Book Review: Remarkably Bright Creatures

For 70-year old Tova Sullivan, working as a night cleaner at the local Sowell Bay Aquarium helps keep her busy. Between the monotony of polishing glass and sweeping floors as well as the gentle presence of sea life, she can escape the grief of losing her loved ones. Five years prior her husband died of cancer, and thirty years ago her teenage son died via suicide, or so the police say… Tova has never believed this, though. Each night, she talks to Marcellus the Giant Pacific Octopus, and each night he listens.

One night, she finds him out of his tank, tangled in cords after raiding the trash bin for a snack. After saving his life, he vows to help her in some way. Giant Pacific Octopus are, as the sign in the aquarium says, remarkably bright creatures. Although they can’t speak with humans, they have a high understanding of patterns, information, and the world around them. Throughout the book, we are given snippets of Marcellus’s internal monologue as he tries to help Tova. Will he be able to before she retires and he, being extremely old for a Giant Pacific Octopus, dies?

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Book Review: The Body Keeps Score

TW: trauma (of course), SA, war/combat, etc.

Recently, internet reading communities have been re-recommending the 2014 book The Body Keeps Score. It has a pretty blue cover with Icarus by Henri Matisse, often paired with peaceful music and “Self-Help Books that Changed Me” titles by book content creators. I became curious, in the same way I now need to read Song of Achilles from how largely it made its rounds on my for-you page and friends’ goodreads lists.

The Body Keeps Score discusses the effects of trauma on the body by Dutch psychiatrist and trauma expert, Dr. Bessel van der Kolk. He goes through the book using real patient stories to discuss how it affects the psyche, the physiology of trauma, and different non-medicinal treatment methods. From a general perspective, the book is informative on the different types of trauma, how trauma survivors’ bodies and brains may respond and why, and ways people can approach their trauma to better themselves.



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