'Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore' by Robin Sloan is a novel about a young man named Clay who finds himself working the night shift at a mysterious bookstore run by Mr. Penumbra. The bookstore is not what it seems, as it harbors a secret society that uses books to solve codes and unravel a grand mystery. The story blends elements of traditional book culture with modern technology, taking readers on an adventure filled with intrigue, mystery, and the quest for immortality.
The writing style of the book is described as warm, charming, and witty, balancing nostalgia for old books with the excitement of the digital world. The characters are quirky and full of life, with Clay being a relatable narrator who guides readers through a journey that explores the positive and negative aspects of technology and written works. The book seamlessly combines elements of mystery, adventure, and humor, making it a delightful and engaging read.
Genres:
Tropes/Plot Devices:
Topics:
Notes:
Has Romance?
There is a romance plotline that develops between Clay and Kat, though some reviewers found it lacking depth.
From The Publisher:
The New York Times Bestseller
A Winner of the Alex Award, a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for First Fiction, named a Best Book of the Year by NPR, Los Angeles Times, and San Francisco Chronicle
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.
Ratings (38)
Incredible (3) | |
Loved It (11) | |
Liked It (9) | |
It Was OK (12) | |
Did Not Like (3) |
Reader Stats (71):
Read It (42) | |
Want To Read (25) | |
Did Not Finish (1) | |
Not Interested (3) |
4 comment(s)
A fun page-turner, with cool ideas about the intersection of dusty old books and shiny new technology. Kind of a
Reamde-lite crossed with
Ready Player One, but at the end you kind of wonder what the point was. Clay Jannon is a graphic designer in San Francisco who loses his job when NewBagel, a company that churns out perfectly circular bagels, goes under. He finds work as the night clerk at Mr. Penumbra's 24-hour Bookstore, working from 10 pm to 6 am. Clay quickly realizes that the back of the store is where the real action is: that is where the "borrowers" go, strange people who come in at all hours with borrowing privileges for books filled with nothing but code, none of which are for sale. The front of the store has a few actual books for sale. When Clay uses his computer to solve the mystery of the back of the store, he launches himself, his new girlfriend Kat (a Google employee), his coding-genius friend Neel, and his boss, of whom he has grown very fond, into an adventure that reaches across the country and back in time to the sixteenth century.
The philosophical heart of the book is the idea of immortality. Can it be achieved? Would it be physical, robotic, or genetic? These ideas are interesting, but I liked the book's humor more than its ideas. This is a very funny novel, with multiple lines I wanted to write down and reference in this review (but didn't of course). Definitely a page-turner, and I recommend it, but it isn't the literary tour-de-force I was expecting from the reviews.
DNF @ 33%
The opening paragraph truly grabbed me, but as it went on it got more and more of a YA feel and became less and less about the atmosphere and mystery. He's obsessed with the beautiful smart successful girl who's also obsessed with him, and he's jealous every time any other guy so much as looks at her. Google is a shiny egalitarian utopia where all the employees do whatever they want and are overseen by a rotating committee of randomly selected employees and
wouldn't it be great if the whole country was run like that? (no, it would not; something tells me there may be a later disillusionment with Google as a company, but certainly not with the underlying ideas).
He also keeps mentioning
The Maltese Falcon as being brilliant, and if that's the author's idea of brilliant literature...
The final straw for me, though, is the first major breakthrough in the mystery, which is that
the lending history of the books, when mapped to a 3D rendering of the bookstore, and when viewed from a specific angle, look like the face of "the Founder"
, which.....what?
I’d say more of a 3.5 star rating. I really enjoyed this mystery, but the ending left me wanting more.
The women in this book are poorly written, the story is often interrupted by the author letting you know just how clever he thinks he is.
What can you read after
Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore?
About the Author:
Robin Sloan grew up in Michigan and now splits his time between San Francisco and the Internet. He is the author of Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore and Sourdough.
When you click the Amazon link and make a purchase, we may receive a small commision, at no cost to you.
