Thoughts on Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan (Book #1)

Overall rating: 3.5/5

Last night I stayed up later than I should have finishing this page turner. This novel was a fun and easy read– definitely a nice way to ease into this challenge, and a wonderful book for the beach or sitting on your porch in the evening.

The story is about a guy, Clay, who gets laid off from his job and ends up working at Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore. There’s something amiss about the owner, Ajax Penumbra, and the story becomes mostly fantasy but grounded in the 21st century.  Essentially, Mr. Penumbra is part of an elite group of readers who are trying to break a code to unlock immortality.

Clay meets a girl, Kat, who works at Google whom I did not particularly like. Her character was really flawed for me, and she left a barf-like taste in my mouth. Kat plays a big role in trying to break the code using Google as her platform.

Clay has quite the adventure to NYC with Ajax, his best friend Neel and Kat. This is probably a third of the book and is fun to read- there is some suspense but nothing over the top.

My overall rating comes from a lack of intellectual gain from the read. (which is not necessarily a bad thing at all).  Like I said, it was an easy, fun book to read– but not something that is going to “wow” your brain.