The Soul of an Octopus

 The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration into the Wonder of Consciousness by Sy Montgomery, 261 pages.

This book was recommended to me by a professor in college, which means I have truly been meaning to read it since approximately 2018, but I am so glad I finally did! This book is in many ways very similar to Secrets of the Octopus, a different book by the same author I reviewed earlier this year, but the focus still felt very different. Where the later published Secrets of the Octopus was more focused on octopus facts, this book has a more emotional focus. It is clear on every page that Montgomery truly loves her subject, and it is hard not to feel the same by the end of this beautiful book.

Which isn't to say that you don't learn a whole lot of factual information about octopuses in this book, it's a treasure trove of information! I learned less because I had recently read Sy Montgomery more National Geographic style book, but I still frequently found myself both amazed and genuinely touched. I would say I recommend this book to octopus fans, but I think anyone who didn't start as one would be by the time they finished. So perhaps a better specific recommendation is for anyone interested in different ways of being alive.