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.