"The First Celebrity Cooks"

The L.A. Times Food section ran an interesting article today on Marian Manners and Prudence Penny, food columnists for the L.A. Times and the Hearst newspaper chain beginning in the 1930s.

The article made me think of a book I picked up a couple months ago, HOMETOWN APPETITES: THE STORY OF CLEMENTINE PADDLEFORD, THE FORGOTTEN FOOD WRITER WHO CHRONICLED HOW AMERICA ATE.

The book looks like it should be a good read, especially given that my interests in biography, American history, and cooking intersect in this title. It received good reviews from both Publisher's Weekly and the Washington Post. Perhaps I'll take it along for plane reading next month.

The other books I already have stacked up for the roughly 21-hour round-trip from Los Angeles to London: BUT I HAVE PROMISES TO KEEP: MY LIFE BEFORE, WITH, AND AFTER ROBERT TAYLOR by Ursula Thiess; THE WOMEN OF WARNER BROS.: THE LIVES AND CAREERS OF 15 LEADING LADIES; Mark Levin's No. 1 bestseller LIBERTY AND TYRANNY: A CONSERVATIVE MANIFESTO; and A HOMEMADE LIFE: STORIES AND RECIPES FROM MY KITCHEN TABLE by Orangette blogger Molly Wizenberg. A HOMEMADE LIFE received a starred review from Publisher's Weekly.

I think these titles, along with a couple Betty Neels paperbacks, should be just about right, especially as we'll also have a train trip under the Channel and back; I expect the view during that particular portion of the train trip will be a bit boring!

Over the years I've made myself travel lighter, but being stranded somewhere without reading material is a book lover's worst nightmare (grin). And since I read hundreds of pages each week for my proofreading business, I love to take advantage of travel time to catch up on my stacks of books! Having the time to read Jeanine Basinger's THE STAR MACHINE on a plane to Florida last year was a nice part of the trip!