New York Times Best Seller. The Soul of an Octopus is on the Times’ Animals Best Sellers list for June at number 10 — but surely number 8 would make more sense.
The New York Times Sunday Book Review writes about the Octopus book surfacing on the Best Seller list — “Hugs and Kisses: Among the usual paeans to dogs and other cuddly creatures on the monthly animals best-seller list, there’s also a more surprising tribute: “The Soul of an Octopus,” by the naturalist Sy Montgomery, makes its debut at No. 10. In a recent interview with CBC News, Montgomery conceded octopuses don’t have the best reputation. “It has something to do with being an invertebrate, and being covered with slime . . . and those suckers,” she said. “But the suckers are great. It’s kind of like being hugged and kissed at the same time. You go home and you’ve got hickeys on your arms to explain to your husband. But you’ve been having this meaningful interaction with an octopus.”
Report from the road. Sy is on her book tour. She reports: “Souled” out! My talk on octopuses at Denver Museum of Nature and Science was SRO with many smart questions (including an excellent one from 4-year-old Henry about octopus ink)–what a great night!! Now about to cuddle with Cheryl Miller’s corgi Louie and Aussie Roddy before bed—early to rise to get to Columbus Ohio tomorrow. (Seattle was also SRO.)
And from Ohio, Sy reports: We sold out of books in Columbus! Great fun to be with dear friend Becky Rose and other Columbus Zoo staff and volunteers, as well as reunite with beloved host of the popular “All Sides” radio show at WOSU radio, Ann Fisher. Listen to the interview here.
Mail from an 11-year-old student who wants to be a Marine Biologist. She’ll attend Boston Latin in the fall. She heard Sy on the radio and wrote to thank her: “The way you spoke today inspired me to learn about octopi and the ocean, and I wanted to thank you.”
Bestseller. The Soul of an Octopus is on the bestseller list of the New England Independent Booksellers Association (NEIBA). It’s at number 13 on the hardcover nonfiction list. Now onward, we hope, to the number 8 spot. Where else for an octopus book?
Third Printing. Simon & Schuster has gone back for a third printing of The Soul of an Octopus.
More Octo Radio. Listen to Sy’s interview on NHPR’s Word of Mouth.
Look for a review in The Week, June 12, 2015.
Beach Blanket Cephalopod. The Soul of an Octopus makes the list on NHPR’s Annual Summer Books Show.
What do Jackson Pollock, fruit flies and the Levy Distribution have to do with octopuses and human behavior? That’s what National Geographic asked Sy. Read the interview here.
Happiness. “What really makes humans happy, I believe, is our connection with the real, living, breathing, sweet green world, a world full of so many different kinds of creatures, a world endlessly mysterious and exciting and beautiful,” Sy says in a short interview with Thrive Wire.
“If you don’t love all creatures great and small after reading Sy Montgomery you have no heart.” – Kathye Fetsko Petrie, author, editor, and we’re proud to say, a friend from long ago.
Christopher Hogwood gets a great reception in Poland! Here’s just one of the enthusiastic reviews of Dobra Swinka, Dobra:
The Alien at Your Doorstep. Just off Seattle’s coastline lives something more alien, fascinating and emotionally appealing than any science-fiction space character. It has unearthly superpowers: It can taste with its skin; it can resist a pull 1,000 times its own weight; it can change color and shape, squirt ink and inject venom; it can grow to more than 100 pounds, yet pour its baggy, boneless body through an opening the size of an orange. Read Sy’s story in The Seattle Times.
Handle with Care. The June 2015 Reader’s Digest has an excerpt from Sy’s Birdology about how Brenda Sherburn raises baby hummingbirds. You can see Chris Buzelli’s art here.