Why am I passionate about this?
I’m a Professor of Creative Writing at York St John’s University in York, UK. I’ve been published as a poet, novelist, and nonfiction writer. My list reflects perhaps some eclectic tastes, but what unites these books is a fascination with engaging with the world in a way that de-centers the human, and I have done this throughout my writing career. I love the natural world, growing plants, and watching the seasons change. I am also curious about time and memory and how we perceive these. I am drawn towards science fiction, but more the speculative end of that spectrum, where writers explore otherness and possible worlds.
Abi's book list on speculative fiction with soul
Why did Abi love this book?
This is an amazing nonfiction book about how octopuses have evolved in parallel with humans but along a very different evolutionary path. I’m so interested in the idea of ‘otherness.’ The notion is that there could be alien life forms that are hugely intelligent. Still, their bodies and their perceptual organs are so different that we can’t fully communicate with them and appreciate that intelligence.
The most fascinating aliens are right here on Earth, in the oceans, and can teach us profound lessons about consciousness. Octopus arms can sense and perceive independently, like multiple brains. Octopuses can’t perceive color but can change color to both camouflage and communicate. A book like this de-centers the human, and I love being knocked off my axis.
6 authors picked Other Minds as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.
'Brilliant' Guardian 'Fascinating and often delightful' The Times
SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2017 ROYAL SOCIETY SCIENCE BOOK PRIZE
What if intelligent life on Earth evolved not once, but twice? The octopus is the closest we will come to meeting an intelligent alien. What can we learn from the encounter?
In Other Minds, Peter Godfrey-Smith, a distinguished philosopher of science and a skilled scuba diver, tells a bold new story of how nature became aware of itself - a story that largely occurs in the ocean, where animals first appeared.
Tracking the mind's fitful development from unruly clumps of seaborne cells to…