Mr. Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore - Review

Last August I was winding my way through the check out line of Powell's City of Books in Portland, Oregon, clutching the meager three tomes that I had to choose from the basketful I had pulled from the shelves (sorry whoever had to re-shelve those :/ ). As I meandered forlornly through the bordering tables stacked high with bargain buys, I spotted a fun looking yellow cover.

Mr. Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan captured my attention. "I wish I knew of a 24 hour bookstore," the bibliophile in me sighed. So what did I do?
Well, I bought it of course.
I snatched that sucker up off that oaken table and deftly slide it between a fantasy and neo-gothic before my boyfriend could give me the side-eye and say another snarky comment on baggage weight regulations.

Patricia Wall/The New York Times

The last minute baggage roulette was completely worth it. This novel was the right book at the right time.  I just didn't know it until I got to its spot on my reading list and finally dived in head-first.

Mr. Penumbra is the mysterious owner of a twenty-four hour bookstore in which our unlikely techno narrator finds himself working the night-shift.  Boredom and mystery are often amazing bedfellows and through a series of inquires, adventure and a little deception, Clay (aforementioned narrator) finds himself on the cusp of figuring out a centuries old secret, stepping on the toes of a black-cloaked clandestine society.

The novel combines both new-fangled technology genius with old school paper and ink knowledge in an entertaining way that does not dismiss either, but shows how both are valid. Great news for a millennial like myself (am I a millennial? Who knows...) who loves her iPhone, but can't stand e-readers. Give me a book with pages that snap as I turn them and a heft in my purse that will eventually make me lopsided.

Illustration by Laura Terry. Slate.com

The characters gliding in and out of the pages are realistic, if eccentric, and have believable relationships with each other and the world around them.  There is a sense of whimsy and of nerdom, all of which fit the subject matter and enhance the general feel of the story.

Reading this book will make you wonder at the idea of fate. Do specific things happen at certain times in our lives because they must? Does one step really lead to the next, if we are only open to listening and following? Being curious is just the thing a bored mind needs. It will bring you to your next step along fate's winding highway and on adventures that end where no one expects.

I can't help but think that there was a little bit of kismet working in the world that day. An unseen force that put that happy yellow cover right into my line of view. The perk to my mental outlook at a time when the year was dragging showed me that there are still adventures to be had. It was "the right book exactly, at exactly the right time"

Dark Places

Most people know Gillian Flynn from her bestselling work, Gone Girl (and its subsequent movie).  Recently, I have read her slightly lesser known work Dark Places, and really can only sum it up as being...intense.

This novel follows Libby Day and her family through the events of the fateful day in January 1985 when her mother and two sisters were murdered, he brother the accused murderer/devil-worshipper/pedophile. Sound convoluted? It is, but that is what Flynn does so well.

The chapters vary between Libby in present day and both her mother and brother on the day of the murders.  I had to put the book down several times from the sheer anxiety of it.  I knew the mother would die, but I didn't know why or by whom and every chapter led me closer to the climax, building it in the most skillful way.  It kept me off my axis, while at the same time urging me to keep reading, to find out if Ben was innocent or not.

The book is a series of cliff hangers, right until the end. Every time the reader thinks that they will FINALLY get some answers, the point of view changes, forcing you to reset and learn new facets of the story.  

I have not read Gone Girl, but have seen the movie.  I took it out of the library with Dark Places  and plan on reading it next. I'm sure I will not have to review it as, judging by Dark Places, it will live up to all the hype.

Some Googling has just told me that Dark Places is now a major motion picture! It is set to be released on August 7th of this year and stars some awesome actors such as: Charlize Theron, Nicholas Holt, Chloe Grace Moretz and Christina Hendricks!

So, the long and the short of it is this. If you like mysteries, especially ones that grip you and give you an extremely well rounded view of the events, you definitely NEED to read this novel.