false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171615421m/109794.jpg 109794 6 <div>PopCo tells the story of Alice Butler-a subversively smart girl in our commercial-soaked world who grows from recluse orphan to burgeoning vigilante, buttressed by mystery, codes, math, and the sense her grandparents gave her that she could change the world. <br><br>Alice-slight introvert, crossword compositor- works at PopCo, a globally successful and slightly sinister toy company. Lured by their CEO to a Thought Camp out on the moors, PopCo's creatives must invent the ultimate product for teenage girls. Meanwhile, Alice receives bizarre, encrypted messages she suspects relate to her grandfather's decoding of a centuries-old manuscript that many-including her long-disappeared father-believe leads to buried treasure. Its key, she's sure, is engraved on the necklace she's been wearing since she was ten. Using the skills she learned from her grandparents and teaching us aspects of cryptanalysis, Alice discovers the source of these creepy codes. Will this lead her to the mysterious treasure or another, even more carefully guarded secret? <br></div> 2930906 2005 PopCo total:518|5:149|4:192|3:125|2:38|1:14| 518 1978 760 135 1 3 false false Thu Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Tue Nov 06 18:33:45 -0800 2007 Sat Nov 17 20:07:38 -0800 2007 more...]]> 3 1 false false Wed Dec 31 06:16:38 -0800 2008 Wed Dec 31 06:21:24 -0800 2008 more...]]> 3 2 false false Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Tue Sep 11 21:07:38 -0700 2007 Tue Sep 11 21:20:48 -0700 2007 Cryptonomicon, but shorter and with less discussion of math, types of economies, and anything else more complex than marketing. It makes me want never to work at any company larger or more corporate than a shoebox. That's kind of the point of the book; it ends up literal...more...]]> 4 2 false false Thu Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Fri Mar 23 12:12:40 -0700 2007 Sun Mar 25 09:29:41 -0700 2007 more...]]> 4 1 false false Tue Mar 10 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Mar 10 03:04:26 -0700 2009 Tue Mar 10 03:23:36 -0700 2009
It's the story of Alice, a twenty-something working for a global manufacturer...more...]]> 3 1 false false Fri Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Fri Jun 08 14:29:36 -0700 2007 Fri Jun 08 14:35:10 -0700 2007 more...]]> 1 1 false false Sat Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Fri Sep 14 08:44:41 -0700 2007 Mon Oct 01 10:07:50 -0700 2007 The End of Mr. Y. Thomas takes an interesting character and flushes her down a toilet of preachy, plot-less drivel, and then tries to salvage the story by tacking on an everything-works-out-just-how-you'd-dream epilogue. Thomas just seems to keen on her own ideas and no...more...]]> 4 1 false false Fri Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sun Mar 09 19:02:31 -0700 2008 Sun Mar 09 19:11:09 -0700 2008
The ending was clever, but ...more...]]> 5 1 false false Tue Aug 11 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Jul 30 17:31:22 -0700 2009 Wed Aug 12 19:23:00 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 1 false false Fri Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Wed Jun 06 08:55:25 -0700 2007 Tue Jun 26 08:40:19 -0700 2007 4 0 false false Wed Sep 09 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Sep 11 06:24:58 -0700 2009 Fri Sep 11 06:34:09 -0700 2009
That and one of the major mysteries that is woven through the story rea...more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Fri Jan 02 16:04:19 -0800 2009 Fri Jan 02 16:10:15 -0800 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Wed Nov 04 22:10:18 -0800 2009 Wed Nov 04 22:19:17 -0800 2009 ...more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri Nov 21 07:43:12 -0800 2008 Fri Nov 21 07:48:08 -0800 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Wed Mar 11 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Dec 28 20:21:17 -0800 2008 Wed Mar 11 06:05:36 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sat Jul 18 04:48:50 -0700 2009 Tue Dec 16 12:50:02 -0800 2008 Sat Jul 18 04:48:50 -0700 2009
PopCo is written in a very similar manner: a strong, female main character who is a bit of an outcast, has a highly specialized area of knowledge, and has some puzzles and mysteries to solve.

...more...]]> 5 1 false false Fri Oct 03 21:37:45 -0700 2008 Fri Oct 03 22:26:55 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Fri Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sat Jul 26 19:37:32 -0700 2008 Sun Sep 13 03:12:47 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sun Jun 15 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon Nov 12 05:37:09 -0800 2007 Sun Jun 15 17:02:01 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sun Sep 09 21:44:16 -0700 2007 Sun Sep 09 21:53:25 -0700 2007
I guess a thinky psuedo-spy, psuedo-cryptography novel about a girl working for a somewhat evil toy company with grandparents who both worke...more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=109794