Book Chatter

My continuing need to seek out new reads is really becoming a bit of a problem. Is it me, or maybe a touch of Spring Fever that has me searching for books even though I have plenty to read? Also, what is up with me and dark covers lately? I consider myself quite happy so why am I infatuated with dark, mysterious covers? These are the questions I ponder.

Okay, maybe it’s because talking about books is better than working on a project at work. You think?

Anyway, I was checking out Powell’s new favorites list and saw My Abandonment by Peter Rock. Here’s the blurb:

“A riveting and unsettling novel about a girl and her father who live off the grid, in the shadows at the edge of civilization. A thirteen-year-old girl and her father live in Forest Park, the enormous nature preserve in Portland, Oregon. They inhabit an elaborate cave shelter, wash in a nearby creek, store perishables at the water’s edge, use a makeshift septic system, tend a garden, even keep a library of sorts.

Once a week, they go to the city to buy groceries, attend church, and otherwise merge with the civilized world. But one small mistake allows a back country jogger to discover them, which derails their entire existence, ultimately provoking a deeper flight.

In the tradition of Jon Krakauer’s Into the Wild and Elizabeth Gilbert’s Last American Man, Peter Rock’s My Abandonment, inspired by a true story and told through the startlingly sincere voice of his young protagonist, Caroline, is an eerie and mesmerizing book of survival and hope, and a completely original novel of a remarkable and triumphant transformation.”

So what do you think? Doesn’t this sound good? Apparently it just came out last week. I think I am going to have to pick this one up.

As a reader, it’s hard for me to understand a person who doesn’t like to read. For me, reading is the ultimate activity. For this reason it’s irks me to no end that my son does not enjoy reading. I’ve come to the conclusion that some kids are natural readers and others aren’t!

However, there are a few books that he WILL read without complaint and Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw by Jeff Kinney falls into that category. I had to read it myself to see what the fuss was all about.

My Thoughts:

As I was reading the book, the first thing that I noticed was the format. It’s a diary, and let’s face it, reading someone’s diary is a lot of fun. The other thing that I noticed right away is that Kinney has a really good grasp of what it’s like to be a kid. This kid being Greg Heffley, a sort of wimpy, nondescript kid that is just trying to get through the day-to-day stuff that kids go through.

I laughed out loud in some places because much of what happens in the book, has happened to my son. The references to soccer were so similar to my son’s experiences with soccer that I had to go back and re-read that section to see if what I was reading was actually written, or if I somehow imagined it.

Overall, I really enjoyed the book. This book happens to be book #3 in the series. For more info on Jeff Kinney and the other books in the series, check out this website. As I said, my kid loves the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series so much that he just submitted an audition clip to play the lead in the upcoming Twentieth Century Fox live-action movie adaptation. Details for that are on the website too!

I received this book from Jason and Laura over at Abrams Books For Young Readers/Amulet Books. Thank you Jason and Laura!

Chatting with friends about books and life…