Litsy

Playground | Richard Powers

pick

The best book of the the year for me.
Made me cry a few times. I love Richard Powers. Themes of human and animal consciousness, peril and possibilities of AI, protecting culture, friendship and betrayal, and beauty of the ocean. Will be thinking on this one for days. As a kid who grew up near the ocean and would have been a marine biologist had I been better at math, this novel really resonated with me.

CoffeeAndABook Wow this sounds amazing!! How had I not heard of it yet??? Thanks for the post 😊 2w

BarbaraBB Such a fab read! A favorite of mine too this year 2w

AnnCrystal 💝💝💝. 2w

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SamAnne @CoffeeAndABook it hit me through the heart. 2w

sarahbarnes I need to read this! 2w

JuniperWilde I love his books, too. Have you read North Woods. Not like RP but also excellent. 2w

CatMS Loved Overstory and have Bewilderment on my shelves to read, will put this one on my TBR 1w

SamAnne @CatMS I really enjoyed Bewilderment but loved this one more. I plan to dive into his earlier books. 1w

45 likes7 stack adds8 comments

bekakins

How AI Thinks: How we built it, how it can help us, and how we can control it | Nigel Toon

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Super interesting read for #doublespin the robots are coming! 🤖

TheAromaofBooks

TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!! 2mo

12 likes1 comment

SpeculativeFemale

Mal Goes to War | Edward Ashton

We are home from the hospital and in recovery mode today!

While running errands, I stopped at my favorite Indie book store and picked up the tagged book to add to my overcrowded TBR shelves, pictured above, as a little pick me up after the stress of the last few days.

After all, there's no such thing as too many books, right? 😁

TheBookHippie ♥️ 2mo

wildwoodreads Books are the best medicine. 2mo

40 likes2 comments

julesG

Murderbot Diaries: All Systems Red, Artificial Condition, Rogue Protocol, Exit Strategy | Martha Wells

For anyone who doesn't have the Murderbot Diaries (incl. two short stories) and five of Martha Wells's fantasy novels yet, here's your chance: https://www.humblebundle.com/books/martha-wells-murderbot-and-more-tor-books

Soubhiville What a great deal! Thanks for sharing! 3mo

CaramelLunacy Oh that's awesome. I will be showing my brother! 3mo

54 likes2 comments

Lesliereadsalot

William | Mason Coile

so-so

I never read this kind of book, but it was only a couple hundred pages so I persevered. Henry, who is married to pregnant Lily, creates William in the attic, his very own AI robot. It doesn‘t take long for William to take over, etc etc. Bodies pile up and then a big twist, and then finito. A short horror story if you‘re looking for one.

20 likes

Pedrocamacho

Murderbot Diaries: All Systems Red, Artificial Condition, Rogue Protocol, Exit Strategy | Martha Wells

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Rereading “All Systems Red” for my book club recently left me with an ART-shaped hole that needed filling. So, I reread “Artificial Condition” and enjoyed it anew 😊

11 likes

EverydayImReading

In the Blink of an Eye | Jo Callaghan

so-so

Winner of two awards and a very unique concept especially as AI is becoming more and more part of our lives. It‘s the first of a series and sets up nicely for the next story with well drawn characters. A nice amount of humour not too cliche. I was screaming at the “missed” clues and obvious motive here that seemed deliberate so as to create the dramatic climax. Maybe there will be more finesse in the next book but I‘m not rushing to read it.

Cathythoughts Great review Sinead ! 👍🏻❤️ 3mo

18 likes1 comment

julesG

Murderbot Diaries: All Systems Red, Artificial Condition, Rogue Protocol, Exit Strategy | Martha Wells

My son bought Murderbot prints from Tommy Arnold https://www.tommyarnoldart.com/ and I just totally unprofessionally framed them.

AnnCrystal 🆒👏🏼☺️💝. 3mo

62 likes1 comment

ImperfectCJ

Playground | Richard Powers

Camille giving me a high five because, after getting my elder kid and my spouse to read Playground and discuss it with me and then attending a book club about it, I have a new appreciation for what Powers is doing in this novel. I want to re-read it now that my context has evolved so I can see what else I see in it.

Leftcoastzen 🥰😻awwww! 3mo

BarbaraBB One of my favorites this year! 3mo

AnnCrystal 😍💕😻🐾💝. 3mo

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AmyG Camille is a cutie! 3mo

ImperfectCJ @BarbaraBB Mine, too! I keep liking it more as time goes by. Last night during the discussion, I realized some of the similarities between this one and Death of the Author, another of my favorites this year. I also noted that I didn't at first see the similarities because the two books inspired such different feelings in me while reading. I love when those book connections happen!

Death of the Author: A Novel

3mo

Eggbeater Look at that precious face! 3mo

lil1inblue 😻 😻 😻 3mo

BarbaraBB That‘s interesting, I don‘t really see those similarities? Enlighten me 💛 3mo

ImperfectCJ @BarbaraBB The similarities are kind of spoilers, so I'll put them in a separate comment behind a spoiler tag. 3mo

ImperfectCJ It's basically just the way that an AI-created story is handled. Both deal with questions of "what is reality?" or "what is fact?", ideas around the relationship between creator and creation. Of course, while Playground is more cautionary around wealthy tech dudes using tech to abdicate responsibility for their own mistakes and to humanity at large, Death is more tech as a nuanced tool. Both speak to relationships being more important than tech. 3mo

BarbaraBB Ah of course! You are so right. Thank you for getting back to me 💕 3mo

57 likes11 comments