentioned that people don't want to know how they are different from octopuses, but how they are the same - so we can better relate. But I was fascinated by how different they are from us. How their tentacles each work, how they can be affectionate, how dutiful they are when it comes to their eggs, how they can be professional escape artists, and how each do have their own personalities. This book gave me a different perspective on octopus, as well as other sea creatures she discussed in the book.

I agree, I loved reading about the personalities of the octopuses Sy met, and how much information they get from the suckers on their tentacles.

I won't be reading the book until later, but the part you mention about personalities is fascinating. Years ago hubby and I went to Seaside, Oregon where there is a small, privately owned, aquarium. One of the animals in the aquarium was a Giant Pacific Octopus. The animal loved little girls, liked women, and pretty much ignored males of all ages. When hubby and I arrived, we were the only ones there. As I walked around it's enclosure one way, hubby walked the other way. It followed me. Then a little girl, maybe 8 or 9 came in and the octopus shot across it's enclosure and started interacting with her. I thought it was so cute with her. The owner of the aquarium said he has no idea why the octopus is so fascinated by females. I don't know if the octopus was male or female.

Great book. Also realized the author has written several picture books, a couple of which my kids have read. Clearly I need to get more of them for my animal-obsessed children!

Awesome! I was surprised at how much I loved her story and the octopuses. :)

Here's her children's book about octopuses:
The Octopus Scientists: Exploring the Mind of a Mollusk by Sy Montgomery
We have that at the Salt Lake County Library!

I was sad to read that octopuses suffer dementia at the end of their lives. I don't like it that humans get dementia, but I guess I wish it was only humans. I really liked Octavia and how she protected her eggs and connected with her humans as long as she could.

Any one else have a particular octopus they liked?

The new Daybreak branch has it's Grand Opening on April 30, 10-4. Egggggsssss-cited.

Thank you!
We're happy to see excitement for the grand opening on the 30th.

Here's a link on our website for the event:
https://slcls.libnet.info/salt-lake-c...

Please do keep further comments here focused on the books.
Thanks, again.

I've just stumbled across this group, and have placed the book on hold. My first impression is that I know octopuses are cool, but I'm not so enthralled as to be too excited about reading nonfiction for pleasure. BUT...I've been pleasantly surprised in the past when reading something I would never have picked up without outside influence, including nonfiction. So I'll give it a go.

Welcome, Heather!

I hope The Soul of an Octopus is another pleasant surprise for you :)

Any final thoughts about The Soul of an Octopus?

For myself, I was excited to read about an entirely 'alien' intelligence that developed in the sea, that has personality I didn't know about, and adds to my concern for our care of the oceans.

Please feel free to add a comment, whether you just took a dip or completely finished the book. I count unique commenters to track participation in the club. Thanks.