May 9
I accidentally posted this review a few months ago when it was half finished. It took me a long time to finish writing up my section because it’s hard to review such a monster of a book (monster in length and heaviness of content). I finally got around to finishing my review. Book Worm and I reviewed it together and she was much better and wrapping up her review in a timely manner. Here’s what we thought about the book: Read more
May 6
Book Worm is charging ahead with her reading of the Bailey’s Prize nominees. Here’s what she thought of The Glorious Heresies: Read more
In what is an admittedly self-serving post, I’d like to let our readers know that I will be attending Book Expo this year and am looking for your helpful tips. The giant book convention will take place May 11-May 14 in Chicago. It will be my first time attending and I’m looking for helpful tips and suggestions. I did not register for the bloggers convention but have been debating whether I should try and register for that when I arrive. For those of you have been before, what things do you recommend? Should I attend the bloggers convention on the first day or just wander around exploring on my own?
I’ve been looking forward to attending this all year. My birthday happens to fall in May so I justified taking a week off from my day job as a birthday present to myself.
I’ll be blogging about my experience attending the event and would love to meet up with any fellow bloggers. If you are planning on attending and want to meet up, let me know. I love meeting readers and fellow bloggers! I will be your loyal friend for life if any of you want to join me for lunch or dinner at a Rick Bayless restaurant (I also happen to be obsessed with Top Chef).
May 3
The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration into the Wonder of Consciousness by Sy Montgomery
Published in: 2015
National Book Award Finalist
Rating: 4 stars + a favorite
Reviewed by Jen
Find it/buy it here: The Soul of an Octopus
Sy Montgomery’s The Soul of an Octopus is part memoir and part exposé on the world of octopuses. It was nominated for the National Book Award last year although it lost out to Coates’ Between the World and Me. When I first heard about the book, I was intrigued. I love learning about animals and the only thing I knew about octopuses was that they were considered incredibly intelligent.
Who knew that octopuses could be so interesting ― enough so that a whole book about them would fascinate me? Montgomery’s book was a pleasure. I don’t typically read a lot of nonfiction but this book drew me in and made me fall in love with a creature I had previously found quite repulsive. The book is filled with a mix of scientific facts about octopuses and the author’s emotional reactions to them.
Much of the book is based on the author’s experience interacting with a variety of octopuses behind the scenes at the New England Aquarium, although she also pulls in anecdotes from the Seattle Aquarium’s Octopus blind date night (yes, they actually do this and you can watch a video here), and scuba diving in Polynesian waters.
The book is incredibly informative and surprisingly touching. The author describes a plethora of people who have been really touched by their interactions with these smart and personable creatures. Several adolescents seem particularly affected by their interactions with the New England Aquarium octopuses and one girl even claims that her interactions saved her from spiraling into a dark depression after a friend’s suicide.
This book will be a favorite for me but I only gave it 4 stars because I was bothered by two things. First, the author often attributes human emotions, intentions, and thoughts to these octopuses. She does so in a way that reflects her interpretation of their behavior but I found it to be an irritating contrast to the scientific data she presented. This isn’t to say that I don’t believe octopus have such feelings, but rather I don’t believe we can interpret them based on our own thoughts. To be fair, Montgomery doesn’t do this too much but, when she does, it stands out in a bad way.
Second, and most problematic, was that there is one chapter dedicated to her consideration of buying an octopus as a pet. It is hard for me to understand how someone who is so clearly infatuated with a wild animal, would think it appropriate to contribute to a trade that captures them and sells them for personal amusement. If you truly believe that octopuses have unique personalities and use their intelligence to escape their small containers, then how could you possibly think it ethically acceptable to keep one inside your home?
Normally, these two drawbacks would have prevented me from enjoying the book, yet I was still loved it. Any book that is able to move me from being repulsed to wanting to touch an octopus is pretty powerful. Some of the anecdotes brought tears to my eyes and I can honestly say that I will never be able to order octopus at a restaurant again.
Want to try it for yourself? You can find it your copy here: The Soul of an Octopus
We want to hear from you! Have you read this book? What did you think? If you haven’t read it, does it interest you?
May 2
Over the winter we hosted a scavenger hunt challenge. One item on the list was a book with beautiful cover. Participants were competing against each other to find (and read) the book with the most beautiful book cover. Now we need your help to pick the winner! The winner of this item will get to take home a beautiful Folio Society edition of a favorite book. Keep reading to vote on which book cover you think is the most beautiful. Read more
May 2
Has it come to this “great American novel?” Are you cliche? Are we? I know one thing, this book is.
May 1
Time for our April recap. Find out which books were favorites, which were duds, and which ones we are most looking forward to the following month. We’ll end our wrap up with a a list of books due out in May and a glimpse of our upcoming content. We also want to hear from you so let us know what you read this month and what you look forward to reading next month.
Read more
Apr 27
Two joint reviews in a row! Book Worm and I are on a roll. Were we more aligned on this book? Keep reading to find out. Read more
Apr 26
It’s time for another joint review. This time, Book Worm and I both read House of Leaves. We had pretty different reactions to the book. One of us loved it and the other thought it was just okay. Can you guess which one of us loved it? Read more
Apr 25
This weekend I decided in the spur of the moment to take part in Dewey’s 24-Hour Readathon. The readathon took place Saturday from 8am EST to 8am EST on Sunday. 1950 readers participated in the event across various platforms including Facebook, twitter, instagram, book tube, and various blogging platforms sites.
It was my first every readathon and I clearly had no idea what I was doing. I have to admit that my first thought when I heard about it was that it was rather silly. I mean I read a lot already, did I really need to try to set aside a day for reading. I was wrong because it was so much more than just a bunch of people sitting alone in their houses reading. The day was filled with mini challenges and fun activities and conversation via various social media sites.
Of course I did it all wrong since I didn’t prepare at all. I picked the wrong book(s) to read, I didn’t protect my time, and I didn’t plan out food/snacks. Here’s what my day looked like:
8-9am: Started reading. Book selected – House of Leaves by Mark Danielewski. Trust me – this was the wrong book to pick.
9am-10: Found out my 5-year old needed cleats for soccer practice. Went to store in a panic to buy cleats. Zero reading
10-11am: Got my daughter ready for soccer. Zero reading
11-12pm: Soccer practice. I took a book with me but ran into other parents and spent the hour talking to them and watching soccer practice. 5 year olds playing soccer is amusing to watch. Zero reading.
12-1pm: Had lunch. Zero reading
1-3pm: Cleaned the house because family were coming over for dinner later. Zero reading
3-4pm: Reading! I actually was able to read for the whole hour while my daughter played downstairs
4-5pm: Set the table, played with my daughter. Zero reading
5-8pm: Dinner. Family came over. Zero reading.
8-3am: Reading! For the first time all day I had time to sit for more than an hour and read. I finished House of Leaves (our joint review to follow later this week). I started Love in a Cold Climate by Nancy Mitford.
3-7:30am: Sleeping. I’m past the age where all-nighters are appealing or possible. I normally go to sleep around 10 – 11pm so 3am was an accomplishment.
7:30-8am. Read more of Love in a Cold Climate.
Total tally: I read 1.5 books for a total of 660 pages. House of Leaves was 705 pages but I had already read 100 pages before I started. Some of those last pages were an “index” and images. I managed an extra 55 pages of my second book.
As you can see, I did a terrible job of reserving time to read. I happen to be a very fast reader so I was able to read quite a few pages despite not reading for the majority of the day. House of Leaves was probably the worst book to pick in terms of cleaning up my TBR. I did really enjoy it (Book Worm and I differed on this as you will see this week) but it’s a hard book to breeze through with all the formatting styles — having to get up and look at passages in the mirror and work my way through the crazy maze like sections.
Overall it was really fun because of all the extras. I did check in to social media (twitter, Facebook, goodreads) throughout the day to see how others were doing and to participate in a few of the mini challenges. I saw a few of you, our lovely readers and fellow bloggers, posting answers too!
The hosts of the event did a great job, as did all the volunteers. They have organized a second one for October 22, 2016 and this time around, I’d like to prepare in advance. Maybe some of you will also join us? I’ve debated whether or not we (Book Worm and I) should volunteer to host a mini challenge for the next one.
We want to hear from you. Did you participate in this readathon? How did you do? Would you want to participate in the future?
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