The ethical consequences of AI

Culpability ~ by Bruce Holsinger, 2025, psychological thriller, 380 pages

This is a suspenseful family drama about moral responsibility in the age of artificial intelligence — and Oprah's Book Club pick after it was published in July, 2025.

When the Cassidy-Shaws’ autonomous minivan collides with an oncoming car, seventeen-year-old Charlie is in the driver’s seat, with his father, Noah, riding shotgun.  In the back seat, tweens Alice and Izzy are on their phones, while their mother, Lorelei, a world leader in the field of artificial intelligence, is absorbed in her work.  Yet each family member harbors a secret, implicating them all in the tragic accident.

During a weeklong recuperation on the Chesapeake Bay, the family confronts the excruciating moral dilemmas triggered by the crash.  Noah tries to hold the family together as a seemingly routine police investigation jeopardizes Charlie’s future.  Alice and Izzy turn strangely furtive.  And Lorelei’s odd behavior tugs at Noah’s suspicions that there is a darker truth behind the incident — suspicions heightened by the sudden intrusion of Daniel Monet, a tech mogul whose mysterious history with Lorelei hints at betrayal.  When Charlie falls for Monet’s teenaged daughter, the stakes are raised even higher in this propulsive family drama that is also a fascinating exploration of the moral responsibility and ethical consequences of AI.

Culpability explores a world newly shaped by chatbots, autonomous cars, drones, and other nonhuman forces in ways that are thrilling, challenging, and unimaginably provocative.

1. My Monday Musing post was about a book by Margaret Atwood, HERE.
2. On TWOsday, I posted about the second book in a trilogy, HERE.
3. Wednesday's Word was MaddAddam and the conclusion of that trilogy, HERE.
4. My subject on Thursday was four science fiction novellas in one book, HERE.
5. Friday's Book Beginning was about Alexei Navalny's 2024 memoir, HERE.
6. On CATurday, I wrote about cats again, HERE.  It's a big, heavy cat book!

is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz.

A cat book for Caturday

The Life and Love of Cats ~ by Lewis Blackwell, 2012, photography, 216 pages

The Life and Love of Cats takes us on an unforgettable journey; we travel from the homes of middle-America today, back to the demonized creatures hiding in the alleys of medieval Europe; from wild cousins on the plains of Africa to rare hybrid domestic breeds like the Savannah; and from fashionable show breeds to shelter cats lovingly rescued by volunteers.  Starting with the earliest records of domestic cats 9,000 years ago in Africa and the Mediterranean and moving to the present, the author weaves stories of one of humankind’s closest companions with a collection of more than 100 unforgettable images.  It's a beautiful book for cat lovers.

Someone on Amazon said, "It makes a statement on the coffee table."  I agree.  Because it is so heavy (4.9 pounds!), you could read it by leaning over the coffe table and turning the pages.  The pages are huge, so it isn't like you must hold this book up close to see the beautiful pictures.

(This picture is NOT from the book, but I like it.)

Beginning ~ with dying in an airplane

Beginning (page 5)

Dying didn't really hurt.  If I hadn't been breathing my last, I would never have stretched out on the floor next to the plane's toilet.  As you can imagine, it wasn't exactly clean.

I was flying to Moscow from Tomsk, in Siberia, and feeling very pleased.  Regional elections were going to be held in two weeks in several Siberian cities, and my colleagues from the Anti-Corruption Foundation (ACF) and I had every intention of inflecting defeat on the ruling United Russian party.  That would deliver an important message that Vladimir Putin, even after twenty years in power, was not omnipotent, or even particularly liked in that part of Russia — even though large numbers of people there would watch talking heads sing the praises of the nation's leader on television 24/7.

Patriot ~ by Alexei Navalny, 2024, memoir, 496 pages

This is a posthumous non-fiction book authored by Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny and published by Alfred A. Knopf in October 2024.  A self-described memoir, Patriot is Navalny's second book, following Opposing Forces.  Patriot details Navalny's life and career.

Alexei Navalny began writing Patriot shortly after his near-fatal poisoning in 2020.  It is the full story of his life:  his youth in the U.S.S.R., his call to activism, his marriage and family, his commitment to challenging a world super-power determined to silence him, and his total conviction that change cannot be resisted — and will come.

In vivid, page-turning detail, including never-before-seen correspondence from prison, Navalny recounts, among other things, his political career, the many attempts on his life, and the lives of the people closest to him, and the relentless campaign he and his team waged against an increasingly dictatorial regime.

Written with the passion, wit, candor, and bravery for which he was justly acclaimed, Patriot is Navalny’s final letter to the world:  a moving account of his last years spent in the most brutal prison on earth; a reminder of why the principles of individual freedom matter so deeply; and a rousing call to continue the work for which he sacrificed his life.

Gilion at Rose City Reader hosts

Book Beginnings on Fridays.

Thinking about reading . . .

The Shores Beneath ~ by Samuel R. Delany, Thomas M. Disch, John T. Sladek, and Roger Zelazny, 1971, science fiction novellas, 192 pages

Here are four trips to four uncharted lands.

1. Time Considered as a Helix of Semi-Precious Stones is the Hugo-Award sinning revelation of the other side of deja-vu.
2. The Graveyard Heart leads a man into immortality, for better and for worse. 
3. Masterson and the Clerks considers a man's absorption into a comfortable, orderly society which doesn't like him much when it's got him.
4. The Asian Shore is a man's harrowing journey through a decadent world of counterfeit selves — where his own identity undergoes an insidious change.

The third book in this week's trilogy

MaddAddam: Book 3 of The MaddAddam Trilogy ~ by Margaret Atwood, 2013, literary fiction, 416 pages

This final volume of the internationally celebrated MaddAddam trilogy "has brought the previous two books together in a fitting and joyous conclusion that’s an epic not only of an imagined future but of our own past" (The New York Times Book Review).

The Waterless Flood pandemic has wiped out most of the population.  Toby is part of a small band of survivors, along with the Children of Crake: the gentle, bioengineered quasi-human species who will inherit this new earth.

As Toby explains their origins to the curious Crakers, her tales cohere into a luminous oral history that sets down humanity’s past — and points toward its future.  Blending action, humor, romance, and an imagination that is inventive yet grounded in a recognizable world.

The second book of a trilogy ~ for TWOsday

The Year of the Flood: Book 2 of The MaddAddam Trilogy ~ by Margaret Atwood, 2009, literary fiction, 448 pages

The long-feared waterless flood has occurred, altering Earth as we know it and obliterating most human life. Among the survivors are Ren, a young trapeze dancer locked inside the high-end sex club Scales and Tails, and Toby, who is barricaded inside a luxurious spa. Amid shadowy, corrupt ruling powers and new, gene-spliced life forms, Ren and Toby will have to decide on their next move, but they can't stay locked away.

Okay, I'm curious about that "waterless flood."  I'm sharing all three books of this trilogy in three days this week, but I haven't gotten to this one yet.

Musing about a trilogy this week ~ Book 1

Oryx and Crake: Book 1 of The MaddAddam Trilogy ~ by Margaret Atwood, 2003, literary fiction, 389 pages

This novel is a love story and a vision of the future by the author of The Handmaid's Tale.  Snowman, known as Jimmy before mankind was overwhelmed by a plague, is struggling to survive in a world where he may be the last human, and mourning the loss of his best friend, Crake, and the beautiful and elusive Oryx whom they both loved.  In search of answers, Snowman embarks on a journey — with the help of the green-eyed Children of Crake — through the lush wilderness that was so recently a great city, until powerful corporations took mankind on an uncontrolled genetic engineering ride.  Margaret Atwood projects us into a near future that is both all too familiar and beyond our imagining.

When a friend moved away recently, she gave me some of her books, including this boxed trilogy.  The Handmaid's Tale was one of my favorite stories, so I look forward to reading these books.  All three were bestsellers.