Ever wonder what happens to your garbage? If so, read Garbage Land: On the Secret Trail of Trash, by Elizabeth Royte. Follow it from trash bin to dump site as the author tries recycling, composting, reducing packaging ... to reduce the amount of trash her family creates. There's a bit of history, too, as to how past civilizations dealt with their garbage. Sometimes a bit dry, but overall, not a bad read.

Although these two reads were separated by several other books, it seemed fitting to post them together. Picking Up: On the Streets and Behind the Trucks with the Sanitation Workers of New York City, by Robin Nagle is an interesting read about what it's really like to work on truck. There are tests to take before you can actually apply, then there is the interview process, health exams, paperwork and more paperwork, driving tests ... and then you wait for a call. It is a hazardous, dangerous job on many levels. Picking up from a large apartment is different than a neighborhood. The sanitation workers clean up after a parade or celebration (think New Year's Eve). They are responsible for snow removal. And routine cleaning of the streets. It's hard work, but one we rarely hear about (after all, who wants to think about garbage, right)? There should be a parade!

Working as a Red Cross volunteer handing out doughnuts, coffee, gum, etc. in what were called Clubmobiles, was something a woman could do in WWII. And that's just what Liz Richardson did. Author James H. Madison did a great job of combining her letters, and diary entries into his book Slinging Doughnuts for the Boys: an American Woman in World War II. It wasn't just the doughnuts the soldiers sought out, it was the sound of an American voice, a pretty face, a dance ... A nicely done first hand account.

Reading Hermit With Dog