Practical, step-by-step tips for creating a sustainable lifestyle on a smaller scale.
Think you can’t live a self-sufficient life in an apartment or suburb? Think again, writes Meyer. Sustainability is all the rage right now, and this helpful guide gives urban dwellers instructions on growing their own food and living a more eco-conscious life. The author tackles such subjects as planting an edible garden by focusing on which vegetables do well in smaller spaces and which can handle less ideal locations. Strawberries, for instance, do well in hanging pots, and pole beans only require vertical room. Meyer even offers a window-gardening option for those without any outdoor space, and he carefully explains the many ways to preserve food—from dehydrating to canning to freezing. Take it a step further and create your own compost pile, he suggests. When you’re done outside, look to improving your indoor quality of life with the author's green cleaning and laundry tips (remember clotheslines?) and eco-friendly methods of handling of pests like cockroaches. There's even an all-natural way to dispose of “pet poop.” If you’ve got a bigger yard and flexible city codes, Meyer gives a crash course in raising backyard livestock, like bees, chickens and even goats. Not too many city residents may be interested in caring for goats, but the general idea is that you’d be surprised at how much you can do with limited space. A basic guide to greener living filled with easy-to-follow instructions that can be implemented in any size home.
Pub Date: April 26, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-7624-4085-6
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Running Press
Review Posted Online: April 5, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2011
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
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