Mr Penumbra's 24-hour Bookstore (2012)

I thoroughly enjoyed this very imaginative, inventive book! Also, the glow in the dark cover is so very cool. ( )

"Well, that’s just great. My salary is paid by font licensing fees and copyright infringement cases." ( )

A secret society seeking to decrypt arcane knowledge from an ancient text... sounds like the plot of Foucault's Pendulum. But this is Eco Lite--a sunnier, more upbeat version. What it lacks in intellectual gravitas it makes up in humor and goodwill. And though I say it lacks gravitas, it has intelligence and cleverness to spare. Once I recognized the parallels to Foucault, I was prepared to despise it (Foucault's Pendulum is, after all, one of my favorite books), but it won me over completely with its charm. I listened to the audio book (not as incongruous as I thought it might be for a book about books, as it turns out), and the narrator, Ari Fliakos, did a fabulous job--just perfect in tone and timbre for Clay Jannon. ( )

Former web designer Clay Jannon takes the night shift at Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore, but finds there are few customers and many only borrow books. His boyhood friend, now a dot.com millionaire, special effects roommate from IL&M, and a new girlfriend, a rising star at Google, help him uncover a secret society trying to do the impossible. Weird, with some interesting techie stuff. ( )

4 stars: Very good

From the back cover:
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.

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I liked this book quite well. A light hearted story with a slightly fantastic mystery, in some ways reminiscent to Ready Player One. It was very charming, particularly for those of us who love books but also see where technology can be helpful. I particularly appreciated that while there was an "ancient mystery" and "secret society" of people trying to figure out the secret to eternal life, the big reveal was much more grounded than that. [without a spoiler]. A fast, charming book that made me want more. There is a prequel about Mr. Penumbra which I'll pick up on ebook at some point.

Quotes I liked:

"This girl has the spark of life. This is my primary filter for new friends (girl and otherwise) and the highest compliment I can pay.

Neel takes a sharp breath and I know exactly what it means. It means: I have waited my whole life to walk through a secret passage built into a bookshelf. Penumbra hoists himself up and we follow him forward.

There is no immortality that is not built on friendship and work done with care.

The book will fade, the way all books fade in your mind. But I hope you will remember this: A man walking fast down a dark lonely street. Quick steps and hard breathing, all wonder and need. A bell above a door and the tinkle it makes. A clerk and a ladder and warm golden light, and then: the right book exactly, at exactly the right time. ( )