I really wanted to like this book. I was really disatified with the story. This was published ten years ago so I thin some of the things I saw would have been edited out. ( )

SEPT 2020, 2nd read
Honestly just as enjoyable the second time around. Always a new detail to notice or appreciate, and listening to this on audio is such a pleasant experience. I wish the Dragon Song Chronicles were real because I badly want to read them!

SEPT/OCT 2019, 1st read
This is book that has been hovering around by TBR for at least 5 years since a customer at a bookstore I was working at raved about it and told me it was unlike anything they had read. I just didn't get around to it until now; I needed something engaging to listen to on my college commute and this was sitting there so I figured I'd finally try it. And I get what that customer meant. "Mr. Penumbra" is truly a unique book, and at no point was this novel what I thought it was going to be.

Goodreads has a solid synopsis, but what it doesn't hint at are the wonderful, sometimes bizarre conversations that take place in the story. There is a lot of discourse around printed books and bookstores VS digital spaces and reading technology, but NOT in a "which is better?" way. This book could have been disastrous in that respect, painting those who read print books as "superior", but Sloan does such a beautiful job of highlight the constraints and affordances of each medium and putting them in conversation with one another. It made my little bibliophile heart swell seeing characters embrace reading as a whole, as an enjoyable, immersive artform that doesn't favor a certain platform or person. I really think this book is a celebration of reading, of curiosity for the sake of curiosity, of sharing knowledge, and the bonds formed between readers.

There were a few moments here and there that I think were a little out of place; for instance, I personally thought too much time was spent on the Google headquarters and describing people readers would never see again. Just from a plot perspective I would have like that trimmed down a bit. And I ALMOST didn't like the ending, but then I did? I think it's what I said before and it just wasn't what I was expecting, so it was a little jarring. But not in a bad way!

I just got a lot of delight out of this book. It's very transportive: it takes readers to new cities, pokes into crevices of thoughts that maybe you hadn't considered before, and paints a world that's both familiar and magical - and for me, that's a really special thing for a book to do. I can't wait to read more of Sloan's writing, and if we ever get a "Mr. Penumbra's" movie I'm gonna LOSE. MY. MIND. ( )

"Your life must be an open city, with all sorts of ways to wander in."

Clay Jannon, an unemployed and desperate ex-web-designer, takes a new job as a night shift clerk at Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore. It doesn't take long for Clay to realize that the dusty bookstore is more curious than he initially thought, there are rarely any real customers but there is a small committed group that simply borrow books. Clay isn’t permitted to read any of the books, a rule he soon breaks, and he quickly discovers that the store is a front for something larger. Clay ropes in his friends and a cute girl who works for Google to use high-tech means to uncover the reason behind the bizarre behaviour of his customers. What they discover is a group hunting an ancient secret.

I found myself immediately drawn in the story and just wanted to turn yet another page. The plot was at times slow-moving, but did have some interesting twists and surprises, but what made it for me was the characters, in particular Clay and Ajax Penumbra. OK Clay is a little misogynistic but on the whole he just seemed an engaging and likeable, generous and kind-hearted, regular guy with a somewhat ironic and whimsical outlook on life, with powers he doesn't even realise he has.

A slight downside was Sloan’s characterization of women. There are only two or three major female characters and they are feel merely stereotypes and somewhat two-dimensional alongside their male counterparts.

This book isn't science fiction and it isn't literary fiction, there are no killings, shoot-outs or car chases but is an eclectic and eccentric old-fashioned mystery solved using modern means. I found the technological aspects of this novel interesting if a little troubling, (how much Google and other tech-giants influences our everyday lives) . This book is a quick read but worth it for anyone who’s interested in a whimsical discussion about old-fashioned paper books and technology, friendship and the true meaning of eternal life.

"Walking the stacks in a library, dragging your fingers across the spines.....it's hard not to feel the presence of sleeping spirits." ( )

Marvelous book that'll appeal to modern day readers and bibliophiles, contrasting the modern urge to go digital in all things and why that may or may not be a misstep.

Don't want to spoil anything about this really good and fast read...except not to read it when you're already exhausted as it'll keep you awake for over 100 pages even when you really need the sleep more. ( )

Loved this book!

Reminded me a little bit of "Ready Player One" only with books instead of video games. Mysterious characters, a giant puzzle to solve, a bit of romance and wonderful friendships between a bunch of bookworms.

Plus the book itself has glow in the dark books on it. Super cool!
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