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

Yesterday I set off on a one mile walk with my dog and this audiobook - that mile became four because I didn't want to stop listening. I made dinner and listened. I ate dinner and listened. Tucked in my bed I listened into the wee hours. I woke up, brushed my teeth and listened. In short, I am completely hooked by this audiobook. This is a warm, intelligent, funny, empathic outreach tale. 

Mostly it's about her experiences with the resident octopuses of the New England Aquarium as well as the other residents, keepers, and fellow enthusiasts. 

These cold creatures need more people like Sy Montgomery writing on their behalf. I consider myself an animal person, but I would have never attributed companion behavior to snakes and sharks. I had thought of them as robotic. 

I was wrong. 

Octopuses, I had known were intelligent and clever but I hadn't thought of them as companionable. After all, these are self-raised creatures of the dangerous dark depths, solitary and mysterious. So why are they so touchy, gregarious, friendly, and gently, thoughtfully inquisitive? 

The Battle Royal it takes for an octopus to reach maturity would have knocked the nice right out of me. The answer postulated in the book: Their intelligence is not our intelligence. A simple answer to a fathom of possibilities and complications. An octopus evolved based on a different set of needs. None of this kept Sy from reaching out and taking me with her. 

Warm is the word I keep returning to in my mind, this is a warm story. Her voice, animal descriptions, friendships, really everything but the icy Pacific water and its inhabitants, lol. 

I didn't want this to end. 

I'm starting it over then giving it to my mother for Christmas.