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How Far the Light Reaches
How Far the Light Reaches: A Life in Ten Sea Creatures | Sabrina Imbler
"A miraculous, transcendental book. Sabrina Imbler is a generational talent, and this book is a gift to us all." -- ED YONG, New York Times Bestselling author of I Contain Multitudes A queer, mixed race writer working in a largely white, male field, science and conservation journalist Sabrina Imbler has always been drawn to the mystery of life in the sea, and particularly to creatures living in hostile or remote environments. Each essay in their debut collection profiles one such creature: the mother octopus who starves herself while watching over her eggs, the Chinese sturgeon whose migration route has been decimated by pollution and dams, the bizarre Bobbitt worm (named after Lorena), and other uncanny creatures lurking in the deep ocean, far below where the light reaches. Imbler discovers that some of the most radical models of family, community, and care can be found in the sea, from gelatinous chains that are both individual organisms and colonies of clones to deep-sea crabs that have no need for the sun, nourished instead by the chemicals and heat throbbing from the core of the Earth. Exploring themes of adaptation, survival, sexuality, and care, and weaving the wonders of marine biology with stories of their own family, relationships, and coming of age, How Far the Light Reaches is a book that invites us to envision wilder, grander, and more abundant possibilities for the way we live.
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Beachesnbooks
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January wrap-up 📚 I finished 11 books and had a great kickoff to the reading year!
🥇How Far the Light Reaches
🥈Into Thin Air
🥉Check & Mate

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Cortg
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Pickpick

I wasn‘t expecting so much memoir in this one. It‘s part science, talking about sea creatures and intertwines the animal‘s lives around the author‘s life; relationships, queerness, mixed race, fitting in etc. The author is very truthful about their experiences growing up and defining who they are as they mature and experience life. The book is cleverly articulated. The science part reminded me of An Immense World.

39 likes2 stack adds
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Robotswithpersonality
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Pickpick

Powerful writing, spellbinding ability to weave factual apects of marine life with pivotal moments in their own life through beautiful prose. Such a delicate balance between fascinating and heartbreaking insights into sea life, especially as humans have affected/interacted with them, and deeply personal reflections that include some dark and upsetting subject matter. 1/2

Robotswithpersonality 2/2 I agree with other reviewers who caution that this book was not as light in tone as the first wave of promotion, and arguably the book cover synopsis seems to suggest. I'd say check the content warnings first. It holds value and truth in experience, especially around different forms of identity, and I think it could illuminate dark places for many readers, but I don't want the unwary to stumble upon it.

⚠️animal cruelty, animal death, eating disorder, racism, body image issues/ dysphoria (?), trauma/PTSD, SA
3mo
9 likes1 comment
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Robotswithpersonality
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New year doesn't HAVE to mean a whole new you.

8 likes1 stack add
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Robotswithpersonality
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Have I mentioned how much I love the word 'creature' used as a verb? 😁

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Robotswithpersonality
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❤️

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Robotswithpersonality
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😌🪩🌌

9 likes1 stack add
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Matilda
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Robotswithpersonality
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Evidently, the word of the day is 'how'. 🤷🏼‍♂️

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Kazzie
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This was so interesting! The interplay between her life and experiences and the deeply researched and detailed ocean creatures lives was very deftly done

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Tea_and_Starstuff
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Mehso-so

A scientist tells stories about fish, and about her life at the same time. It was poetic and meditative, diving into hard stories of generational war trauma, sexual assault, and being queer and trans. It was good, but I was expecting more Fun Science Times with Fish and felt a bit knocked over by this one. I listened - maybe would have been better in print, I found myself drifting during the more meditative essays.

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HeatherBookNerd
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Pickpick

This is a brilliant blend of science and memoir. The essays consist of gorgeous nature writing about various sea creatures while threading through related illustrations from Imbler‘s own life. The nonbinary author shares personal stories about their gender, their biracial and queer identities, and family. They also write about finding community in unlikely and hostile surroundings. Imbler draws the most incredible connections. Highly recommend.

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Chelsea.Poole
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Pickpick

I love the way the author used sea creatures to capture feelings, episodes, and concepts from their life. I‘m deeply fascinated by sea creatures which are particularly unique in their appearance & behavior, some of which remains a mystery to scientists. The way Imbler weaves these creatures into her experiences and builds connections is masterful. They write about queer spaces, familial relationships, and being mixed race alongside sea creatures.

JenniferEgnor A good friend of mine shared this with me. Check it out, it‘s pretty cool! https://neal.fun/deep-sea/ 12mo
Chelsea.Poole @JenniferEgnor oh wow! I love this! I‘m definitely going to share this with my sons 🩵 12mo
88 likes1 stack add2 comments
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BookishShelly
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Pickpick

The book starts out strong but it gets more poetic in the last third and that‘s not really my reading preference. But it‘s not bad and I‘m sure it would be great for the right readers. So I‘ll give it a pick instead of a so-so.

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Soubhiville
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Pickpick

I loved this blend of nature writing and memoir! The author discusses many forms of aquatic life and weaves in stories of their past from childhood to adulthood, including bits about racial identity and gender identity. Narrated very well by the author too.

73 likes1 stack add
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Lindy
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Pickpick

Ed Yong calls Sabrina Imbler‘s memoir “transcendental.” I agree. I love the way this nonbinary Chinese American science journalist filters fascinating aspects of sea creatures through a personal lens. They are full of wonder for the natural world, and can also make correlations to their own issues relating to such things as body image, autonomy, adaptability, racism, street safety, and a sense of community. #queer #LGBTQ

44 likes4 stack adds
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Lindy
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Friday Reads February 10: nonbinary authors; Indigenous authors; horror; poetry; kidlit & berries
https://youtu.be/moSPzkLCvDM

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Lindy
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We both had been expected to be daughters but turned out to be something else. We had shed our skins, not like snakes but like insects—each of us a nymph outgrowing exoskeleton after exoskeleton, and morphing as we did. We didn‘t know which molt would be our last, only that we might not be there yet, both of us rivers moving towards the sea.

28 likes1 stack add
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Lindy
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Imagine having the power to become resilient to all that is hostile to us. Confinement, solitude, our own toxic waste. Imagine the freedom of encountering space for the first time & taking it up. A dumped goldfish has no model for what a different & better life might look like, but it finds it anyway. I want to know what it feels like to be unthinkable too, to invent a future that no one expected of you.

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Matilda
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Pickpick

This was my first book of the year and I‘m still thinking about it. It‘s so good, and I‘m glad it exists and that I will carry it around inside me from now on.

33 likes3 stack adds
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CaseyTheCanadianLesbrarian
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Mehso-so

My expectations for this book of hybrid memoir / essays were a bit too high, so I ended up being disappointed. Although I enjoyed both aspects of Imbler's writing -- science journalism about interesting sea creatures and personal stories about their queer identity / experiences -- the essays felt like two alternating threads that weren't well integrated and didn't transition smoothly.That said, I learned a lot of cool stuff about ocean creatures!

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CaseyTheCanadianLesbrarian
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Mehso-so

My expectations for this book of hybrid memoir / essays were too high. Although I enjoyed both aspects of Imbler's writing -- science journalism about interesting sea creatures and personal stories about their queer identity -- the essays felt like two threads that weren't well integrated. Thematically the connections between the sea creatures and Imbler's life didn't quite resonate. That said, I learned cool stuff about ocean creatures!

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underground_bks
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Pickpick

This utterly absorbing collection of essays merges marine biology and memoir, diving into such subjects as disordered eating via a starving mother octopus, the power of queer spaces through the science and survival of deep sea wildlife, gendered violence and the Sandstriker (formerly named after Lorena Bobbit), being mixed-race and rainbow fish hybridity, & more. A book about sea creatures has never been more beautifully, joyfully, achingly human.

28 likes2 stack adds
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Megabooks
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Pickpick

Of all the animal-involved memoirs I‘ve read, this is the most unique. Their descriptions and research were so impeccable I thought they were a scientist themselves (not a journalist). They use ten creatures to describe important parts of their life from a mother octopus starving to protect her eggs to a mantis shrimp that changes gender expression. Their science and narrative were equally enthralling.

Thanks for the rec @britt_brooke 💜

Deblovestoread Sounds great! Stacked 1y
Cinfhen I stacked this after seeing @britt_brooke review too!!! Sounds fascinating 1y
britt_brooke One of the most unique books I‘ve read in ages. So happy you liked it! Hope you enjoy @Cinfhen 🤍✨ 1y
See All 9 Comments
Chelsea.Poole I‘m on hold for this on Libby. I‘m excited! Great review! 1y
Megabooks @Chelsea.Poole really excited to read your review! 1y
Megabooks @Cinfhen I‘ll be interested to read what you think if you end up finding this! 1y
Megabooks @Deblovestoread awesome! Enjoy! 1y
Megabooks @britt_brooke I‘m always happy to see when you‘ve written a new review. I‘m also curious about this that you read recently. 1y
britt_brooke @Megabooks My goal in 2023 is to stay on top of my reviews. 😅 For the last six months or so, I‘ve let myself get several books behind and it stresses me out! The Oyster book was super interesting and quick. I think you‘d like it! (edited) 1y
87 likes6 stack adds9 comments
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britt_brooke
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Pickpick

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Not like anything I‘ve ever read! Part science writing, part memoir. Conservation journalist, Sabrina Imbler, relates their pivotal life experiences to that of ten sea creatures. Each essay profiles a creature that thrives in especially challenging environments, not unlike human beings. It‘s about survival and adaptation. Absolutely brilliant concept and flawless execution.

Cinfhen Sounds great!!! 1y
britt_brooke @Cinfhen Very unique! 1y
Megabooks Stacked! 1y
britt_brooke @Megabooks I think you‘ll enjoy! 1y
83 likes8 stack adds4 comments
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Hooked_on_books
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Pickpick

In this mashup of a book, Imbler explores a different sea creature in each chapter while using aspects of that creature to explore their own life. I liked both parts, but as a science nerd, I wanted a bit more of the critters, but that‘s me, not the book. I suspect this book will be quite satisfying for many, especially those who prefer science in small bites.

megnews Stunning cover. 1y
50 likes1 stack add1 comment
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coffees
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Pickpick

Ok, didn't realize this wasn't a strictly #science book so I was slightly blindsided by the #memoir sections. Still, I ended up really enjoying everything, I think the author does a great job of weaving together their #queer and #trans journey through the interesting animals they have studied ⚠️TW for graphic SA and substance abuse #nonfiction

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akaGingerK
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Pickpick

An enjoyable exploration of growing into one‘s (still changing & growing) queer identity through extensive analogies to various aquatic creatures. Anyone who took the long way round to figuring out who they are will find something to enjoy - but it feels written to and for a queer audience, particularly those with genderqueer/fluid identity & the BIPOC members of the queer community. #ALC

9 likes1 stack add
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akaGingerK
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I‘m really enjoying this book so far - queer memoir meets aquatic science essays - but it‘s the second audiobook book in a row that delves into fat phobia and into past black-out drinking. The second section has a LOT of disordered eating/starving oneself. And the section I‘m in now is a consideration of all the sex they had that they didn‘t want - & often can‘t remember & couldn‘t consent to as a young person. ⬇️ #ALC

akaGingerK I‘m really enjoying this book; the writing is top notch, but running into these themes twice in a row in two otherwise very different audio memoirs is landing hard 1y
6 likes1 comment