What’s in the queue

My dear mother is worried that we’re not reading enough. In an effort to reassure her, I thought I’d share the contents of my current reading stack, in no particular order:

• Bayou Farewell: Mike Tidwell’s account of the ecological destruction of the Louisiana marshlands and the way of life surrounding them
• When the King Took Flight: overly earnest but still fascinating history of Louis XVI’s flight, capture, and execution during the French Revolution. (I’m about halfway through this now)
• Empires of Light: fascinating account of the three-cornered battle between Edison, Westinghouse, and Tesla for economic and technological supremacy in the early electric industry. Jill Johnnes is a terrific storyteller. (Halfway through this one too).
• Fistful of Rain: I’ll read anything by Greg Rucka.
• Positively Fifth Street: journalist goes to Vegas to write about the World Series of Poker and ends up placing fifth. Absorbing. (I still count this as in the queue even though it’s returned ’cause I owe an overdue fine on it).