A Maxim Jakubowski selected title.
I'm a sucker for novels about books, writers, publishers (I wonder why?) and this unclassifiable thriller set in San Francisco is a delightful guilty pleasure. A mysterious hole in the wall bookstore and even more enigmatic owner (with a nod to Carlos Ruiz Zafon), a series of random volumes in an undecipherable language, codes, quirky but all too human protagonists, secret societies, conspiracies galore and the all-encompassing reach of the Internet and technological developments with its attendant geeks and nerds as well as brainy beauties form an incandescent and sparkling cocktail unlike any other. I wish I hadn't read it already so I could read it all over again and marvel at very surprising turn of the page. A winning bolt out of the blue.
Sarah Broadhurst's View :-
This is a very strange tale where the old meet the new, where ancient text which is being analysed by a mysterious group is borrowed by a young man, Clay, who takes it to Google City and solves a puzzle that others have taken centuries to unravel (and not succeeded!). If you are into the advantages technology gives us then you will love the contrasting worlds here, for the conclusion seems to be that technology conquers all … Well … maybe.
| Primary Genre | Modern and Contemporary Fiction |
| Recommendations: |
A New York Times bestseller, Mr Penumbra's 24-hour Bookstore is an entirely charming and lovable first novel of mysterious books and dusty bookshops; it is a witty and delightful love-letter to both the old book world and the new. Recession has shuffled Clay Jannon out of his life as a San Francisco Web-design drone - and serendipity, coupled with sheer curiosity, has landed him a new job working the night shift at Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore. But after just a few days, Clay begins to realize that this store is even more curious than the name suggests. There are only a few customers, but they come in repeatedly and never seem to actually buy anything, instead they simply borrow impossibly obscure volumes from strange corners of the store, all according to some elaborate, long-standing arrangement with the gnomic Mr. Penumbra. The store must be a front for something larger, Clay concludes, and soon he's embarked on a complex analysis of the customers' behaviour and roped his friends into helping to figure out just what's going on. But once they bring their findings to Mr. Penumbra, it turns out the secrets extend far outside the walls of the bookstore... 'The pages swell with Mr Sloan's nerdy affection and youthful enthusiasm for both tangible books and new media... [but] the ties that bind the story are friendship and vitality for life. This is a clever and whimsical tale with a big heart' The EconomistShortlisted for the LA Times Book Award for First Fiction.
Mr Penumbra's 24-hour Bookstore features in the following genres: Modern and Contemporary Fiction, Debut Books of the Month, eBooks of the Month, General Fiction, Fiction, Recommendations
Mr Penumbra's 24-hour Bookstore is available in Paperback, Ebook
Mr Penumbra's 24-hour Bookstore was written by Robin Sloan and published by Atlantic Books
£6.99
