Dear Great Book Guru, I was having a delicious breakfast with friends at Matt’s Deli here in Sea Cliff, when one of the group mentioned a book we might all enjoy- a family drama about a train wreck, business ethics, aging parents, and the dangers of medical googling. Needless to say- we were intrigued…Book Lovers and Breakfasters............................................... Dear Book Lovers and Breakfasters, WRECK by Catherine Newman does indeed cover a myriad of subjects. Rachel aka Rocky is the lead character and the novel opens with a inexplicable rash that she obsessively googles, with each piece of information offering a more dire diagnosis. Her husband Nick is a patient, loving mate as her recently widowed father weighs his future housing options while staying with them. Her anxiety ridden daughter Willa has returned home after finishing college and son Jaimie has taken on a new job in New York City. Everything seems pretty normal except for the family members’ obsession with a train/car fatality that happens shortly before the book opens. Was it suicide …was it human error… or was it corporate malfeasance? We soon learn that Jaime’s new job involves representing the train company and as the story unfolds it appears there is a strong likelihood the company bears much blame. Throughout we see how everyone shoulders some guilt about this incident but the question remains – how will they find absolution? A complex ethical dilemma and highly recommended!

Dear Great Book Guru, I was at a fabulous Mardi Gras celebration at St. Luke’s here in Sea Cliff where someone mentioned a book that sounded interesting - lots of great discussion points: artificial intelligence, sibling rivalry, self-driving cars, parental guilt… perfect for my next book club meeting. Are you familiar with it? Book Club Searcher............................................... Dear Book Club Searcher - CULPABILITY by Bruce Holsinger would be a great choice with its myriad of ethical dilemmas. The story opens as the Cassidy-Shaw family is driving to a lacrosse tournament. Seventeen-year-old Charlie - the eldest child - is in the driver’s seat. Noah, his father, is riding next to him… in their self-driving minivan. The mother, Lorelei, an internationally respected researcher of AI ethics, is in the back seat on her computer, and the two younger siblings Alice and Izzy - also in the back - are texting on their phones. Suddenly the car crashes into another vehicle killing an elderly driver and her passenger. Each of the family members harbors secret guilt over the accident, but what about the role of the car? While Noah is the narrator, we are privy throughout to conversations Alice has with her AI chatbot, Blair, and also included are passages from Lorelei’s book about the ethics of artificial intelligence. When the parents decide to spend a week in a Chesapeake Bay beach house to recover from the trauma, the pressure mounts with the prospect of Charlie going to prison. None of the family is guilt-free and their only hope is… will AI absolve them? A fascinating book for our times and highly recommended!