Down the Rabbit Hole: My Octopus Teacher

Down the Rabbit Hole is a feature here at JenniElyse. The idea is for me to share something new I’ve discovered because of a book I recently read.

If you’ve been following my blog for the last week or so, then you know I recently read, reviewed, and attended book club for REMARKABLY BRIGHT CREATURES by Shelby Van Pelt. If not, that’s okay because I have a link to my review and book club discussion at the end of this post. Both posts are spoiler free.

While I was at book club, one of my friends recommend we watch MY OCTOPUS TEACHER on Netflix if we hadn’t yet seen it. She said it backed up some of Marcellus’ more unbelievable personality traits. Even though I loved Marcellus whether his character was believable or not, I decided to heed her advice and watched the 85-minute documentary last Friday.

MY OCTOPUS TEACHER follows a year-long friendship between a South African documentary filmmaker and naturalist, Craig Foster, and a female common octopus living in a kelp forest in False Bay, near Cape Town. When Foster first started diving in 2018, he encountered a young curious octopus. At first, just like most animals, she kept her distance from him. She began to trust him when she realized he wasn’t a threat. As her trust grew, she allowed him a look into her world.

I adored watching MY OCTOPUS TEACHER. It was captivating and it made Marcellus more real. I formed a bond with the octopus as I saw her through Foster’s eyes. I knew this was a once in a lifetime opportunity for Foster and I was glad to be a small part of this miracle.

I also thought MY OCTOPUS TEACHER did a great job of illustrating, in a non preachy way, the importance humans have of preserving the natural habitats of these creatures as best we can. I’m so glad I decided to watch this. Not only did I see how intelligent and endearing octopuses are, my love and respect for them grew.

Posts related to REMARKABLY BRIGHT CREATURES:

What about you? Have you seen MY OCTOPUS TEACHER? If so, what did you think?

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Top Ten Tuesday #44

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.
Books I Meant to Read in 2023

I have quite a few books I wanted to read last year. Unfortunately, life happened and I didn’t get to very many. Here are my top ten books I meant to read in 2023 but didn’t get the chance:

What about you? Which books did you mean to read in 2023 but didn’t get the chance? Do we have any in common?

P.S. Please forgive me if I don’t return your comment until tomorrow or Thursday. Today and tomorrow are a little busy for me. Thanks!

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January Book Club

My IRL book club met this past Wednesday to discuss January’s book, which was REMARKABLY BRIGHT CREATURES by Shelby Van Pelt. There were 11 of us that met and only one person hadn’t read the book. Here are some highlights of our discussion:

  • Almost all of us loved it, each of us giving it a rating of 4 or 5 stars on Goodreads. The person who didn’t “love” it still rated it 4 stars.
    • She didn’t “love” it because she didn’t have all the feels like the rest of us.
    • She also thought Marcellus wasn’t necessary to the plot while the rest of us thought he was the best part of the story.
  • Most of us were a little leery about reading a book from an octopus’ POV, but Marcellus quickly won us over.
  • I commented that Marcellus reminded me a bit of Hank from FINDING DORY.
  • One person said she wanted more from the ending. View Spoiler »
  • Some of us compared REMARKABLY BRIGHT CREATURES to something written by Fredrik Backman. Both authors can draw you right in to the story and characters, even the unlikeable ones.
  • View Spoiler »
  • A few of us mentioned that Shelby Van Pelt has a lot to live up to with her next book.
  • A couple of people recommended we watch MY OCTOPUS TEACHER on Netflix. It’s a documentary about a common octopus and her friendship with the videographer.

I love that REMARKABLY BRIGHT CREATURES has a lot of meat to it. It garnered a great discussion. Even though we all rated it pretty high, there were other things to talk about.

Next month’s book is BOOK LOVERS by Emily Henry. I’m very excited to read it. I’ve heard a lot of great things.

Have you read REMARKABLY BRIGHT CREATURES? If so, what do you think about my book club’s discussion?

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Sunday News #52

Sunday Post and Sunday Salon are blog news memes hosted at Caffeinated Reviewer and Reader Buzz, respectively. It’s a chance to share news, recap the past week on your blog, and showcase books and other things.
Feeling

I’m feeling excited. I signed up for a 15-week writing workshop that starts on Tuesday. I hope it’s a good one and I like the teacher and projects.

Blogging

Here’s what I posted on the blog this week:

Reading

I actually finished reading REMARKABLY BRIGHT CREATURES by Shelby Van Pelt on Monday instead of Sunday. I started BOOK LOVERS by Emily Henry yesterday.

I’ve had a lot of time to listen to THE BALLAD OF SONGBIRDS AND SNAKES audiobook this week and I’ve made quite a bit of progress on it.

Listening

I’ve been listening to “I Want to Know What Love Is” this week, not by choice. Don’t get me wrong. I really like the song. It’s just been playing in my head on a non-stop loop. I can’t seem to shake it no matter what I do.

Watching

Corey and I started watching Hulu’s new DEATH AND OTHER DETAILS with Mandy Patinkin and Violett Beane. So far, we really like it. I can’t wait for a new episode tomorrow night.

I started watching the new season of Kids Baking Championship on Discovery+. It’s one of my yearly favorites. As of now, I don’t have a favorite kid.

Loving

I love my book club. We had a really great discussion surrounding REMARKABLY BRIGHT CREATURES. I’ll be posting a spoiler-free recap of our discussion tomorrow.

Wanting

I want some Ghirardelli peppermint bark it’s seasonal and no longer available. #firstworldproblems

Needing

I need to go grocery shopping this week. It’s been a while and we’re running low on food. I don’t know why Corey and I wait so long between shopping runs, lol.

How was your week? Anything exciting happen?

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Book Blogger Hop #8

Book Blogger Hop is a weekly meme that was originally created and hosted by Jennifer at Crazy-for-Books in March 2010. As of February 2013, it’s hosted by Billy at Coffee Addicted Writer.
Today’s Question(s) is …

Have you ever loved a book that everyone else hated or hated a book that everyone else loved?

My Answer(s) is …

Yes. I love Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight Saga, especially BREAKING DAWN. I know I’m not the only one but since it’s practically in fashion now to hate the series, I had to mention it.

I loathe ANIMAL FARM by George Orwell. I think it’s boring and I hate that he used animals. I also dislike satire in general. I also loathe THE CATCHER IN THE RYE by JD Salinger because there’s absolutely no point to the story. And, I despise both ALICE’S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND and THROUGH THE LOOKING-GLASS by Lewis Carroll because the stories are discombobulated nonsense.

What about you? Have you ever loved or hated a book that everyone else hated or loved?

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