Name: Áine Murphy's review of Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan
Item: Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore
Rating: 5
Author: Áine Murphy

Robin Sloan

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.

Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore

Recession has shuffled Clay Jannon out of his life as a San Francisco Web-design drone and has landed him a new job working the night shift at Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore. 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.

Mister Penumbra's 24-hour Bookstore

High Fidelity

That’s what spies do, right? They walk to the bakery and buy a loaf of bread every day—perfectly normal—until one day they buy a loaf of uranium instead.

“It’s really hard. And that’s, what, a thousand years? What comes after that? What could possibly come after that? Imagination runs out. But it makes sense, right? We probably just imagine things based on what we already know, and we run out of analogies in the thirty-first century.”

I’m trying hard to imagine an average day in the year 3012. I can’t even come up with a half-decent scene. Will people live in buildings? Will they wear clothes? My imagination is almost physically straining.

“You will note names, times, and titles,” he said, tapping the page, “but also, as I said, manner and appearance. We keep a record for every member, and for every customer who might yet become a member, in order to track their work.” He paused, then added, “Some of them are working very hard indeed.”

“My boy!” he said, eyebrows raised. As if nothing could be more obvious: “They are reading.”

After a layoff during the Great Recession sidelines his tech career, Clay Jannon takes a job at the titular bookstore in San Francisco, and soon realizes that the establishment is a facade for a strange secret. 75,000 first printing.

A Novel

sina (she/her) 

You know, I'm really starting to think the whole world is just a patchwork quilt of crazy little cults, all with their own secret spaces, their own records, their own rules.

Why do organizations need to mark everything with their insignia? It's like a dog peeing on every tree. Google is the same way. 

The buzz about Google these days is that it's like America itself: still the biggest game in town, but inevitably and irrevocably on the decline. Both are superpowers with unmatched resources, but both are faced with fast-growing rivals, and both will eventually be eclipsed.

Whenever I walked the streets of San Francisco, I'd watch for HELP WANTED signs in windows - which is not something you really do, right? I should probably be more suspicious of those. Leaitimate employers use Craigslist.

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 Economist Shortlisted for the LA Times Book Award for First Fiction.

Mr Penumbra's 24-hour Bookstore

jillian tenner

Tabea Lüth

A gleeful and exhilarating tale of global conspiracy, complex code-breaking, high-tech data visualization, young love, rollicking adventure, and the secret to eternal life—mostly set in a hole-in-the-wall San Francisco bookstore The Great Recession has shuffled Clay Jannon out of his life as a San Francisco Web-design drone—and serendipity, sheer curiosity, and the ability to climb a ladder like a monkey has landed him a new gig working the night shift at Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore. But after just a few days on the job, 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 "checking out" 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' behavior 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. With irresistible brio and dazzling intelligence, Robin Sloan has crafted a literary adventure story for the twenty-first century, evoking both the fairy-tale charm of Haruki Murakami and the enthusiastic novel-of-ideas wizardry of Neal Stephenson or a young Umberto Eco, but with a unique and feisty sensibility that's rare to the world of literary fiction. Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore is exactly what it sounds like: an establishment you have to enter and will never want to leave, a modern-day cabinet of wonders ready to give a jolt of energy to every curious reader, no matter the time of day.

Moira

Áine Murphy

10th Anniversary Edition with a new foreword by the author Now with the story “Ajax Penumbra 1969” included New York Times Bestseller A winner of the Alex Award and a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for First Fiction A Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, and NPR best book of the year 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, Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore is exactly what it sounds like: an establishment you have to enter and will never want to leave.

Clever, enjoyable. A real feel-good book. It's 'The Name of the Rose' for the Google age.

Frederik De Bosschere

Monicap

Probably a decent enough story if you enjoy mysteries like this, but it wasn't really my genre. Also I thought it was pretty r/menwritingwomen

Mr. Penumbra's 24-hour bookstore

Sarah Sammis

Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan promises to be a book about books. It isn't. It's a misogynistic Google fetish wet dream.

Read anything by Scarlett Thomas instead.

http://pussreboots.com/blog/2021/comm...

Laura Mauler

One huge problem I had with this book was how the author referred to female characters as "girls" when they were clearly over the legal age of adulthood (18 years old in the US). Females who make it to 18 and beyond are called women; calling them "girls" is infantilizing and condescending. This aspect of the book really upset me, and every time I came across its use it would derail me from the story. 

Aside from the infuriating use of a patronizing term, I did enjoy this book. The plot was light and fun, and the developments kept me interested. It was very curious to me that the author would choose to fictionalize many aspects of Google, since the reality of the place is already rather (self-consciously) wacky. In any case, it all hung together very well and made for good reading.

Melissa Palmer

Book #106 Read in 2015
Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan

I loved this book....as much as I loved another bookstore book, The Storied Life of AJ Fikry. In this book, Mr. Penumbra, like the title says, owns a 24-hour bookstore. Clay is the night clerk at the store and realizes that this is no ordinary bookstore. While popular titles are sold in the store, the mainstay of customers want the "back shelves"....books that seem to be full of puzzles and are not purchased, but borrowed and then returned. Clay begins to investigate and realizes that there is a secret society within the clientele of the book store and that they are trying to decode a message from centuries ago. Written well with a mix of past and present (Google plays a large role), this book is a perfect blend of mystery and fantasy. Sloan has created interesting characters and a wonderful setting in the bookstore. I highly recommend this read.

http://melissasbookpicks.blogspot.com

i was so much more interested in penumbra's cast of characters rather than clay and his entourage... but i liked the ending a lot, and the message that clay wanted to deliver to us readers. i also liked the jab at immortality and tech companies lol.

madina

altlovesbooks

I don't really read a whole lot of lighthearted, wholesome, easy flowing books. It's not that I prefer deep, reflective, contemplative books more, just that most of the time lighthearted books cause me to roll my eyes and get impatient. This book is another beast entirely, and it was an easy add to my favorites shelf for this year.

Without venturing into spoiler territory, the main character (Clay) takes a part time job at a 24-hour bookstore and meets Mr. Penumbra, the owner of the bookstore. Clay takes the overnight shift, and immediately starts meeting a strange cast of characters and set of rules he must abide by in his new position. Toss in liberal internal monologuing, a secret society, technology, visits to Google, obscure typography references to Geritszoon, and a wholesome message at the end, and this book managed to hit all the right notes for me. 

It's not high literature, but I wasn't looking for high literature when I read it. This is a fun, geeky, quick read with a nice message that I really enjoyed. It's a charming book, not a lot of depth, but fun nonetheless. As a sidenote, I listened to the audiobook version of this and really appreciated the narrator's different voices, and the recorded bits from the audiobook the main character listened to near the end.

Definitely written by a man and definitely liked the first half better

Sarah Schumacher

It’s a crude definition (books > movies), but this felt like the National Treasure for bibliophile computer nerds. As both of these things (I picked this up partly because the protagonist was described as a web designer), it was delightful. There’s a mysterious ancient bookstore set in the Silicon Valley startup scene, a cast of genius coders and designers, references to both a fictional fantasy series and game, a dash of wry humor, a secret society, lots of code, espionage, and a hacker thrown in for good measure.

The protagonist is a privileged millennial assumed to be navigating an economic crash. All the characters are likeable. It feels a bit like the “least successful” friend in an extremely successful group writing with awe about how brilliant everyone else is and feeling inadequate.

Starts off a tad slow but not for long.

Joana Sá 

A book about books and people who love books. It also talks about the Internet so it grabs together the old technology and the new technology. I know it might be scary to think that new technology will take control of our lives and will make books useless. That's NOT true. And this book totally shows that. It shows how the old technology and the new one, together, can be successful and helpful. This book also talks about friendship, love, adventure, mystery... And it's just delightful. The characters are hilarious and I would love to have a talk with them! I loved this book!

Colleen

4 Stars

Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore was recommended to me. I am glad I read it, because it turned out to be an entertaining, quick read

Clay Jannon is unemployed and trying to patch his life together when quite by happenstance he lands a job as the night clerk at an eclectic little 24-hour bookstore. At first Clay is just happy to have the job, but he quickly realizes that there is far more going on in that bookstore than just a struggling attempt to sell books. What is in the mysterious volumes on the top shelves? What is in the back room into which he is not allowed to enter? Who are these strange people who come seeking what only Mr. Penumbra's store can provide? (Hint: it is probably not what you expect!) I do not want to give away the story, but I was quickly swept away into the mystery and adventure.

The story is told by Clay in a First Person Narrative, and it was certainly stylized. Clay's stream of consciousness tended to be hyperbolized and over-dramatic at times. However, it was humorous and endearing most of the time, and I enjoyed it.

It is hard to say what genre this book is. Not that books have to fit neatly into a genre; not at all. But it makes it hard to describe to other people. There is a bit of a mystery element. Not the whodunit type but more of an adventurous journey to discover something that I won't give away.

This story took an interesting look at the old ways of hard cover books and small book stores versus technology and ereaders. This struggle is very real and is also a central theme in this book. I did like the parts about marketing and technology (well, that is my degree). Some people might find those bits a tad boring as they have little to do with the main plot other than the major theme of the juxtaposition of old and new particularly in related to books. And I also identified with having one's career take the scenic tour, as it was.

The main thing that I did not like about Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore was the colossal amount of time the author spent kissing Google's ass. No, it is not some subtle approximation of Google. He mentions Google by name too many times to count. Google is basically a character in the book. Seriously, it felt like Sloan must have been getting kick backs from Google. There was ad nauseam gushing about how great technology is but specifically how Google is at the cutting edge of everything. Basically that the sun shines out of Google's posterior and that any technological betterment of life must come from them. The cult-like devotion to a technology megagiant started to remind me of The Circle (which admittedly was itself a very thinly veiled caricature of Google and Facebook). I have half expected people to start chanting "The Greater Good. The Greater Good." Sloan has definitely been chugging the Google Kool-Aid like a frat boy chugs beer on pledge week.

I also wanted more character development. You get to know Clay, but the rest of the characters are not explored in depth. They are mostly catalysts to the plot or implements to conveniently fix whatever it was they were serendipitously placed there to fix. Many parts of the story felt rushed. It is such a short book that there definitely could have been room for some of these elements to be expanded. The ending also came together too quickly and the epilogue wrapped up too conveniently. But overall, this was a fun little adventure. It could have used more fleshing out and a whole lot less Google, but I enjoyed reading it! Thank you, Jeanie, for the recommendation!


RATING FACTORS:
Ease of Reading: 5 Stars
Writing Style: 4 Stars
Characters and Character Development: 3 Stars
Plot Structure and Development: 4 Stars
Level of Captivation: 5 Stars
Originality: 4 Stars

This Books Reminds me of National Treasure and going in I was expecting nothing, but this book really did have bits of everything, and I would Definitely recommend it anyone. Books Meet Technology, Adventure Secret Book Society. It’s a Book that is difficult to explain but it makes sense when you pick it up!

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 no ordinary Book Shop - For a start it’s staffed 24 hours a day. The Customers however don’t buy anything instead, they "check out" large, obscure volumes from strange corners of the store. Using some Cool Technology Clay sets to work trying to work it all out in a bid to discover the bookstore's secrets extend far beyond its walls.

An enjoyable read that is unlike anything I have or ever will read again.

Ian Brakspear

This Books Reminds me of National Treasure and going in I was expecting nothing, but this book really did have bits of everything, and I would Definitely recommend it anyone. Books Meet Technology, Adventure Secret Book Society. It’s a Book that is difficult to explain but it makes sense when you pick it up!

 

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 no ordinary Book Shop - For a start it’s staffed 24 hours a day. The Customers however don’t buy anything instead, they "check out" large, obscure volumes from strange corners of the store. Using some Cool Technology Clay sets to work trying to work it all out in a bid to discover the bookstore's secrets extend far beyond its walls.

An enjoyable read that is unlike anything I have or ever will read again.

Joana da Silva

I've been meaning to pick up this book for years, but only now got around to do it. What a great adventure! This is book was made for book lovers who also crave some deep meaning in their books. Loved the message on this one, and it was beautifully written.

A lovely book for the eternal learner, bibliophile, techie, sci-fi fanatic, fantasy lover, or friend. It takes a few pages to get into the rhythm of the jargon, buzzwords, and brand names but there's a fun story and good people in this book.

Rachel Kanyid

This was so good!!!!
I listened to it on audio book and I highly suggest doing it that way!!!

It's okay. I didn't real the synopsis so I did not know what to expect. But if you expected a book about magical libraries this is not it. I can understand why people felt disappointed.

Janice Hopper

This gets one extra star because it's so relentlessly cheerful and optimistic, I think. :) That's kind of refreshing, especially these days.

I'll confess I never quite understood what the point of some of this was, but the ride was scenic and cheerful. The bookstore was mysterious at first, the explanation for it a little odd. But it's cheerful and easy to read.

Anthony Bosio

Great yarn. By coincidence I read this soon after reading Ready Player One, not realizing they were both about people trying to solve epic puzzles. I will definitely recommend this to my designer friends, but others as well.

Neil Murray

(3.5 stars) This is a really hard book to categorize. I picked it up under the impression it was “near future sci-fi” but I would certainly not consider it that. 

I’d say if you are a book lover in the tech industry (as I am) then you’d probably enjoy this, the plot moves fast enough for it to be a fun read and if you also love bookshops then there’s enough of a spark to light your imagination as the story unfolds.

The premise is in intriguing, but the complete trust and 'celebration' of Google, without any critical word, without any doubts by the protagonist regarding it, is mind-blowing - "you have to bring it to Google" - sure, let's do it, just walk in, use the machines, share all the data, no questions asked - I am flabbergasted. 

sophia n

just found a mini review i wrote on tumblr about this book right after i read it:

i picked up the ebook for penumbra on a complete and utter whim, having heard nothing about it from anyone and honestly having no idea what it was even about. only knowing that i loved the title, because if nothing else, a story where the plot revolves around a bookstore is a story that i want to read.

10 minutes in and i had thrown myself into it in a way i haven't thrown myself into a book in ages. it felt like a lot of it had been lifted out of my own imagination, in all the best ways possible. secret codes, talks of ruby and google and algorithms and guilds, a spooky bookstore with a secret ... it was a quick read once i got this momentum, but a great one. i'll definitely be buying a copy once i get back home.

.............. wow 23 year old me was so fucking pretentious LMFAO anyway i remember now i read this while i was in wellington, new zealand, at the end of my mini sabbatical. objectively, and looking back years later, this book is 3 stars. but i really did love it at the time, so i'm leaving my rating. it just was really enjoyable in every way for me. i could probably be more critical about it now on reread, but eh. i'm okay with leaving it at that.

Annie

Pop Sugar Book Challenge:
- a mystery or thriller

I quite enjoyed this book! Definitely worth the read. If you are into puzzles, a hint of mystery, and characters that will make you feel like someone out there gets you, I will say I found all these in Mr. Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore.

Áine Murphy &
Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan

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Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan