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#Top25Of25 Part 4 of 4

These last days of the year I have been sharing my 25 favorite books of the year.

Today I share my ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ books, reads that I suppose will be all-time favorites.

Scroll down on my feed to see the rest of my #Top25Of25.

Wow. Just, wow.
I did not see that reveal coming at the end, and I had to go back and read the last part again to see if what I thought he was doing was what he had actually done! This is a book that would get richer with every reread. I loved Overstory, but just like this one, I wasn't sure until the ending put it over the top. This was November's #Doublespin @TheAromaofBooks

Richard Powers writes very science-y, literary books the premise of which I‘m often doubtful is for me, then writes so beautifully I can‘t stop! There‘s a big raft of characters here, the story moves disjointedly amongst them, it was tricky at times to keep the threads straight yet it was worth the effort. One to take slowly and thoroughly enjoy, however beware the ending! You‘ll feel you need to start again to untangle what you just read!

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.

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.

This book is great! The world is a playground and we are all playing. The ocean, friendship, oceanography, AI…this book is so true and what a great cast of characters. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. I‘m so pleased I finally loved a Pulitzer Prize winning book.😏😆 Social media and the internet and all that has changed for not only us but for the entire living world out there.

This book was read for my book club. It's a decent book but I didn't love it. It's a lot of short stories, in my opinion. They were good but I'm not sure how they all connected except for the ocean.

This book will stay with me for a long, long time. I really liked the first 75% of The Overstory, but then it lost me. This book is not like that. I can‘t really articulate all the things it made me think, and feel. And the vote at the end? Every point was valid, and true! So good. (But I do think Rafi kinda sucked). (20)
⭐️: 4.5/5

And this is why I always eventually find my way back to poetry, because there are those that make me “feel like a comet had just screamed across the sky“...“

The 🌟POWER🌟 of access to multiple library systems. 🙂‍↕️😁

MMmmmm, old book smell. 👃🏻♥️📚😌

Smart man! 🔪🦪

The WRITING!!! 🫨

“What began, centuries ago, as a healthy safeguard against projection had become an insidious contributor to human exceptionalism...“ 🤨🙎🏼‍♂️

I‘m all over the map on this book. Here are my random thoughts:
1. Don‘t listen to the audiobook. Apparently you can‘t tell that there is a section of the narrative that is in italics which is an important feature of the story. (At least that‘s what Reddit readers said.)
2. It took me forever to get into it and I really had to push to finish it.
3. You have to finish it. But it will give you a headache.
4. The ocean is magical. AI sucks.

Valentine's Day gift for my spouse. Slightly self-serving because I REALLY want him to read this so I can talk to him about it.

#WeeklyFavorites

The last favorite of January is my favorite of the month too! I can‘t stop thinking of Playground!

I have read some great books this week, so it was tough to choose, but the tagged edged out Poor Deer and Martyr! by just a little (even with how grouchy the ending still has me feeling).

#WeeklyFavorites @Read4life

I loved this book right up until the end. It‘s probably me but I don‘t get the ending.. I am left with so many questions, it‘s such a thought provoking story.
I loved the friendship between Todd and Rafi, I loved Evelyn‘s diving, her love for the ocean and her marriage, I loved Makatea, its inhabitants, I loved Powers‘ style and love for nature. But I feel like I have to start it again to really get it. All the stars nevertheless! #ToB25Longlist

The people of Makatea in French Polynesia have to decide about their future in this book. The mayor‘s wife is mostly quiet but I love that she speaks out about future generations. In real life people in power hardly seem to think of the future of next generations anymore. This quote touches me deeply ❤️‍🩹

I have very strong, mixed feelings about this novel. On the one hand, it's beautiful, focused yet expansive, easy to get lost in. One section had me in tears, which rarely happens for me when reading. On the other hand, I feel cheated. I will not go into details, but I do not like how the story wraps up. So, 99% I loved, 1% really pissed me off.

#tob25 longlist

The wind is blowing like crazy, and I'm trying to distract myself from worrying about fires. Playing piano has been soothing (grateful that after a year of playing, I have enough skill so it can be something besides frustrating), and I'm enjoying reading the tagged, but it's increasing the sense of foreboding that started with the wind and the news. I might resort to housework to expend some of the restlessness if this keeps up.

Although it ate into my reading time, I enjoyed spending half of the day exploring a bit of my lovely city, situated in the most biodiverse county in the United States. Hopefully, in the years to come, we can make choices as a community to help support this biodiversity while also helping the humans of this ecosystem to live healthy, happy lives, regardless of what happens on a national level.

#WeeklyForecast 04/25

I didn‘t get to Moshi Moshi last week because I had to read Short War first. I still haven‘t finished it because I went hiking this weekend with my girlfriends (cold!!!).

So that one will be next and also I can‘t wait to start Playground, where I‘ve heard such good things of!

"She had spent too many decades of close observation to be cowed any longer by the prohibition against anthropomorphism. What began, centuries ago, as a healthy safeguard against projection had become an insidious contributor to human exceptionalism, the belief that nothing else on Earth was like us in any way."

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ A completely engrossing and thought provoking novel on all levels. I almost gave up in the beginning, so glad I didn‘t. Once it grabs, it grabs hard.

I loved The Overstory so much that I tried to lower my expectations while reading this novel about a Canadian diver & ocean scientist, the founder of a wildly successful social media platform, & the inhabitants of a remote island, the proposed site for a seasteading venture. The novel is strongest when describing connections to the natural world, although the revelatory ending made me reassess my view of certain subplots. A thought-provoking read.

It took me a minute to get into this but I am absolutely riveted by the characters in this book (especially Eve the female diver)

This is a brilliant masterpiece. Powers expertly weaves culture, class, technology and nature together to allow the reader to understand the impact we all have. His diverse characters reflects different viewpoints, especially poignant to issues we are facing and having to deal with. Powers has a magical way of writing that few authors can achieve, making Playground one of his crowning achievements.

He's a great writer, this is the third by him I've read this year.
His weaving of narrators, love, science and culture is superb, and the msrine focus is of such importance.
It spanned a good length of time and has such truths.

A book about love. Love between friends, love between partners, parental love and the love children have towards their parents. Most importantly it‘s a book about the love of nature and the sea and all the creatures that live in the sea.

So my hubby had to drive to Bend, OR. For work and I tagged along… so he took me to two book stores and this was Dudley‘s Bookshop … so cute and I found the book I wanted and a few more 🤣📚

I started this on audio and struggled to connect so switched to physical. However, whilst I really enjoyed the book overall, I think the lack of human connection might have been the issue rather than audio.

Neither of the two male MCs was very relatable and there was too much distance between all of the stories - they sort of came together at the end but I didn‘t feel emotionally connected.

It would still have made my #booker shortlist.

My pup is out of this lion costume collar now. Surgery went well, recovering largely done.

Powers is an author determined to make quality fiction out of pertinent science. Here he tosses us a red herring, when a social media leader, author of AI-based Playground, suffering from a disease that affects his mind, looks at the oceans. I was waiting for the environmental hammer, but his focus is different. Thought-provoking. Not subtle.

#bookerprizelonglist

I loved it! I thought it followed a similar pattern to The Overstory, but focused on the ocean rather than trees. And, again, it's not so much about the plot as what it *means*. In short, it's a gorgeous "thinky" book that appeals to the heart (my favourite kind?). I'm disappointed it wasn't shortlisted.

Richard Powers is amazing. This story explores the inspection of AI and climate change; tech bros and poets. Lovely , fallible characters and lots of deep thinking. A very accessible read, despite all of the weight of the premise.

It‘s a complicated story that all rolls together. Richard Powers is a master of writing.

In Playground, Powers turns his attentions to the magnificent, mysterious, absorbing world that are our oceans. Through this medium, he tells a story about big issues and ideas like technological development, AI, capitalism and its environmental impact, and the tentacles of colonialism. Where it could be didactic, it never feels it, because it‘s a story with a living, breathing heart.

Another book i started last week. Slowly making way through. Joy of discovery mixed with drama of the characters lives. Fun stuff so far. #booker #booker2024 #longlist

This marks my first experience with Powers‘ writing & I really enjoyed the theme & concepts. The focus on the magic of the ocean, particularly in Evie‘s sections were the best parts of the story. Her passion, the performance of her accent & palpable love of the ocean & its amazing creatures really carried me through some of the (to me) duller moments between the competitive boys & their own love of game play from chess to go. Begs for discussion!

#play #schoolspirit @Eggs @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

Not quite a love for me the way Bewilderment and The Overstory were, but I liked it very much. Wouldn‘t be sad if we see this on the shortlist tomorrow! #Booker2024

Playground winds together the story of pioneering female diver Evelyn and the friendship of over achievers Rafi and Todd. Both storylines are compelling, particularly the rapturous passages about the ocean with Evelyn (whom I adored), but I‘m not sure I liked these two together. And I have questions about the ending. I liked it, but not my favorite from Powers.