Book Log 2019 #3: The Dark Forest by Cixin Liu

The second book in the Three Body Problem trilogy, the Trisolarans are on their way to Earth, and have used a form of subatomic computers to spy on Earth and prevent scientific or technological breakthroughs that might help Earth defend itself. The book focuses on how the UN tries to get around this, eventually jumping ahead 200 years to show the first contact between the two civilizations and its aftermath. 

I really do like this trilogy, and would suggest taking your time reading the books. As with the first book, I feel like I read this one too quickly, and missed things. So take your time and enjoy this.

 Book Log 2019 #2: The Road Taken by Henry Petroski

In this book, Petroski looks at infrastructure (transportation infrastructure in particular) and, as with many of his previous books, gives its history in great detail and full of the surprising facts that often make his books so much fun to read. Better still, it avoids the trap of getting too bogged down in those facts, a problem that made The Book on the Bookshelf so hard to get through.

And as you might expect from a civil engineer, he also uses this book to argue for both increased spending to fix the things that are broken and better planning in implementing new infrastructure. It's hard to argue with either point, and I was happily surprised at the focus on making better infrastructure in the future. We don't often talk about creating infrastructure to solve (or avoid) future problems, which is how we wind up with ever-wider freeways that still fill up with traffic.

A good read on a real problem that will hopefully get more attention soon.

 Book Log 2019 #1: The Incendiaries by R. O. Kwon

Faith, loss, and identity are the major themes of this novel, which sees two young college students interact with a local oddball turned cult leader, with horrifying results. The extent to which each of the characters is driven to do what they did by their past losses or current relationships is left to the reader to consider.

Reading reviews of this book I saw at least a couple of references to Donna Tartt's The Secret History, which I can see. Both books follow close-knit and often unhealthy relationships between college students, and both have tragic endings. One review also noted that the students in both books were not representative of typical college students, as they don't consume popular culture in the way that most do (and in the more recent book, a lack of texting).

That being said, I do find that this book travels much more in the real world than Tartt's book, and it is much easier to identify with the students at the heart of this book than those in The Secret History. I should also note that I hated The Secret History, and did not hate this one at all. 

Was it the most uplifting book to start the new year? No. But it's well worth reading.