The Soul of an Octopus

 By Sy Montgomery

Atria     2016

272 pages     Zoology

I was in the middle of reading The Soul of an Octopus when my grandson and I arrived and the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago. The aquarium is a bit daunting to visit since there is no paper map or paper list of aquatic life to be found. So, I asked the nearest employee where we could find the octopuses. (By the way, the plural of octopus is indeed, octopuses. Learned that in the book.) She said that they only had one, but she took me to the tank where the octopus hung in the front corner where we could see its entire body. I was so excited that I read the rest of the book with enthusiasm.

And what an amazing discussion we had at book group. We all admitted that nature books would not be our first choice of genres, but The Soul of an Octopus was so brilliantly written that we took the deep dive into it and loved every minute.

Sy Montgomery is a naturalist and a nature writer. She has written several books about animals, including pigs, hummingbirds, turtles, tigers, and hawks. Many of her books are for children as well as adults, and she has traveled around the world exploring and discovering the richness of the animal world.

Most of The Soul of an Octopus takes place at the New England Aquarium in Boston, where Montgomery first was exposed to an octopus, and she basically fell in love with these strange, highly-intelligent shape-shifters. Montgomery documents her experiences with several inhabitants of the aquarium, and also shares the relationships she creates with the other volunteers at the aquarium. We learn a lot about those people who love the animals of the aquarium as much as she does.

One of the most interesting chapters in the book concerns Montgomery learning to deep sea dive. It is not an easy process for her, but reading about it is extraordinary. Here is what she says: “ At last, in the warm embrace of the sea, breathing underwater, surrounded by the octopus’s liquid world, my breath rising in silver bubbles like a song of praise; here I am.”   

I also watched the documentary, My Octopus Teacher, which is on Netflix. It won the Oscar for best documentary in 2020, and it compliments the book completely.

The Soul of an Octopus was a finalist for the National Book Award, and is a terrific read. I heartily recommend it.

Leadership by Example

 By Frank Sonnenberg

Kindle Direct     2023

277 pages     Self-Help

The Shortlist

The subtitle of Leadership by Example is “Be a role model who inspires greatness in others.” It is an incredible compendium of short life lessons for leaders of all sorts. Of course, I looked at the book from the standpoint of educational leadership, which is my own life experience. I tried to figure out who should read this book and who should I recommend read this book.

The best thing that I noticed as I looked through the book is that the chapters are very short, and everything in the book is divided up into brief sayings or mantras. For example, in the chapter about making errors, Sonnenberg outlines 30 sources of unforced errors. All of them are identifiable. Here is one sample: “Rushing around. There’s a big difference between acting quickly and rushing around aimlessly. The former is deliberate, the latter haphazard.”

“Yeah.” You say. “I’ve been there. I’ve done that!” There lies the good of the book. A leader could read a chapter a day or even one short paragraph a day and be inspired to change behavior and make better decisions.

Sonnenberg has written 10 books about leadership. I’m thinking about who might appreciate receiving this ARC from me.

Leadership by Example is published tomorrow.

Austin Noir

Edited By Hopeton Hay, Scott Montgomery, Molly Ordintz.

Akashic     2023

296 pages     Noir

I haven’t read any Noir for quite a while, so I was excited to pick up Austin Noir. I spent several days on a trip to Austin probably 15 years ago, so I was eager to see if my memories were represented in the stories in this volume. And indeed they were. Lady Bird Lake, where we attended a wedding (the reason for our trip), the bats under the Congress Avenue Bridge, as well as the downtown entertainment district are all in the book. Here are the stories:

*Part I - Crossfire
The pink monkey by Gabino Iglesias
Stunts by Ace Atkins
Reflections by Amanda Moore
The Good Neighbor by Jeff Abbott
A Thousand Bats on an Austin Night by Scott Montgomery
*Part II - Nothing I can do about it now
Rush Hour by Richard Z. Santos
Sapphire Blue by Alexandra Burt
Charles Bronson by Lee Thomas
Saving by Miriam Kuznets
A Time and Place by Jacob Grovey
*Part III
The Foundation by Chaitali Sen
Michael’s Perfect Penis by Molly Odintz
Stitches by Amy Gentry
Bangface vs. Cleaning Solutions, LLC by Andrew Hilbert

 I thought the stories represented the city well. I got a big kick out of “Michael’s Perfect Penis” by Molly Odintz, one of the book’s editors, although it is probably more a Neo-Noir story than actual noir. I enjoyed “A Thousand Bats on an Austin Night” by Scott Montgomery simply because I could visualize exactly where the story was taking place. And, of course, I had to read “Saving” by Miriam Kuznets, because she is named Miriam. It is a very good story. Oh, and by the way, lots of people will recognize the craziness of “Stitches” and the college scene as remembered by Amy Gentry. I was impressed that even at the darkest moments in the stories, the authors were still able to capture the vibrancy of the city of Austin.

I am always fascinated by what authors and publishers consider to be noir. And I know that readers feel that way as well. I wrote an essay for my site several years ago about Noir and Neo-Noir. It remains one of my most-read entries. Here it is.

Akashic has just sent me two noir books coming out this fall—one set in East Jerusalem and the other set in West Jerusalem. Look for my reviews later. I just love this series. Anywhere you want to visit, check out the noir versions of the city before you go. There’s a book for that!

Retribution

 By Robert McCaw

Oceanview     2023

336 pages     Mystery

Retribution is the third Chief Detective Koa Kane novel I have read by Robert McCaw. All the novels take place in Hilo on the big Island of Hawaii, and all are police procedurals. What makes Retribution such a unique experience is the setting and the unique names of the characters. Most all of the main characters are native Hawaiians. This lends both charm and confusion, because few of the names are easy to remember.

Koa Kane is the Chief Detective of the Hilo police department. Although he is well-respected in the department and by the city prosecutors, he has a secret criminal past and a younger brother Ikaika, who has a troublesome past that is well known. Surgery on tumors in Ikaika’s brain has turned his mental health around, and he has been doing very well, much to his brother’s relief. Imagine Koa’s surprise when a young man is found dead in an alley with a knife recovered beside the body covered in Ikaika’s fingerprints. And that’s only the beginning.

It begins to appear that Koa is the real target of a series of crimes with several bodies piling up—all connected in some way to Koa. Most insidiously, Koa’s girlfriend, Natani, is the intended victim of a car bombing, which kills her co-worker and best friend, who had the misfortune to be driving Natani’s car. Additionally, Koa is having to contend with a new Assistant Chief Detective, Moreau, who thinks he knows it all when in actuality, he knows nothing. There’s something off about Moreau, and Koa begins to think that Moreau’s connection to Hilo’s mayor may have some significance. The reader begins to distrust Moreau as well.

Koa continues to impress the reader with his integrity, his foresight, and his intuition. It is his intuition that helps him realize that the fingerprints on the murder weapon are false, even though fingerprints are supposed to be foolproof evidence. He quickly sees the connection to all the murders and bombings, and also is able to move quickly when he is just given a couple of clues. Thus, the plot of Retribution seems to move quickly, and I turned pages quickly—or flipped the screen quickly, since I was reading it on a Kindle.

Again, Hawaii is a major character in the novel, and McCaw does a great job of helping us visualize this remarkable setting. We learn a bit about scientists searching for turtles and the technology they use in their search. We learn about the volcanic activity and how some Hawaiian roads are constantly having to be cleared of rubble. We also learn that native Hawaiian narcotic drinks are much better than beer, even though the beer may be local.

I think that I enjoyed Retribution the most of all the McCaw novels I have read, and I believe this is because the plot moves quickly and Koa Kane moves just as quickly to get to the heart of the situation. There is less back story to wade through, and that contributes to the pace of the book. Several reviewers complained about the incorporation of Hawaiian slang. One said, “Although I suspect this was done not only to add realism but to show respect for Indigenous Hawaiians, it seems excessive here.” Actually, I got a kick out of the slang and tried to figure out how to pronounce it. Prior to reading Retribution, all I could pronounce was Aloha.

The other books that I have read are Off the Grid and Fire and Vengeance.  His books do not need to be read in order. Robert McCaw’s website. Retribution is released today. So glad the publicist gave me the opportunity to read it.