Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore: A Novel

by Robin Sloan | Literature & Fiction |
ISBN: 1250037751 Global Overview for this book
Registered by wingethereawing of Little Rock, Arkansas USA on 5/19/2014
Buy from one of these Booksellers:
Amazon.com | Amazon UK | Amazon CA | Amazon DE | Amazon FR | Amazon IT | Bol.com
4 journalers for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by wingethereawing from Little Rock, Arkansas USA on Monday, May 19, 2014
From the back of the book:
The Great Recession has shuffled Clay Jannon away from life as a San Francisco web-design drone and into the aisles of Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore. But after a few days on the job, Clay discovers that the store is more curious than either its name or its gnomic owner might suggest. The customers are few, and they never seem to buy anything—instead, they “check out” large, obscure volumes from strange corners of the store. Suspicious, Clay engineers an analysis of the clientele’s behavior, seeking help from his variously talented friends. But when they bring their findings to Mr. Penumbra, they discover the bookstore’s secrets extend far beyond its walls. Rendered with irresistible brio and dazzling intelligence, Robin Sloan's Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore is exactly what it sounds like: an establishment you have to enter and will never want to leave.

Journal Entry 2 by wingethereawing at Controlled Release, A Bookcrossing member -- Controlled Releases on Saturday, September 6, 2014

Released 9 yrs ago (9/6/2014 UTC) at Controlled Release, A Bookcrossing member -- Controlled Releases

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

A belated birthday book for you! I hope you enjoy it!

Journal Entry 3 by wingT02S03B11D20wing at Springport, Michigan USA on Wednesday, September 10, 2014
Thank you for the book...I have been curious about this one for a long time.

Journal Entry 4 by wingT02S03B11D20wing at Springport, Michigan USA on Thursday, March 5, 2015
Too strange a book to even comment on. I will let you draw your own conclusions.

Journal Entry 5 by wingT02S03B11D20wing at Nashua, New Hampshire USA on Thursday, March 5, 2015

Released 9 yrs ago (3/5/2015 UTC) at Nashua, New Hampshire USA

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

A wish list tag! Enjoy!

Journal Entry 6 by wingGoryDetailswing at Nashua, New Hampshire USA on Tuesday, March 10, 2015
The book arrived safely - many thanks! Looking forward to the story of this rather unusual bookstore...

Later: I enjoyed the evocative setup of the story, with between-jobs techie Clay wandering into the titular shop in San Francisco. (There are some strange, charming, and sometimes eerie bookshops in the San Francisco area, but I never found one quite like this!) The description of the shop immediately reminded me of Terry Pratchett's "L-space" concept in his Discworld books: a "good bookshop is just a genteel black hole that knows how to read." [For more on L-space, see this page.]

Turns out the shop itself isn't quite that mystical, but the group behind it has quite a pedigree - and more than a few aspects of a seriously-obsessive cult! I admit that by the time the purpose of it all was revealed, I lost some interest - there's only so far that I care to go in "massive encrypted puzzle theory" plots. But I did enjoy the way Clay and his friends (all drawn from the lively and often weird geek/techie subculture) worked together to figure out what was going on and then to attempt to help things along. The story does rather deify Google and its minions, but it was still entertaining. And the descriptions of the characters' programming methods made me want to start coding again myself, so there's that {wry grin}.

Later in the story I found myself fretting that the references to being bound and shelved - or, disastrously, burned - might apply to more than the books, but the story turned out to be less ominous than I'd feared. I did appreciate the focus on the long and intricate art of font-design, and was surprised at the ways in which that fit into the story. And I confess to doing some Googling to figure out just how much of that font-design history was accurate (more than I expected!).

The book touches on the different ways in which people can enjoy books, from reading text to e-books to audiobooks, and I appreciated the way that each format was used here.

All in all, an intriguing book, and even though I found the payoff less fulfilling than it might have been, I enjoyed it. And the last line's charming: "A clerk and a ladder and warm golden light, and then: the right book exactly, at exactly the right time."

[Note: this particular edition has a feature I hadn't seen on a book before: its cover glows in the dark! If you let the book sit in bright light for a while and then take it into a dark room, it'll blaze out like anything, and this tickled me immensely when I noticed it. "Wait - is that eerie light on my bedside table the book???"]

Released 8 yrs ago (7/26/2015 UTC) at Bruce Freeman Rail Trail (see notes) in Chelmsford, Massachusetts USA

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

I left this book, bagged against the elements, on a bench along the rail-trail near Chelmsford center at around 3. (You can see some of the handsome black-and-white murals in the background of the picture.) Hope the finder enjoys the book!

*** Released as part of the 2015 Keep Them Moving release challenge. ***

Journal Entry 8 by dronan at Chelmsford, Massachusetts USA on Tuesday, July 28, 2015
Just found this book! Once I finish The Princess Bride, I'll read this book and set it free.

Are you sure you want to delete this item? It cannot be undone.