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I rarely read a book more than once.

I have a few favorites, for sure, but there are so many books in this world that I think re-reading would take too much time away from logging as many books as I can.

But I have found a loophole in this system — audiobooks don’t steal from my reading time because I listen while I’m walking, which is not an activity conducive to reading a book, what with all the tripping hazards and street crossings.

Last year I read, and loved, “Remarkably Bright Creatures” by Shelby Van Pelt.

The story is told, in part, by a giant Pacific octopus named Marcellus. He is a magnificent character graced with wisdom who makes keener observations than any human.

Indeed, that’s all he does all day as visitors walk past his aquarium tank in the fictional Washington town of Sowell Bay.

And it is there where he meets Tova, a 70-year-old local resident who works as a night janitor for the aquarium. The relationship created between these two is delightful — they can’t actually communicate, obviously, but Tova connects with the octopus and stays quiet about his nightly wanderings to nip sea cucumbers from a nearby tank, or root through the garbage for leftover Chinese food.

My favorite types of novels are those told from several perspectives, with the storylines weaving together near the end.

In “Remarkably Bright Creatures” we meet Tova, who lost her 18-year-old son at sea decades ago, and Ethan, the Scottish grocery store owner who knows all in this small coastal town. Then Cameron comes along — a 30-year-old who moves to town seeking to know more about his mysterious past.

I truly enjoyed the story the first time I read it.

Then, several weeks ago, I finished an audiobook while I was still walking, which led me to panic just a bit. So I quickly brought up Hoopla, a great new service provided through the Baker County Library for free, and saw “Remarkably Bright Creatures” on the main page.

I loved it the first time, so I clicked “download” and returned to the world of Marcellus and Tova.

Although it was technically a re-read, I often find that an audiobook is an entirely different experience than reading a novel — as long as the narrator is good.

And this narrator is really good. I felt like I was among friends again as I listened to the story, and I picked up details along the way that I missed the first time. I really looked forward to my walks just so I could get back to the story.

Although it did make me tear up a few times (a fairly common occurrence for me these days, with books and movies), “Remarkably Bright Creatures” is a novel full of love, hope, redemption and humor (Marcellus can be quite cutting sometimes with his observations of humans).

I just might read it again someday.