Books that include cooking help the reading along. A lot of reading happens in kitchens - the new book choice for Tacoma Reads Together gives the readers a lot of food.
The Tacoma Reads Together selection for 2009 is
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver, she refers to the non-cooking idea that placed a demand on females, I remember it from the 1980's. Mixing bowls were not supposed to happen.
I became interested in the transportation options in her community, because when I skimmed through searching for references to the local transportation system where she lives, I found it was all car, car car. And the first paragraph ends with mention of her driveway. Although her work with local food is concerned with produce that travels long distances she does not use public transportation for her own needs.
At the website for the small town near her home I find a description of a bus that stopped there in the late nineteen fifties. It reminds me of the difficulty faced by hard-working poorer people when those who have a choice go along with the car choice of the very affluent. Their bus route vanishes and poorer peoples lives are that much harder.