Civilisation: Twenty Places on the Edge of the World, by Steve Braunias

  You know they say "don't leave home until you've seen your country".  This book might work either way for you, perhaps you'll want to get the hell out after reading it or maybe your curiosity will be piqued by somewhere close you have never heard of.  This is what happened to me.

  This is a (mostly) New Zealand travel book. The places described are not those on any conventional tourist trail.  Perhaps this is why this book really brings New Zealand alive. 

  It is always the people who make the place interesting, or best avoided.  While the scenery is often lovely and wonderfully described it is the people who give real life.  All kinds of people are here, those who you might call ordinary, or weird, those who write signs all over their houses and/or cars, mysterious people , nice people, and a very few mean-spirited folk.

  As well, you travel with the author.  I have found myself thinking about and appreciating his valuing of old habits and looking out for new habits to enjoy.  I noticed how he was truthful about people - such as the man in Winton, of whom he felt afraid - and began to hate.  But, he also noticed, this man listened, was generous and had a sense of humour.  Steve Braunias talked to all kinds of people and insulted none, even when you could tell he possibly didn't like them.  I found that very admirable.

  I've been to nine of the places. I couldn't wait to leave some of them. Some of the places I have never heard of and still have no intentions of visiting.

  And yet ... now I am going travelling in my own backyard.  I am going to start with a trip to Mount Roskill, to the King Tut Foodbar.  After I've done my groceries at Pak'n'Save.

 
Title: Civilisation: Twenty Places on the Edge of the World
Author: Steve Braunias
Published: Wellington, NZ, Awa Press, 2012
ISBN: 9781877551352

Queen Kat, Carmel & St Jude Get a Life by Maureen McCarthy [Teen retro read]

Set in Melbourne, in the early 1990s, what drew me to this book was the cover (coffee and muffin!) and recommendations from others.  It's described as a classic, but my daughter says it's not.
Whatever, it still was a great story about three very different country girls and their first year after school, sharing a house in Melbourne.  Kat, the rich snob, Jude the political activist, and Carmel the struggling musician.  This first year away from home is when they each find their own talents, strenghths, weaknesses.  They each have issues to deal with, and things which test them, but which also help them grow up more.  They begin as strangers and end as friends.
Other people's comments on the book cover show that this book has really resounded with some.  I thought the girls characters were a bit exaggerated.  For example, Kat was a super snob and very beautiful, Jude incredibly smart (A+s) and a full-on activist against human-rights abuses in Chile, and Carmel very shy but incredibly talented as a singer/musician.  Despite this, each girl had enough in them that you could identify with, and the things they get up feel like they could happen to any one.

Nemesis by Jo Nesbo

In the first pages of Nemesis Detective Harry Hole is beginning to investigate a bank robbery and murder. Not long after, his ex-girlfriend is found dead – apparently suicide – but Harry is worried because he was with her the night it happened, with no memory of it at all. Thus begins a rollercoaster ride for Harry as the boundaries between his professional and personal lives become blurred. He is a confident and clever investigator, and halfway through the book, it seems he has solved the main case. However we soon see that this is an illusion as the bank robberies continue, and the story contains many more twists than I could count.


This is an early Jo Nesbo (first published 2002, translated 2008). It is set in Norway. I first heard about Jo Nesbo from a library patron and many people since have recommended Jo Nesbo to me.  As my first experience - I'll say it was easy to pick up and hard to put down, and not too taxing a read.  The lead characters were tough, just complicated enought to be interesting and the storyline was twisty, thrilling. For its genre of detective thriller Nemesis is great!