I love wild empty beaches, traveling to unusual places, swimming, snorkeling, and scuba diving. These interests combined one year when my family spent Christmas at a remote dive resort in Papua New Guinea. I was fascinated by the colourful reef creatures, nudibranchs, coral, anemones, reef sharks, and octopuses. Then I heard about the ancient practice of shark calling…I write across genres and researched anthropomorphism in children’s literature for my PhD, with The Shark Caller and The Dog with Seven Names being my linked creative works. I live near the ocean in southwestern Australia, am a bookworm, and a full-time author of 25 titles (and counting).
This book made me laugh and cry, and all the emotions in between.
Dogs and anthropomorphism are two of my favourite things, so I was totally on board from the start. The characters jumped off the page into my imagination. Beautifully written, Lily and the Octopus is a true-to-life story with enormous heart. The octopus character is compelling and creepy.
'Intelligently written, finely observed and surprisingly moving, this is a book you'll find hard to put down' GRAEME SIMSION, author of The Rosie Project
Companions come in all shapes and sizes. Companionship lasts forever.
Ted and Lily - Enjoy long walks. Watch films together. Have been known to share a pizza. Love each other fiercely. Have been inseparable for 12 years.
But there is one more twist to come in this tail ... A charming, heartfelt and unforgettable novel about life, love and long walks, perfect for fans of Marley and Me and The Art of Racing in the Rain.…
Stories with unusual, original animal perspectives fascinate me, so I was hooked when Emma Geen’s character, Katherine, projects into endangered species as a way of researching various creatures.
She becomes a fox, bat, octopus, snake, and perhaps most weirdly, a spider. Each leap had unique joys and challenges. As a reader, I learnt to master tentacles, sonar, and web-spinning. The rich sensory details of each animal jump were extraordinary, and the research involved in making these imaginative leaps believable was impressive. I loved it.
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'In this exhilarating, metaphysical white-knuckle ride, Geen takes us into the other worlds that crouch, slink and bark around us ... It will leave you reeling' - Charles Foster, author of Being a Beast
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Kit has been projecting into other species for seven years.
Longer than anyone else at ShenCorp.
Longer than any of the scientists thought possible.
But lately she has the feeling that when she jumps she isn't alone...
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'Startlingly fresh ... Along with the protagonist I became a tiger, an eagle, a whale. I hunted, flew and swam in this extraordinary book which goes…
Magical realism meets the magic of Christmas in this mix of Jewish, New Testament, and Santa stories–all reenacted in an urban psychiatric hospital!
On locked ward 5C4, Josh, a patient with many similarities to Jesus, is hospitalized concurrently with Nick, a patient with many similarities to Santa. The two argue…
I loved the wild Tasmanian setting of this novel and the interweaving of human and anthropomorphic voices. Reading from an egg-laden octopus perspective was fascinating, and I enjoyed the multi-layered approach of following both human and animal stories.
The post-surgery journey of a breast cancer survivor was touching and written in creative, sharp, and whimsical language. Gorgeous cover too!
Lucy and Jem live on the Tasman Peninsula near Eaglehawk Neck, where Lucy is recovering from major surgery. As she tries to navigate her new body through the world, she develops a deep fascination with the local octopuses, and in doing so finds herself drawn towards the friendship of an old woman and her son. As the story unfolds, the octopuses come to shape Lucy's body and her sense of self in ways even she can't quite understand.
The Octopus and I is a stunning debut novel that explores the wild, beating heart at the intersection of human and animal,…
I’m an ocean swimmer and snorkeler, and this book took me to depths and places beyond my previous experience. The free-diving aspect is inspirational. Based on the award-winning movie, My Octopus Teacher, Ross and Craig’s journey has encouraged me to look at octopus and other wildlife differently.
It’s an extraordinarily moving story, both beautiful and sad. I hope the images and content will inspire people to protect our oceans.
From the creators of the Academy Award-winning documentary My Octopus Teacher, an immersive journey into the underwater world that inspired it—and holds transformative lessons for us all
Craig Foster and Ross Frylinck regularly dive together in the awe-inspiring kelp forests off South Africa, without wetsuits or oxygen tanks. Craig had dived this way for years, including alongside the octopus that inspired My Octopus Teacher. In Ross, he found a kindred spirit, someone who also embraced the ancient methods of acclimating his body to frigid waters, but whose eyes had not yet adjusted to the transcendent wonder Craig saw each time…
The Guardian of the Palace is the first novel in a modern fantasy series set in a New York City where magic is real—but hidden, suppressed, and dangerous when exposed.
When an ancient magic begins to leak into the world, a small group of unlikely allies is forced to act…
I think this classic story, first appearing in 1869, needs to be on any cephalopod booklist!
Whilst the terrifying monster is more giant squid/kraken, the futuristic submarine commanded by Captain Nemo is called Nautilus, named for a cephalopod cousin to the octopus. This sci-fi (at the time) adventure novel is full of evocative undersea images and is still a cracking read.
With an exclusive introduction and notes by David Stuart Davies.
Translation by Louis Mercier.
Professor Aronnax, his faithful servant, Conseil, and the Canadian harpooner, Ned Land, begin an extremely hazardous voyage to rid the seas of a little-known and terrifying sea monster. However, the "monster" turns out to be a giant submarine, commanded by the mysterious Captain Nemo, by whom they are soon held captive.
So begins not only one of the great adventure classics by Jules Verne, the 'Father of Science Fiction', but also a truly fantastic voyage from the lost city of Atlantis to the South Pole.
Izzy and Ray are twins. Their mother is from a shark calling family in Papua New Guinea, and their father comes from a Broome pearl diving family. In the opening scene, Izzy learns that Ray has died in a freak, blue-ring octopus accident. She and her mother take Ray’s ashes back to PNG for traditional ceremonies. After arriving, Izzy realises things have changed since their last visit. Environmental issues threaten the community’s way of life. Sharks no longer answer the shark callers’ songs, and there’s a strange octopus legend. The village needs someone to undertake an ancient diving ritual. The person must be a twin from the shark calling lineage. Izzy is the last twin…
A grumpy-sunshine, slow-burn, sweet-and-steamy romance set in wild and beautiful small-town Colorado. Lane Gravers is a wanderer, adventurer, yoga instructor, and social butterfly when she meets reserved, quiet, pensive Logan Hickory, a loner inventor with a painful past.
Dive into this small-town, steamy romance between two opposites who find love…
A fake date, romance, and a conniving co-worker you'd love to shut down. Fun summer reading!
Liza loves helping people and creating designer shoes that feel as good as they look. Financially overextended and recovering from a divorce, her last-ditch opportunity to pitch her firm for investment falls flat. Then…
