Recently, Marshal Zeringue invited me to share my current reading. In case you missed it on his site, which is always interesting.

I always have several books going at the same time, some paper copies, some on my e-reader.

Here’s my current stack and the excuses to read them:

1. Dead Wake: the Last Crossing of the Lusitania, by Erik Larson, for a nonfiction book group that has been meeting monthly in my home for more than 20 years. Like all his narratives, Larson’s detailed presentation of the WWI disaster reads like the best fiction. Here the characters are a luxury ocean liner and a German U-boat. I’m always amazed when a writer can accomplish suspense, even when we all know the outcome.

2. Life on the Edge: The Coming of Age of Quantum Biology, by Johnjoe McFadden and Jim Al-Kalili. Heavy! This one will take a while to finish. Biology is so much more complex than physics (five simple equations and you’re done).

3. Guilt by Degrees, by attorney Marcia Clark, for the December meeting of the Castro Valley Library Mystery Book Club, another longstanding group. The story, or “case”, is interesting, the author’s many years reading police reports obvious.

4. Fatal Voyage, by Karin Fossim, my new favorite thriller writer. For me, the darker the better when it comes to reading crime fiction.

5. Assorted magazines: The New Yorker (of course; makes feel like one); Science & Technology Review (to stay connected); Writers Digest and Publishers Weekly (to feel like a writer); Real Simple (makes me feel organized); the Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin (to enter a different world); and miniatures magazines (makes me feel crafty).

And, finally, just for fun

6. Grand Central: How a Train Station Transformed America, by San Roberts. Probably my favorite place on earth, and probably because I grew up with the radio show long before I ever saw the terminal. What can be more exciting to listen to while ironing than the crossroads of a million private lives?