What's the Name of That Book??? discussion

This is a book I began to read a long time ago, maybe 10 years ago, but never finished. I think it is a young adult book.

It begins with a boy(young/preteen I believe) who lives in the desert with an older guardian(grandma or grandpa maybe. They have a little oasis type place with flowers and herbs and such. From what I remember the guardian was teaching him some sort of magic. I also remember that the boy liked to wander off some(but it's such a vague memory it might be from a different book).

I did remember the cover of the book being brown or tan, kinda suppose to look like it was an old leather bound book. I believe it had some odd characters on the cover as if magical sigils.

I know this isn't much to go off of and that some of my memory of this book could possibly be from another book I read from that time period. However the cover stands out the most to me and the boy living with a guardian in the desert/desert like place. If anyone has any clues about this book or has any idea what I'm talking about it would be greatly appreciated if you would share.

Thank you in advance!

Ok, I was able to find this book through the help of another site. It is the first book in the "Myst" series by collaboration of Rand and Robyn Miller and David Wingrove