Nevermore: Soul of an Octopus, Birdwatcher's Daily Companion, Silver Alert, On Time

 

Reported by Rita

The Soul of an Octopus by Sy Montgomery tells of the time spent by the author studying octopuses and the relationships she developed with each magnificent creature. The book is full of interesting facts and amazing discoveries about the consciousness of the octopus and their interactions with humans as well as other creatures. Several book club members have passed this book around happily. Our current reader said it touched her soul. KM

Birdwatcher’s Daily Companion: 365 Days of Advice, Insight, and Information for Enthusiastic Birders by Marcus H. Schneck and Tom Warhol is a great source of interesting bird facts and identifications. It also includes projects you can do at home to help birds. This is a very handy guide for anyone interested in birds, according to our reader. MS

Silver Alert by Lee Smith is about a young woman who moves to Key West to flee a dark past and start over as a manicurist. After developing a relationship with an elderly client, things get complicated. While our reader thought it was kind of cute and a quick read, she didn’t find it very relatable. MH

On Time: How America Has Learned to Live Life by the Clock by Carlene E. Stephens tells the story of the beginning of time keeping. This Smithsonian Institution work is beautifully illustrated with old time pieces, includes many interesting facts on this history of clocks, and was very much enjoyed by our reader. WJ

 

Also Mentioned:

Hummingbird Gifts by Sy Montgomery

Leaning Into the Wind: Women Write from the Heart of the West by Elinda M. Hasselstrom (Editor), Gaydell Collier (Editor), Nancy Curtis (Editor)

Ripper by Isabel Allende

The Questions That Matter Most: Reading, Writing, and the Exercise of Freedom by Jane Smiley

Wish You Well by David Baldacci

Subpar Parks by Amber Shore (E-book only on TN READS)

How the Post Office Created America: A History by Winifred Gallagher

Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media by Edward S. Herman, Noam Chomsky

Killing Me by Michelle Gagnon

 

New Book:

The Story of Becoming Piney Flats by Robert Sorrell

Nevermore: Soul of an Octopus, One of Us Is Lying, Girl Called Samson

 

Reported by Garry

 

Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration into the Wonder of Consciousness by Sy Montgomery – A favorite of our Nevermore group, this book follows Montgomery as she travels the world learning about the variety and astounding nature of these eight armed creatures. Highly intelligent, able to teach each other, and capable of changing not only the color but texture of their skin, octopuses are amazing creatures that are seem out of this worldly alien when compared with humans. Our reader loved this slim volume, and many of our group heartily recommend it.  KM

 

One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus. Labelled as The Breakfast Club meets Pretty Little Liars, this murder mystery revolves around five high-school students: Bronwyn, Addy, Nate, Cooper, and Simon who are all in detention for various reasons. One winds up dead, and suspicion quickly falls on the remaining four students, whose lives are far more intertwined than initially apparent, with secrets to kill (or die) for. This YA novel delivers excitement and thrills, and comes highly recommended by our reader.  MP

 

A Girl Called Samson by Amy Harmon is a historical novel based in Massachusetts in the 1760s. Deborah Samson is bound out as an indentured servant when she is still a young girl, and when the US Civil War breaks out, she escapes, disguises herself as a man, and joins the Continental army. Facing the horrors of war and revolution, Deborah (who used her last name as her first), also discovers love and truths about herself. Fictionalized from real-life events, this novel captured our reader’s imagination and made her value the lives and contributions of women of the era even more.  AH

 

Also Mentioned:

 

Too Much Happiness by Alice Munro

Monticello: A Daughter and Her Father by Sally Cabot Gunning

Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty

Hugh Glass by Bruce Bradley

Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel

Clay's Quilt by Silas House

The Magic Kingdom by Russell Banks

The Guns of August by Barbara W. Tuchman

Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media by Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky

Palo Alto: A History of California, Capitalism, and the World by Malcolm Harris

Smithsonian American Table: The Foods, People and Innovations That Feed Us by The Smithsonian Institution

The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom

The Bonesetter's Daughter by Amy Tan

Empress of the Nile: The Daredevil Archaeologist Who Saved Egypt's Ancient Temples from Destruction by Lynne Olson

Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin by Timothy Snyder

The House Is On Fire by Rachel Beanland

Beyond That, the Sea by Laura Spence-Ash

 

New books:

 

The Golden Doves by Martha Hall Kelly

The Dutch Orphan by Ellen Keith

The Cuban Heiress by Chanel Cleeton

Things I Wish I Told My Mother by Susan Patterson and Susan DiLallo with James Patterson

Fellowship Point by Alice Elliot Dark

Pathogenesis: A History of the World in Eight Plagues by Jonathan Kennedy

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

Reviewed by Kristin

I never thought a book about octopuses would be interesting.  Sure, they are kind of cool and pretty to look at behind glass at an aquarium, but I couldn’t imagine reading an entire book about them.  However, a Nevermore book club reader absolutely raved about The Soul of an Octopus, so I decided to give it a try.  Sy Montgomery is a naturalist known for her non-fiction books for both adults and children, and I was pleasantly surprised by the depths she reached in this volume.

Montgomery forged a relationship with the New England Aquarium in Boston that allowed her behind the scenes and eventually earned her a volunteer badge with the grand title of “Octopus Observer.”  From Athena the giant Pacific octopus to tiny Karma, (only nine or ten pounds when she first arrived,) Montgomery learned that each octopus had a distinct personality and the intelligence to remember individual humans.

The author was amazed at how octopuses can gather so much information using their eight limbs and thousands of suckers.  Even their brains are so unlike other animals; while human brains have four lobes, octopus brains have as many as 50 to 75 lobes.  Not only that, but most of their neural activity is located in their arms.  It’s no wonder that an octopus’ front arms are fully capable of doing one thing while their back arms are doing something entirely different.  Very dexterous, octopuses are also known as accomplished escape artists.

I also learned that octopuses have a relatively short life span, perhaps only three or four years in captivity.  They may have much shorter lives in the open ocean where there are predators lurking behind every plant and rock.  While it may seem cruel to contain these creatures in an aquarium, Montgomery points out that aquarists acknowledge that they are changing the fate of the individual octopus, but promoting human knowledge of the wild creatures which will in turn protect their entire species.

Montgomery imbues her writing with such a sense of wonder that I was drawn into her experiences.  I can’t quite imagine what it must feel like to have my human arm explored by the tentacles of an octopus, but I can understand that it must be a very unique and sensational experience.

Nevermore: Flower Moon, Blizzard, Octopus, Burntown, Tennis Partner, Liberia

Reported by Ambrea

This week, Nevermore kicked things off with Killers of the Flower Moon:  The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann.  During the 1920s, some of the richest people in the world belonged to the Osage Indian nation of Oklahoma after oil was discovered beneath their land—and then many members of the tribe began to die under mysterious circumstances.  When local investigators attempted to intervene, they were killed.  When the death toll cracked 24, the FBI picked up the case and, under the direction of J. Edgar Hoover, used some of the latest investigative techniques to uncover a blood chilling conspiracy of epic proportions.  Our reader said she considered Killers of the Flower Moon to be captivating book.  She was equally enthralled by the crime narrative and the history of the Osage people, both of which Grann portrays to great effect.  She noted the book contained many, many names, which might make it a bit confusing; however, she highly recommended it to her fellow Nevermore readers.

Next, we took a look at Blizzard! by Jim Murphy, a short book that detailed the history of the 1888 blizzard that swamped the northeast United States.  Our reader enjoyed reading Murphy’s book.  Although she’d originally found it in the juvenile section of the library, she said the book isn’t just for young readers.  It’s incredibly detailed and precise, offering glimpses into history through the use of newspaper articles, personal accounts, photographs, and illustrations.  She was most fascinated by the effects of the 1888 blizzard, which resulted in monumental changes to how people observe, track, and record weather and how individual cities reacted to massive storms.  She said she greatly enjoyed Murphy’s book, noting it had an impressive bibliography paired with an easy-to-read format that made it enjoyable and accessible.

Nevermore also explored Sy Montgomery’s latest book, The Soul of an Octopus:  A Surprising Exploration into the Wonder of Consciousness.  In her latest book, Montgomery immerses herself in the world of the octopus by visiting aquarium tanks in New England and reefs in French Polynesia and the Gulf of Mexico.  According to the jacket cover, “She…befriended octopuses with strikingly different personalities—gentle Athena, assertive Octavia, curious Kali, and joyful Karma.  Each creature shows her cleverness in myriad ways:  escaping enclosures like an orangutan; jetting water to bounce balls; and endlessly tricking companions with multiple ‘sleights of hand’ to get food.”  Our reader was particularly impressed by the intelligence of octopuses.  (And, yes, it is octopuses, not octopi, our reader assured us.  Octopus is Greek, so it get the –es at the end.)  She said they were fascinating creatures, and she noted that Montgomery provided so much information.  She highly recommended The Soul of an Octopus to our fellow readers, calling it interesting, informative, and entertaining.

We followed The Soul of an Octopus with Burntown by Jennifer McMahon.  Eva grew up watching her father invent strange, wonderful things; however, his greatest invention was one that he claimed came from Thomas Edison, a little machine that allowed one to speak to the dead.  But her father’s inventions can’t protect them for long.  In just one night, Eva loses her home, her father, and her brother and, together with her mother, she flees into the night.  Now hiding under the name Necco, Eva is still trying to put her past behind her—until her boyfriend is murdered and her mother disappears.  For Eva, the past can’t stay buried forever.  Our reader said she enjoyed reading Burntown.  The novel skipped around quite a lot, which sometimes confused her, but it had a good, psychologically complex story that kept her hooked from the first chapter.  She recommended it to her fellow mystery/suspense readers, saying it was well worth reading.

Next, Nevermore revisited The Tennis Partner:  A Doctor’s Story of Friendship and Loss by Abraham Verghese.  In this memoir, Verghese tells the story of his relationship with David Smith.  Verghese, who is weathering the implosion of his marriage, and Smith, a medical student recovering from drug addiction, begin a tennis ritual that gives them the unexpected freedom to share their deepest, most personal struggles.  Despite their intimate friendship, Smith and Verghese’s relationship is stretched to the limits when the addictions of David’s past rear their ugly head.  According to our reader, The Tennis Partner was a “very good book.”  Intimate, thoughtful, and insightful, Verghese’s memoir was beautiful heart-breaking and unexpectedly searing.

Last, Nevermore read Mighty Be Our Powers:  How Sisterhood, Prayer, and Sex Changed a Nation at War by Leymah Gbowee.  In 2003, Gbowee was trapped in a nightmarish marriage and caught in the midst of a violent Civil War that tore Liberia apart.  But Gbowee and other women refused to back down, organizing and leading the Liberian Mass Action for Peace, a coalition which organized Christian and Muslim women to sit in public protest against Liberian’s ruthless president and rebel warlords.  Our reader read Gbowee’s memoir in conjunction with Madame President:  The Extraordinary Journey of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf by Helene Cooper, diving right into the tumultuous history of Liberia.  She said both books were wonderful, but Gbowee’s memoir was heart-wrenching, hopeful, and incredibly interesting.  It was, our reader agreed with the cover, a “gripping chronicle of a journey from hopelessness to empowerment…”