I feel as though I should have read the first one though. I didn't realise that this one was a follow-up. I feel thGreat book to finish out the year.
I feel as though I should have read the first one though. I didn't realise that this one was a follow-up. I feel that my experience of her complete story suffered because of it. Although she briefly revisited the terrible things that her father put her through, I assume that she went through more detail in the first one. This was a great read (or listen as I grabbed the audiobook), but was mostly made up of events after the previous novel, her break up of a nearly 20-year relationship, and becoming a commentator. It was also made up of a lot of posts and comments from Instagram. Still very interesting, but I will grab the first one for a bit more context.
A great listen though, and I have no doubt it will help many people in similar circumstances, which is a major part of the purpose. I wish her all the best on her journey. ...more
This was an enjoyable book about a couple of friendly octopuses (yes that is the correct plural term, I looked it up!) and an extremely enthusiastic oThis was an enjoyable book about a couple of friendly octopuses (yes that is the correct plural term, I looked it up!) and an extremely enthusiastic octopus-loving author.
Sy Montgomery also narrates the audio version of this non-fiction memoir about her time at the New England Aquarium with these octopuses over a period of a few years. Why a few years? Because they only live to be a few years old. Did I teach you something new? Because I had no idea they had such short lives! This book really taught me a lot that I had no clue about, nor would I have particularly cared about prior to listening if I'm honest.
But wow, octopuses are pretty amazing creatures. For such a short life, they make quite an intelligent package. And I am amazed at their ability to manoeuvre themselves through extremely tight spaces!
Did you know that octopuses need a lot of intellectual stimulation and can solve complex puzzles? It blew my mind how strange these creatures are!
As fascinating as some of these octopus facts were, this book however, didn't amaze me. I enjoyed it and found it fascinating at times, but I feel maybe it would have been a bit better with some visuals, as a documentary or something. I'm not sure if there are any visuals in the paper version, I couldn't find any files in the audio one.
What did I think of the audio? I enjoyed the narrator, and I always give extra points when an author narrates their own work and does a good job!
Something about it just fell flat for me. I'm not sure exactly what it was. I was expecting/hoping to get completely WOWed about the consciousness aspect, and sure it had some very interesting moments and theories, but I was left feeling slightly underwhelmed. There was a lot of the authors speculations about the motives behind the behaviours of the octopuses.
It did however inspire a video search of octopuses on YouTube and I found some AMAZING documentaries and videos and was blown away by some of them. I wouldn't have even thought to look them up prior to reading this book.
Would I Recommend The Soul of an Octopus? It was an enjoyable, educational and somewhat touching story. It didn't grip me as I was expecting, but I still enjoyed it and it inspired me to want to learn more about these creatures. If you like this kind of book then I am sure you will enjoy it too.
* I purchased The Soul of an Octopus at my own expense on audible.com...more
I was listening to a podcast that some friends of mine recommended called "My Favorite Murder". If you haven't heard of it, it's a true crime podcast I was listening to a podcast that some friends of mine recommended called "My Favorite Murder". If you haven't heard of it, it's a true crime podcast mixed with some (mostly tasteful) sarcastic comedy by two American comedians Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstack. I have never really been into true crime, but I decided to give the podcast a try. During one of their (extremely long) intros, they mentioned this book and how it FREAKED them out because it was about a killer in California who raped 50+ women and killed 10 people that they know of, and he was NEVER CAUGHT! Something about the way they were talking about it peaked my interest and I decided to give the audio book a try. Well, I could not stop listening to the story of the East Area Rapist, or as the author penned him, the "Golden State Killer". I had never heard of him before.
So a brief rundown, the 1970's in Sacramento California was not a good time to be a woman. Numerous rapists were rampant in the area, and perhaps the most prolific was the East Area Rapist (EAR) or the Original Night Stalker, who terrorised over 50 women, and killed 10 (that they know of). He had a particular MO, he would stalk the whole neighbourhood first, ring the victims and neighbours weeks before he would attack. He would know where they were, who was home, and he would pick his night and attack. After the first bout of attacks it was reported that he only ever attacked women who were home alone or with children, never when a man was in the house, and the media were urging women to never be home alone. So then he started attacking couples, tying up the man with rope leaving him helpless and incapacitated while he dragged the woman to another room and attacked her. He eventually graduated to murdering the couples, and also attacked and murdered some women on their own. He went quiet for a while in the early 1980s, and committed his final murder (that they know of) in 1986. Then, nothing. In 2001 the media reported on the cold case and speculated if he was alive or dead, and he CALLED ONE OF HIS VICTIMS! In 2001!!!
So, was he still alive now? Where was he? Who was he? There were so many theories out there about who he could possibly be? His background? Was he in the armed forces? The navy? The police? Nobody had ANY IDEA of who this guy could be.
Michelle's book was fantastic. I had never read a true crime book before and this was absolutely enthralling! In audio, the narrator was amazing. It had the right amount of tension to create amazing suspense, and I must admit I was freaked out. Something about the knowledge that this was real life and he was probably still out there. Had he read this book? Did he read it and laugh to himself? Happy that he had killed all those people and got away with it?
This is the stuff nightmares are made of people!
After listening to it and becoming a little bit obsessed, browsing forums and websites on the killer and theories of who/where he could be now. I'm sure my family became slightly worried about how obsessed I was - going on and on about this case. I could easily understand just by reading Michelle's book just how easy it is to get pulled into the case like she was. Speculating like an amateur detective! At the end of the book there was a lot of talk about DNA, and how this was probably the best way they were going to be able to catch this man. It was utterly fascinating. By putting his DNA profile into those sites like ancestory or 23 and me, they would hopefully one day find him or a distant relative, and be able to finally find this scumbag!
The author passed away prior to this books release, her husband (comedian Patton Oswalt) commissioned some other crime writers to help finish it. And I'm so glad they did.
So there I was, obsessing over this book and reading about the case for TWO WEEKS, telling everyone to read this book, that it was so exciting and a TRUE STORY! I was watching the news with my family one night, having literally just had ANOTHER conversation with my Dad about this killer and a new aspect of the case I didn't realise, and then all of a sudden an international story popped up, about a cold case over in California. A man who raped 50 women and killed 10 people, dubbed the east area rapist or golden state killer was FINALLY CAUGHT! A photo of an old man popped up on our TV here in Australia. It was the man that I had been reading about for the last two weeks. The Golden State Killer was caught using the very DNA technology mentioned in the book.
I cannot describe the awesome reading experience this was. I imagine it will be extremely hard to beat this. Literally two weeks after I was reading and obsessing about this book, the killer was caught. I have never been so elated about a book and the aftermath before! Then followed more weeks of following the developments in this case, he was a police officer, and in the navy, and there were so many things about his life that fit together like a killer jigsaw puzzle. I doubt I will ever have such good timing ever again. It was the most amazing reading experience. I will never forget it!
Would I recommend I'll Be Gone in the Dark?
Absolutely! What an awesome introduction for me into true crime. Although now the killer has been caught I imagine it may take away a bit of the scary aspect from the story, it is still an amazing true tale, written so well and so articulately, putting you on the edge of your seat. It is such a shame that Michelle McNamara never lived to see this guy caught.
I purchased 'I'll Be Gone in the Dark' at my own expense at audible.com...more
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