The Soul of an OctopusThe Soul of an Octopus
Score Modern
What it's about
Naturalist Sy Montgomery befriends octopuses with strikingly different personalities, from New England aquarium tanks to the reefs of French Polynesia, and finds creatures that escape enclosures, bounce balls with jets of water and trick their companions for food.
Why it's worth reading
It was a finalist for the National Book Award for Nonfiction.
You'll love it if you liked
Braiding Sweetgrass
An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us
H Is for HawkGood to know
It's nature writing.
By the numbers
- Readers19 out of 100 · counts 42%
- Critics28 out of 100 · counts 34% (its stronger lane)
- Bestseller21 out of 100 · counts 14%
- Buzz3 out of 100 · counts 10%
Critics and Bestseller are two ways to earn a place: a book's stronger one counts more. Buzz rewards recent bestseller weeks and prizes, so older books start at zero. The parts combine into the Must-Read Score, shown on a scale where the best book we found scores 99 and the last book to make the ranking scores 50.
Where it ranks
- #115 of the 119 science and ideas books we rank
- #1488 of the 1,647 modern books we rank
- #2789 of the 3,056 books we rank
Why it made the list
Reads as
True story, Thought-provoking
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Science and ideas booksTop 25 · 119 ranked
Modern booksTop 25 · 1,647 ranked
Books of the 2010sTop 25 · 751 ranked
Fantasy booksTop 25 · 504 ranked
Mysteries and thrillersTop 25 · 623 ranked
Literary novelsTop 25 · 325 ranked
Pulitzer Prize-winning novelsTop 25 · 63 ranked
Memoirs and biographiesTop 25 · 290 rankedQuick answers
Is The Soul of an Octopus worth reading?
Yes. It was a finalist for the National Book Award for Nonfiction. It ranks #2,789 of the 3,056 books in our ranking, with a Must-Read Score of 57.0 (the best book we found scores 99).
What is The Soul of an Octopus about?
Naturalist Sy Montgomery befriends octopuses with strikingly different personalities, from New England aquarium tanks to the reefs of French Polynesia, and finds creatures that escape enclosures, bounce balls with jets of water and trick their companions for food.
How long does it take to read The Soul of an Octopus?
About 7 hours (273 pages), or about 2 weeks at 30 minutes a day.
What should I read after The Soul of an Octopus?
If you liked it, try Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer, An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us by Ed Yong or H Is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald.