The Soul of an Octopus by Sy Montgomery

5/5 stars

What's it about? Sy Montgomery makes friends with octopuses in this exploration of the soul and of the diversity of consciousness on Earth. A hug of a book that I was ready to dismiss but couldn’t help but admire for its spirit and openness to discovery.

How’d I find it? My spouse says this book was given to him to prove the cruelty of eating mollusks. It’s effective — you’ll never want calamari again.

Who will enjoy this book? If you’re constantly watching documentaries on Netflix or anything narrated by David Attenborough, this read is for you. A fiction readalike? The Overstory by Richard Powers or The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler.

What stood out? Montgomery inhabits her project by befriending cephalopods, learning to dive, and becoming entangled in the happenings of the New England Aquarium. I appreciated the memoir approach to consciousness as a subject. Blending personal experience and science, The Soul of an Octopus is a human book about something beyond our species.

Which line made me feel something? “Perhaps, I muse, this is the pace at which the Creator thinks, in this weighty, graceful, liquid manner — like blood flows, not like synapses fire. Above the surface, we move and think like wiggly children, or like teens who twitch away at their computer-phones, multitasking but never focusing. But the ocean forces you to move more slowly, more purposefully, and yet more pliantly.”

Waterlog by Roger Deakin

5/5 stars

What’s it about? Roger Deakin recounts his adventures swimming the waters of Britain in this enchanting diary of nature, humanity, and longing for lost places. A fervent must-read.

How’d I find it? I read an excellent review by Leanne Shapton in Harper’s and rushed out to Solid State Books to buy a copy.

Who will enjoy this book? The following works and writers found in Waterlog offer the perfect readalikes: Robert Macfarlane, who authors this edition’s afterword; Tarka the Otter by Henry Williamson; and The Peregrine by J. A. Baker. I add to these Rob Cowen’s Common Ground, one of my favorite books.

What stood out? Witty and vivid, Waterlog is a book that makes you want to breathe a little deeper and love a little harder. The “endolphins” created by wild swimming — described by Deakin as a revolt against “the official version of things” — stir in me a desire to go out and explore for myself. This book sticks with you, tunes you into yourself and your environment.

Which line made me feel something? “Striking out into the enormous expanse of cold sea, over the vast sands, I immerse myself like the fox ridding himself of his fleas. I leave my devils on the waves.”

The Sirens of Mars by Sarah Stewart Johnson

1/5 stars

How’d I find it? I came across this book at Politics & Prose and added it to my growing stack.

Why not 3 or more stars? I hesitate to tag this book as anything but memoir, despite the tantalizing subtitle of Searching for Life on Another World. The focus is Johnson herself, who is a scientist and female. That’s it. That’s the “edge” here. While the book roughly sketches out the history of Martian discovery, I wanted much more astronomy and fewer forced analogies between interplanetary exploration and motherhood.

Shrill by Lindy West

5/5 stars

What's it about? Lindy West reflects on the experience of being fat and female in America in a gem of an essay collection. Chock full of humor and darn good writing.

How’d I find it? As a nursing student, I am frequently on long drives between hospitals, campus, and home. Audiobooks get me through the commute. DC Library provided this one, entertaining me during traffic or while wolfing down lunch.

Who will enjoy this book? Fans of Mindy Kaling, Joel Golby, Rax King, and Jia Tolentino will appreciate, but probably most millennials as well? I feel like Lindy gets all my references.

What stood out? The essays "Death Wish" and "Slaying the Troll" deftly knit together wit, anguish, and sharp social commentary. You can also listen to West perform a version of "Slaying the Troll," in which she confronts an internet troll whose cruelty focuses on her late father, on This American Life. I honestly wanted to begin rereading this book the second I finished it.

Which line made me feel something? I have long struggled to pinpoint why certain jokes in comedy make me uncomfortable, and West lays it out expertly in "Death Wish:" "People...desperately want to believe that the engines of injustice run on outsized hate — stranger rapes in dark alleys, burning crossing and white hoods — but the reality is that indifference, bureaucracy, and closed-door snickers are far more plentiful fuels."

The Shift by Theresa Brown

3/5 stars

What's it about? Theresa Brown gives an inside look into the daily work of an oncology nurse. We follow her through the twelve hours of a shift as she juggles four patient’s needs on a busy hospital floor. Brown captures well the hectic pace of a nursing shift and the struggle to continuously advocate for patients in a complex decision-making environment.

How’d I find it? With nursing school at its end, I wanted to see what contemporary books had to say about nursing. My thanks to DC Library.

Who will enjoy this book? This read would most appeal to those interested in the medical field but who don’t know much about nursing, such as high school or college graduates.

What stood out? Experienced nurses can have a reputation for being disgruntled, and Brown does not shy away from commentary on her coworkers and how hospitals function. Some of the negativity would have been better invested in fleshing out the patients in this book or sharing more about Brown herself. Without a stronger human element, the tone of the book is sanitized, distant.

Which line made me feel something? On nursing as storm chasing: “As a child I experienced only wonder while running after flashes of rain; I saw a world, a heaven. Now, grown up, I try to draw on my child’s sense of awe and commitment as I help Sheila confront, perhaps, the end of her time on earth.”

Memorial Drive by Natasha Trethewey

2/5 stars

How’d I find it? On repetitive drives where I don’t have to check for directions, an audiobook is just the thing. I read this over a few days in both ebook and audiobook form thanks to DC Library.

Why not 3 or more stars? As a fan of Trethewey's poetry, I was excited to read this book. Poets who branch out to other genres are endlessly interesting to me (Hanif Abdurraqib and Ocean Vuong, for example). However, when I came across the word "wound" on the first page, I rightly feared that Memorial Drive was not my taste. I recognize that a page one "wound" is a strange pet peeve. But hear me out. Through my reading, I've discovered that writers with this word ready to drop at the jump typically rely on an arsenal of sensuous, relevant language that speaks to the culture of identity around which much of contemporary poetry revolves. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I find that if I pick apart the loveliness of the word choices in many of these types of books, there's not much else to recommend. That is the case here.

Wagnerism: Art and Politics in the Shadow of Music by Alex Ross

4/5 stars

What's it about? A thorough deep dive into the art of German composer Richard Wagner and the ripple effects of his life and work in culture, politics, and society. Alex Ross has undertaken a mammoth cataloging that impresses and engages.

How’d I find it? Pure kismet while browsing at East City Bookshop. There’s nothing I love more than finding a book I’d never heard of.

Who will enjoy this book? This tome isn't for slouches, so fans of classical music and Wagnerites would be the best suited to enjoy.

What stood out? Ross cleverly arranges this book, grouping themes into chapters (occult Wagnerism, for example) titled according to some aspect of a Wagner opera. I found this an approachable entry point into the density of the subject. Despite the comprehensive index and frequent mention of works with only peripheral or assumptive links to the composer, I was surprised the following didn't make the cut for Ross's analysis (as I wanted to hear his thoughts!): the Irish series Love/Hate, in which Luke kills a swan à la Parsifal, and Lars von Trier's 2011 film Melancholia, which showcases the prelude to Tristan and Isolde.

Which line made me feel something? "Wagner's misogyny, like his racism, can dissipate in the face of an unexplained force that erases distinctions and brings about transcendent unity. This force was music itself - the uncontrollable factor that foils any attempt to sum up what Wagner means, or, indeed, who he was."

The In-Between by Hadley Vlahos

2/5 stars

How’d I find it? An aspiring hospice nurse, I picked this up at DC Library to learn more about the specialty.

Why not 3 or more stars? The premise of this book captivates: a seasoned hospice nurse shares what she’s learned about death and whatever comes after. There’s not much meat here beyond Vlahos’s observations and anecdotes that read as if they’ve been told many times, which might be meal enough for some. I would have appreciated a deeper dive into the subject matter, supplementing the personal with an academic or historical perspective about the experience of death. What is the medical experience of death? How does practicing medicine affect the beliefs of health care practitioners? How can family members prepare for the end of life? All questions neither asked nor answered.

The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion

4/5 stars

What's it about? A heart-wrenching meditation on grief, loss, and marriage, Didion lays bare the aftermath of her husband's sudden passing and her daughter's long illness. Sparse and unforgettable.

How’d I find it? My spouse, a devout Didion fan, lent his copy. This is a book he gives regularly to bereaved loved ones.

Who will enjoy this book? There is no one quite like Joan Didion, but for those seeking similar subject matter, try Kat Chow's Seeing Ghosts. If you want to recreate the general feel of the book, try poet Ada Limón's The Carrying.

What stood out? The sheer intimacy of this book is astounding. I mourned John as I read. After finishing the last page and dabbing my eyes, I happened to notice that the letters for "John" are in a different color within the title on the cover. The crying resumed.

Which line made me feel something? The bursts of repetition broke me. "You're safe. I'm here." "You sit down to dinner and life as you know it ends." These recall the larger shared life between Didion and Dunne, making his loss all the more poignant.

Upstream by Mary Oliver

4/5 stars

What's it about? In this collection of selected essays, Mary Oliver offers insight into her life as a reader, writer, and human. Though most of the book focuses on nature and gratitude, a section devoted to literary criticism muses on Whitman, Wordsworth, Poe, and Emerson.

How’d I find it? My spouse received this is a Christmas gift and kindly let me read it first.

Who will enjoy this book? Fans of Walt Whitman, Annie Dillard, Ross Gay, and Aimee Nezhukumatathil’s World of Wonders

What stood out? Essays written by poets offer a buffet of language and sentiment, and Upstream is no exception. Oliver’s love for the world is potent and infectious; after sitting with this book, you’ll want to go for a walk. I find a current of sadness that runs beneath Oliver’s measured glimpses of her own life, but this makes the simple joys she describes, such as observing a resident spider feed, all the more special. The writing can be precious at times (think 2013’s Dog Songs), but the overall warmth of the reading experience makes those moments easy to overlook.

Which line made me feel something? “Once I put my face against the body of our cat as she lay with her kittens, and she did not seem to mind. So I pursed my lips against that full moon, and I tasted the rich river of her body.” Did…Mary Oliver admit to suckling a cat?