Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly bookish meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl that features a different bookish topic every week.
Today’s topic is Cover Freebie
I’ve been seeing a lot of books and other media featuring octopodes in recent years and thought I’d feature them today. I’ve only read maybe two of the books featured and don’t know very much about the other ones, so if you’ve read them, let me know!
Top Ten Books featuring Octopodes on the Cover
- The Call of Cthulhu by H.P. Lovecraft – I’ve heard references to Cthulhu, but I don’t think I’ve ever read a single Lovecraft story.
- Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt – The only one I’m sure I’ve read. It was a bookclub BOTM and I quite enjoyed it.
- Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne – I think I’ve read this, but I don’t remember if I read the actual unabridged book or if I read some abridged children’s version because it was so long ago.
- The Soul of an Octopus by Sy Montgomery – This is nonfiction and I’m quite interested in reading it. I know octopodes are a lot smarter than we realized and I’m very curious to find out more.
- Kraken by China Miéville – I recently read a different Miéville book, Perdido Street Station, and it’s so good but so heavy. I’m a fan and I want to read this one too, but I’m scared!
- The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler – I have seen this book featured in scifi circles but wasn’t interested at the time. I looked at the description while searching for books for this prompt and now I’m intrigued!
- The Benefits of Being an Octopus by Ann Braden – This is a middle grade book that is more about growing up as a human than it is about an octopus but it sounds interesting!
- Other Minds by Peter Godfrey-Smith – Another nonfiction about octopodes I’m curious to read!
- Three Blue Hearts by Lynne Kelly – Also a middle grade book; the young MC finds an injured octopus and cares for it while it heals.
- Beyond the Graves Waits Mist and Sea by Kathleen Kaufman – This one hasn’t been released yet, it’s only coming out in September 2026, but it sounds so mysterious and scary! I’m excited to read it once it’s out!
Have you read any of these books? What did you think of them? Would you read any of these books?