> the book reads like his thesis was "Octopuses are cool" and spends the entire time listing fun facts and interesting stories about his interactions with cephalopods.
Agreed! My curiosity was piqued by OP, but this description is what actually convinced me to buy the book.
There are certainly good reasons to like it and it is highly rated on goodreads, it just wasn't my thing.
Well thank you for the anti-recommendation! I’m looking forward to reading it. I get that it wasn’t your thing, but your description sounds very much up my alley and I hope I can enjoy what you didn’t.