Need a good book to get you through Thanksgiving?  Here’s a couple of recommendations that will keep you on the edge of your seat and help you drown out your crazy family:

My Abandonment – Peter Rock

A page-turning book told from the perspective of a young girl who lives in a cave in a large forested park in Portland, Oregon with her survivalist father.  This book is 1 part troubling and 2 parts tense and will leave you a little shocked, especially when you find that this is actually based on real events.  I picked this book up at Powell’s Books IN Portland a few months ago and read it in one day. 

Await Your Reply – Dan Chaon

This book throws you in the middle of the action from the very first paragraph and rarely lets up the pace.  Focusing on the idea of identity and starting over, this exhilarating novel weaves together 3 different stories in a surprisingly realistic and thought provoking way. All the elements of a classic thriller are here: Love! Violence! Money! Bad guys!  Exotic lands!

Room – Emma Donoghue

One of the most acclaimed books of 2010 and short-listed for the Booker Prize, this novel is written from the perspective of a 5-year-old named Jack who is locked in a room with his Ma and details his day to day routines and life inside this small square room.  As the novel unfolds, you are continually drawn into their tragic tale and slowly you begin to see the true story of how Jack and Ma ended up here.  Jack’s world suddenly begins to explode when he learns that there’s a whole world outside the room. Beautiful and gripping, this book will keep you reading until late in the night.