Tag Archives: Australia

Spotlight: Zero Waste Life by Anita Vandyke

Nonfiction, , , , , ,

Zero Waste Life
Anita Vandyke
Vintage Australia
Published April 1, 2019

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About Zero Waste Life

A practical guide to improving your life–and your impact on the world–in thirty simple days by radically reducing waste without losing your lifestyle.

Overwhelmed by clutter, anxious about your environmental footprint, and looking to make a change? You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to reconfigure your consumption–still, it doesn’t hurt that Anita Vandyke is. A qualified engineer and the eco-luxe lifestyle champion behind the popular zero-waste Instagram @Rocket-Science, Anita Vandyke has made the change to a zero-waste life, and through hands-on advice and charming illustrations, she shows us that with ease and style, we can too.

By incorporating thirty simple rules one day at a time, A Zero Waste Life is a manageable guide to forming a more conscientious, intentional life in just one month. Offered inside is guidance for tackling waste and making ethical choices when it comes to shopping, eating, travel, beauty, and more. With her signature elegance and encouraging voice, Vandyke proves that we can stop depending on plastics, tidy our homes, and clear the way for a cleaner future–and that when we stop wasting, we start living.

When people hear of the conservationist lifestyle, it sounds idealistic and undesirable—a life spent sacrificing conveniences and laboring over smelly compost. Not quite so, according to stylish lifestyle expert, social influencer, and qualified rocket scientist Anita Vandyke, whose popular Instagram (@Rocket_Science) documenting her hip, conservationist lifestyle has amassed more than 82,000 followers, and who is the author of the upcoming, much anticipated, beautifully illustrated, and highly readable guidebook A Zero Waste Life in Thirty Days.

Releasing just in time for Earth Day (April 22, 2020), A Zero Waste Life in Thirty Days makes it easy—even convenient, fun, and envy producing!—to become a conservationist. Inside, Vandyke elegantly and encouragingly invites readers to follow a simple, manageable plan that will incorporate sustainable techniques into their lives one day at a time over a 30-day period, and leave them with a more intentional, fulfilling, and Earth-friendly lifestyle.

Vandyke focuses on incorporating practical ways to reduce waste, such as with:

  • food and shopping (become a better cook, reduce costs from packaging, and spend less eating out);
  • beauty and cleaning (DIY organic beauty and cleaning products to avoid toxins);
  • and recycling and composting (the basics and why it isn’t as daunting (or smelly!) as it seems).

Vandyke says quitting her corporate job helped her find her path, and that her financial savviness during her “funemployment” is what led to a zero waste lifestyle. “I don’t have all the answers to living a 100% zero waste life,” she says. “It’s a goal, nothing more. I believe we can all be everyday activists and take little steps to reduce our waste.”

About Anita Vandyke

Website | Facebook | Instagram

Anita Vandyke is a qualified rocket scientist (graduated with a Bachelor of Engineering – Aeronautical Space) and runs a successful Instagram account (@rocket_science) about zero waste living.

She was born in Guangzhou China, raised in Australia and currently splits her time between studying Medicine in Sydney, and living with her husband in San Francisco. She regularly blogs about her passions of zero waste switches, minimalism, travel and all things green living.

​ Anita’s first book A Zero Waste Life: a thirty day guide published by Penguin Random House, Australia is available at all good book stores. Her second book is coming out in 2020.

Zero Waste Life Giveaway

3 winners will win a Mermaid Straw and a copy of the eBook, US Only.

The giveaway will be open until April 30th at 12:00 a.m. Eastern.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Review: Bone Sparrow by Zana Fraillon

Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Coming of Age, Contemporary, , , , , , ,

Bone Sparrow
Zana Fraillon
Disney-Hyperion
Available November 1, 2016

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Every night, Subhi slips out of the compound in the refugee camp and finds the treasures he believes the magical Night Sea brings him from his far away father. Every morning he shows the gifts to his mother, now barely responsive. Subhi has only known life within the fences of the permanent detention center. Up the hill from the center lives a girl named Jimmie who bears her own grief. She comforts herself with her mother’s necklace pendant, a sparrow carved from bone. She meets Subhi, and begs him to read her mother’s journal to her. Subhi shares the pages, filled with stories and songs as magical as the ones his mother once told. As conditions worsen for both Jimmie and Subhi, each must find courage, as the characters from the songs and stories of their mothers did.

Bone Sparrow is one of those stories that will haunt you. From the first page, the beautiful narrative sucked me in. I immediately loved both Jimmie and Subhi and the colorful cast of characters in and out of the detention center. It reminded me very much of The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, and left me reeling much the same way that story did.

The latter part of the tale shows some pretty intense violence. Up until that point it felt like a solid, literary middle grade read, but the heaviness of that violence made me reconsider whether that’s really where the book belongs. Bone Sparrow definitely deserves a place on the shelf with John Boyne’s acclaimed novel and others that shine a light on world issues, like Blue Gold by Elizabeth Stewart and Over a Thousand Hills I Walk With You by Hanna Jansen.

What really left me speechless was the fact that the conditions Subhi and his family endure in the detention center are in fact based on real situations and reports. The way the Rohingya people have been treated in these camps is unbelievable. I’ve continued to read more about the people and their refugee status. I know that’s a very polarizing idea right now, but I encourage you to look up more information. I’ll post links below the content section of this review.

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Cultural Elements
Jimmie and her family are Australian. Subhi is part of a group of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar, once Burma.

Note: The Rohingya people have been denied rights to citizenship by the Myanmar government and driven out or killed. Many live in refugee camps like the one described in this book.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
When a sparrow lands on Subhi’s bed, his sister warns him that this warns of death. At night Subhi believes a magical Night Sea brings him gifts from his father, who lives far away.

Brief mention of Gods in the stories written by Jimmie’s mother. The bone sparrow necklace plays a role in the stories, guiding a man to his lost love and offering protection.

Violent Content
Horrible conditions plague the refugees in the camp. Some begin a hunger strike, sewing their mouths closed. Refugees barricade themselves in one quarter. A fire starts. Soldiers and refugees fight. Subhi witnesses a soldier beat a boy to death.

Drug Content
None.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Links for More Information about the Rohingya

From the Council on Foreign Relations – The Rohingya Migrant Crisis

From Amnesty International: Rohingya Refugees in Bangladesh

From CNN- How Asia’s worst refugee crisis isn’t over yet

From the Chicago Tribune- some Rohingya refugees find home in Chicago

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Review: Ophelia Adrift by Helen Goltz

Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , ,

Ophelia Adrift
Helen Goltz
Atlas Productions

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Newly orphaned, Ophelia Montague moves to the coast to live with her uncle. She soon finds her feet among the locals and takes on a history project learning about shipwrecks in the area. She meets Jack by the sea one night and falls deeply in love with him. Jack feels drawn to Ophelia, too, by a powerful force outside his control. He longs to be with her, but fears she may destroy him if she comes too close. Ophelia doesn’t understand the secrets Jack carries. She only knows she wants to be with him. When Jack reveals the cost of being with him, the price may prove too high for Ophelia to pay, and it may be too late for her to escape.

I liked that the story switches to a lot of different points of view. We see some scenes from Ophelia perspective, others from Jack’s, and still others from Adam or Holly’s viewpoint. I liked the way this drew the focus of the story onto the different relationships in Ophelia’s life rather than letting it be completely swallowed by her obsession with Jack.

The romance between Jack and Ophelia is definitely a dominant force in the tale. I found it a little hard to swallow the strength of their passion for each other because it didn’t seem to have much of a base. Why does she like him? Because she does. Why does he like her? Because they’re soul mates. It was kind of just supposed to be something readers never question. I kept waiting for there to be some revelation about a connection between Ophelia and Jack’s ancestors or something like that. Something that gave reason for the “meant to be” idea.

In the ARC version that I read, there are quite a few copy errors. Sometimes two sentences would be separated by a comma. In the grand scheme of things, it’s not a huge error, but things like that tend to trip me up. They may be fixed before the final version is released, though.

In reading some of the author’s notes about the story, I was excited to learn that the shipwreck mentioned in the tale did really happen, and many of the details about the sailors themselves were pulled from records about the real men aboard the vessel. I found it fascinating to have that bit of history pulled into the contemporary story. It definitely added some intrigue and made me want to learn more about shipwrecks.

Also – I loved coming across the various places mentioned in the Australia setting. Until recently, I worked for a company that creates 3D city models, and we had modeled many of the sites mentioned in the story. So that was kind of a cool thing for me that even though I’d never been to those places, I could visualize some of them from our models.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Intense kissing. Ophelia offers herself to her boyfriend, but he responds telling her that she will only share his bed when she is his wife. Adam receives a young woman into his room while wearing only boxers. No details about what happens after, though Ophelia wonders vaguely.

Spiritual Content
Ophelia believes she’s encountered a ghost and does some online research as to whether that could be true. One thing she learns is that (according to her research) if the ghost only partially appears and is missing some part of himself, then it may be a demon rather than a ghost she’s seeing.

Violent Content
Two of the local boys wind up in a fist fight over an old family feud. Ophelia researches records of shipwrecks in the area and learns about some of the sailor’s deaths at sea. A few of these instances are described in some detail.

Drug Content
None.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

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Review: Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley

Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , ,

Graffiti Moon
by Cath Crowley
Knopf Books for Young Readers

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On the last night of her senior year, Lucy and her best friend set out on an adventure. The girls plan to track down Shadow and Poet, a secretive duo who pepper the city with brilliant graffiti and gut-wrenching poetry. Ed, Lucy’s sort-of-ex-boyfriend, wishes she’d see past her prejudices and assumptions. Her obsession with Shadow is sure to lead to disappointment, but it’s like a train wreck from which he can’t look away. As the night progresses, Lucy draws nearer to uncovering the identity of the elusive Shadow, but the closer she gets, the less he seems like the hero she’s built him up to be. Maybe what she’s really wanted has been right in front of her all the time.

Three points-of-view relay the story of a chaotic night: Lucy, Ed, and Poet. Each has a unique voice and identity and bring an essential piece of the story to the stage. Lucy and Ed’s backstory definitely adds emotional depth. Her fondness for classic stories adds a nice flair, since there are definitely some parallels between her story and that of the famed Elizabeth Bennet from Pride and Prejudice. Lucy is learning to do some glass blowing. This unusual hobby and the graffiti art add some fresh descriptions and a glimpse into a world of art not often explored within young adult fiction. Lucy and Ed are strong in their own ways. Each brings to the story some biases about the other, which the conflicts in the story begin to unravel. Too often in YA the hero and heroine are not well-matched. Crowley, however, has this one all figured out. Ed and Lucy will have readers rooting for them from beginning to end.

Language Content
Extreme profanity used with moderate frequency.

Sexual Content
Lucy talks about wanting to have sex with boys, but it’s clear she has high standards of behavior (she breaks a guy’s nose for grabbing her rear on their first date.) She appears to have very limited experience with boys, though her friends try to convince her she’s being a prude. She stands her ground in the face of their pressure.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violence
Lucy broke a guy’s nose while they were on a date. (She elbowed him in the face.) She uses the same move on a thug who tries to hurt her and Ed later. The thug first threatens to pierce Lucy’s nipple, but instead pierces Ed’s ear as a threat.

Drug Content
Lucy, Ed and their friends go to a party. The friends drink alcohol, but Lucy and Ed don’t stay long.

Review: On the Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta

Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , ,

On the Jellicoe Road
Melina Marchetta
Penguin Australia

Taylor Markham has been at the school on the Jellicoe Road since she was six years old. It’s her turn to lead the students in the annual territory wars with the Townies and Cadets from a school in Sydney. But lost memories of her childhood, her mother and a man she hopes is her father distract her from the game. When her caregiver, Hannah, disappears, Taylor studies the stories Hannah left behind, looking for clues to her whereabouts. She forms unlikely alliances with territory rivals, and together they work to solve the mysteries behind many things that happened on the Jellicoe Road.

When I started reading this novel, I felt a bit lost. It seems like two stories are happening simultaneously, and it’s hard to figure out which parts of which stories are significant at first. I love Marchetta’s Lumatere series, so I really wanted to stick with this book. In reading other reviews, I found other readers who’d had similar experiences, so I kept reading. And it definitely paid off.

The stories do intersect, and so many things make sense once it’s clear how they fit together. I loved the elements of history sort of repeating itself among Taylor and her friends – it’s kind of the redeemed version of the other story. The characters are fantastic. The romantic tension is delicious. Really great stuff.

Language Content
Extreme profanity, mild to moderate frequency.

Sexual Content
Kissing and references to sex. A couple of scenes briefly describe couples leading up to having sex. A couple times teens see each other in their underwear.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violence
Some kids fist-fighting. A fire destroys a house and two girls go missing. A shooting accident kills a boy (No description of his injuries.)

Drug Content
None.

Review: Aquifer by Jonathan Friesen

Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Christian World-View, Clean Fiction, Dystopian or Post-Apocalyptic, , ,

Aquifer
Jonathan Friesen
Blink YA
Published August 6, 2013

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Fifteen year-old Luca has grown up with a heavy burden of responsibility on his shoulders. In a world plagued by drought, only his father has the knowledge and ability to journey deep underground and negotiate with the fearsome people known as water rats for another year’s supply of water to be pumped up to earth’s surface. Luca painstakingly memorizes his father’s instructions to navigate the caves below, for one day it will fall to him to make that lonely, life-preserving journey as the Deliverer.

Life on the earth’s surface is carefully monitored and controlled by the Council of Nine and their representatives, called Amongus, who sniff out any dissenters or citizens who cannot master their emotions. Those who cannot obey the law are “undone,” taken out to the middle of the ocean and drowned.

As the day approaches for Luca’s father to make the long journey into the dark, Luca discovers a hidden treasure, one the Amongus would surley destroy. Luca’s father begins his trek to negotiate for water before Luca has a chance to show his father the secret treasure. When his father does not return at the scheduled time, Luca’s world is thrown into chaos. Suddenly he is the new Deliverer and he does not have his father to guide him any longer. But it seems the Amongus have other plans for Lucas and the future water supply, and Luca must move quickly if he is to escape entanglement in their deadly traps. In order to flee, Luca must embrace a faith which doesn’t make sense to him, and dare to behold a world beyond the one the Amongus have confined him in. One in which water rats are not twisted monsters and beauty is not a thing to be feared.

In this novel Friesen brings powerful prose to a story that is sort of Waterworld meets The Giver. Aquifer allows readers to experience a raw longing and searching for faith and universal truth. At every turn, Luca experiences the struggle to sort allies from enemies, and as chaos and desperation bring out both the best and worst in those around him, discerning friend from foe is no easy task. Over all this is a really enjoyable story with a lot of suspense and a little bit of romance. Fans of dystopian fiction will find this one a worthy addition to their reading lists.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Sexual Content
A few brief kisses.

Spiritual Content
Religion is outlawed, but some citizens (referred to as Wishers) secretly pray to a Creator and believe they hear guidance and direction from him.
Violence
Brief battle scenes between Amongus enforcers and Luca and his supporters.

Drug Content
None.

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