Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore discussion

[Sandy, Moderator Emeritus]

If you choose to read Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore for the Group Reads task (or another task for that matter) here's the place to discuss it.

WARNING: This thread may contain spoilers!

[Sheila]

I thought this was a fantastic book. It was dark and mysterious with ancient books and secret societies and mysterious codes and very strange old people. Plus it was filled with the angst of a young guy trying to capture the heart of the girl that speaks his "language" (computerease). Historical and cutting edge. I really enjoyed the parts of the book that took place at Google. I give it ★★★★'s.

Thank you to whomever nominated this one I would have NEVER read it if I hadn't read it for this task.

I had previously read the other two group read winners.

[Dlmrose, Moderator Emeritus]

I thought this book was delightful- filled with humor and mystery- and an obvious love of books. I think Sloan might have described my ideal man: "James Bond with a library science degree"(pg 157).
I really liked his comparison between reading and audiobooks.

[Katrina]

I really enjoyed this book, I found it a little strange at first but I really found myself getting into the storyline and really enjoyed how the secret society evolved and the ways in which everything played out. I especially liked the incorporation of technology, particularly with the Google element, as technology has such a strong influence on us these days. I wouldn't have normally picked up this book, or probably wouldn't have even heard of it without the SRC, but I'm very glad it was the one I chose. I wasn't even sure which Group read book to read, but a couple of weeks ago when the books were chosen I found this one on my library's ebook website and put it on hold to read on my phone. Very glad I did because it was a quick, fun read! I gave it four stars.

[Fran]

Sheila wrote: "I thought this was a fantastic book. It was dark and mysterious with ancient books and secret societies and mysterious codes and very strange old people. Plus it was filled with the angst of a you..."

I nominated it Sheila! It's the first book I've had the opportunity to nominate that made it to the challenge :)

I'm starting it this week, so glad you enjoyed it.

[Sheila]

Thanks Fran - Great Choice! I am going to suggest it to my local bookclub as well.

[Donna Jo]

Fran, Thanks for nominating. I had to read it before the challenge started (due back at the library & couldn't be renewed). I loved the wonderful feel it gave of the old books, and the energies of the new genres--the sly references to Harry Potter, the daVinci Code-like secret society, the feel of the subliminal ticking clock.

[Dee]

in case anyone is interested - Robin Sloan is going to be doing a GR video chat next week - http://www.goodreads.com/event/show/8...

[Erin (NY)]

This book was a total surprise for me. I picked it because it sounded slightly better than the two other choices, and I am so glad I did! Thanks Fran!!

I am a software engineer, and I studied visualization in grad school as well as 3D graphics and information retrieval, so I could totally relate to the technical aspects in this book. This is probably the only novel I have ever read or will ever read that mentions Hadoop and Mechanical Turck! It made me feel all warm and fuzzy! I plan to recomend it to all of my software engineer friends! !!!

[Andy]

Andy P.
This book reminds me of Jasper Fforde in that it is difficult to describe. Sloan, like Fforde drops lots of literary references and adds a touch of humor. Unlike Fforde, he marries it (or at least allows it to coexist) with technology. I'm sure the more technology minded individual will derive much more from this than I, but it gives me hope that books will still be a viable entity in the future.

[Kristi]

I had high hopes for this book, and I ended up disappointed. I read this expecting a book about books and instead got a book about Google. Even when it was about books, I didn't get a sense of passion. The characters were one-dimensional. It was funny at times, and I can see why some people like it, but I think my expectations led me to be disappointed. I'm about the same age as the main characters, so I feel like I should be able to relate to them and their technological world, but I never became interested in the story.

[Fran]

I enjoyed the book. Most of the high-tech computer jargon went right over my head but I really liked Clay and was invested in his journey. The whole Google universe was interesting, and although I liked Kat, and found the mystery intriguing, Clay's friendship with Neel was my favorite thing about the book.

[Shawn]

Shawn H.

I have to admit this book was not quite what I expected. However, I found that I absolutely loved it. I feel like the author did a fantastic job of balancing the high tech computer stuff with the old school bibliophile stuff. I found the relationships in this book to be interesting and I really wanted to know how things worked out. I look forward to recommending this book to others.

[Chaitra]

I'm going to chime in with Kristi and say Mr P. was a big letdown. I love Google, but I did not want to read a 288-page love letter to it. And that's basically what this boils down to. I tried to, but I didn't see the same undying love for books from the main characters. (view spoiler)[Even the bookstore owner seemed happy to just let the place go midway through the book, as soon as he discovered e-readers. (hide spoiler)] Also, the first person present tense needs to die a quick death.

What I did like? Neel and his Anatomix, and the glow in the dark cover. That's about it.

[Cindy AL]

**Warning Spoilers, I can't do the fancy hide the spoiler thing**

This is probably the only book that I post on for this entire challenge, between the holidays, a big wedding and some personal health issues, I'm taking a quarter off.

Having said that, I read Sheila's review, and I had to get this book and read it, then I felt compelled to post on it.

Yes, this book is actually about Google... and books... and the love of discovery... and just possibly it is about moving to the "after book". I thought the author's parallels were a bit heavy handed, and I kinda doubt Google is working on life extension, but who knows? I thought they were too busy trying to figure out from your internet usage what kind of toilet paper you buy, but who really knows what they can do.

The contrast to me of the 15th and 16th century printers standing at the dawn of an age where information transfer was about to be ramped up exponentially with the Googlers was striking. The Renaissance printers caused a revolution in information handling that eventually changed everything profoundly. One could argue that Google and co. are about to make a similar exponential change in how information is used, and how useful it can be.

I did think though that the author did show an "undying love of books" - reading and rereading a childhood book was the basis of solving the mystery, and despite all mighty computing power of Google and the faith Mr. Penumbra had in them, the artist who had much less computer savvy was the one to solve the mystery. Yeah, Google is definitely the modern corollary of the printers, but the book is still winning in 2012, just as the illuminated manuscript and oral tradition was still winning in 1512.

Fun book, maybe not completely true to the Group Read genre of "Books about Books" but I'm glad I read it, and like Sheila, I probably would not have read it unless it was picked. Thanks Fran.

[Chaitra]

Cindy, you make good points, but I'll still disagree with you (with one point). :) But since I didn't bother to mention my reasons for why I didn't feel the undying love for books, I'll do so now. I'll put it under spoiler tags just in case.

(view spoiler)[1. The book loving secret society burns books as a form of punishment. There's very less resentment when the mystery is solved, I thought at least some of these people read those things because they were hoping that their reading would guide them to the mystery, not some shortcut. Never mind that there was no mind boggling secret, nothing that wouldn't have been solved by a strict instruction in the will not to open until some old fellows in Venice were dead.

2. One of Mr. Penumbra's rules is that the clerk can't read any book in the bookstore except the log book. At first I thought it was just the codex vitae, but no. Many times Clay speaks of the only book in the bookstore that he can touch. That's an absurd rule, made to be broken. Right, Clay?

3. Nope. He doesn't read a single book. He sees Moffat on the shelves, which are his favorite books ever, but even though days pass before there's a customer, he doesn't feel the need to re-read it. Even when he does solve the mystery, he is listening to an audio tape he's meant to be converting into a DVD for Neel and he's been feeling Moffat has something to do with the puzzle. What I mean is that his reading has a purpose, it's not because of the joy he derives out of reading.

4. Mr. Penumbra (I hate this character by the way, he makes really irresponsible decisions) is supposed to be a bookstore owner who people think they bond with because he likes books, but he doesn't seem to get anything out of it - he lets it go very quickly, and he spent, thirty five years in that store? And he is, too fixated with the zombie uprising, and thinks he can help his readers by not giving them any reason to read further? He doesn't know if it's the end that's important. I don't know. His whole character I thought was wonky.

5. The characters have the means to keep the bookstore going, they have people willing to buy the books with just a little marketing (which Clay proves), but they still decide to let go of it to do something on Google's ebook reader. The store is then converted into a climbing gym, which apparently San Francisco had sore need for, complete with arty paintings of old books. That broke my heart. (hide spoiler)]

I hope that explains where I was coming from. It's a subject that I care a lot for, and I was anticipating this book even before it was chosen for Group Read. It's such a terrible letdown.

[Cindie]

Like so many others, I say, Thank You Fran! I would never have read this if you had not nominated it.

*** Spoiler Alert***

I was also expecting a book about books but Mr P did not disappoint me. So, Hadoop is real? I had heard of Mechanical Turks (pretty much what Cha Cha is or was), but what about the other "facts?" Is there really an Accession Table? Con U? Very Da Vinci Code feeling this book. I love the blur between reality and fantasy. And glad the Epilogue gave us a happy ending for all the characters.

[Brian]

Part of the reason I decided to do the challenge this season was because this was a group read. I had heard good things about it and was excited to read it. Like it was mentioned numerous times in here, after about 80 pages it wasn't what I expected it to be. That being said, I still really enjoyed it. It was a fun book.

I do kinda wish I could type this in gerritszoon though. And join a secret book society.

[KSMary]

Well, I thoroughly enjoyed the book. I wasn't sure what to expect and thought that it was delightfully quirky. I also gave it 4 stars. I enjoyed Clay and Neel's relationship - I thought it captured the banter well that only exist between childhood friends. Like Cindie, I also enjoyed the blur between reality and fantasy. I had no idea Hadoop really existed. I'm one of those people that doesn't really question how technology works as long as it works, so the technology parts were kind of interesting to me.

[mstan]

This book didn't quite grip me as I thought it would. I agree with Chaitra that the characters' alleged love for reading doesn't strike the reader as being very true. While the discussion on technology is quite interesting in itself, and offers possibilities for extending the lives of books (if not humans!), it all felt too slick for me. Beyond a nostalgic yearning to revisit the fantasy world of one's favourite series during adolescence, nobody in the book professes a love for reading (which I can remember offhand anyway). The other books that exist are books that exist to boost one's ego (the members' codex vitae) and books mentioned in passing by Clay as titles that could boost sales (Murakami, celebrity chef biography...). He did also mention Borges and Hammett but they felt like throwaway references.

I still gave this 3 stars because it's a nice riff on various related ideas. But books shouldn't be seen as codes to be broken.

[Emma]

I really enjoyed this book. I doubt I would have picked it, if it weren't on the group reads, so I'm really glad it was. I loved that it incorporated books, technology and pop culture. Really fun book!

[Meagan]

I really enjoyed this book. I don't think that I would have ever read it if it hadn't been one of the group reads, so I'm so pleased that it was. I thought it was a great story and I loved the mix of mystery and humor that the book gave!

[Alice]

I quite enjoyed this book. It was completely different to anything I've read before. I did feel it was a blatant advert for google! It has made me want to own a tall skinny bookshop so that I can climb the ladders!!!!

[Jennifer]

I wasn't sure if I would like this book, but picked it up because I had heard good things about it. I was pleasantly surprised!! I enjoy it when books are mentioned within books...kinda like running into old friends lol. I didn't mind the Google aspect to this book. Kat's character didn't really grab me though. Can't put my finger on exactly why.

[Rudy]

This was an interesting book. I am glad I read it as I typically don't read this type of book. I enjoyed the character development. However, I really did not like the Google and coding aspect of the book

[Kara]

Five stars! I completely loved this book. I first heard about it in this Economist article and was super jazzed that it was picked for SRC.

This was my very first book of the year, and it was PERFECT for me. I love bookstores, I love puzzles, I love computers, and I love the Bay Area.

[Riya]

I finished reading this book last night and I loved it! I don't even read too many mystery type books such as this one but I really enjoyed it.

Like others have already mentionned, there were some parts that were hard to understand ( all the computer Google jargon).

The whole concept of this book was really neat.

[Bekka]

I have to weigh in with those who enjoyed the book. While I can respect where some of the negative comments are coming from, I think this book completely fits the purpose of the "book about books" Group Read. I think its a real ode to the beauty of a physical book, and the wonder of reading. It also is great in that it doesn't downplay the equal importance of technology - ebooks and readers - or of audio books. Any way you're getting the story is fantastic!

As a working librarian who just graduated with my MLIS, I can completely relate to the whole conversation between technology and books, and the relevancy of bookstores and libraries in our new technological age. I thoroughly enjoyed that the solution to the problem was found by a techno-geek with minimal use of technology! And the last paragraph is wonderful: "..the right book exactly, at exactly the right time." Amen to that!

This is a great book, and one that will go on my "go to" list for patron recommendations.

[Sassafrass]

While, I thought this book was funny and enjoyable, I agree with others that I some of the technical stuff went over my head. this is also one of those books that I would have never read in a million years if not for the challenge, but I'm so glad that I did. It also reminded me a bit of Ready Player One in the narrator and the style of the book.

[Bluemoon]

I just finished this book and I am also one that would not have picked it up if it wasn't for the group. I did enjoy it and am also in the group where the technology was over my head. I also agree with Sassafrass it reminded me of Ready Player One. I think it was the aspect of the quest that did it for me. I gave the book 4 stars.

[Coralie]

When I saw this on the group reads poll I thought it sounded like a book I would love, so I immediately reserved it at the library. At first I was a bit disappointed but the turning point came when Mr Penumbra said he knew the logbook was a fake due to its smell. From then on I laughed and laughed. Perhaps it isn't great literature but I felt the concept of modern-day alchemists was well-visualised. And it even included knitting!

[Kara]

I thought it was a lot like Ready Player One as well, and that was my favorite book of 2012.

[Laura]

I love books about books, but I will admit this book just didn't do it for me. The evolution of books is both exciting and scary and some of that was captured in this book. But, I am a bit more of a traditionalist when it comes to books and would have liked it better if the book were more about books themselves rather than what technology could do with books and knowledge. It was interesting enough - just not for me. The ultimate message, though, was a good one and I did like that it was not technology but good old sleuthing that ultimate solved the puzzle.

[Lois]

Though I didn't love this book, I found it surprisingly enjoyable. I wasn't really sure about the genre at the outset and kept expecting awful things to happen, such as in the subterranean library, no cell phone coverage, slightly creepy people in black robes, and a sleuth mission... Usually would be a formula for scary stuff, right? Not my usual type of read. I will enjoy thinking over the themes about books, technology, and knowledge, especially in view of some of the very interesting comments others have made. Thanks very much for the selection of it for the group reads!

[Jessica]

Initially I wasn't quite sure what to make of this, but ultimately I feel like Sloan did a really nice job of capturing what I love about books - not their physicality but the world of ideas they bring to their readers and the connections we forge when ideas get shared. In a way, I find it refreshing to read a book-about-books that's more about where we are right now and where we're going, and not in an I-miss-the-old-days way. Technology is powerful stuff and it's fun to see an author really flex that outside of its normal playground in thrillers and SF.

[Connie]

The book is an intersection between Google decoders in the new world of Information Technology, and the old world of Fifteenth Century printmaking. It's a story about friendship, creativity, challenges, and goals. Best of all, the book is a lot of geeky fun!

[Donna Jo]

Connie wrote: "The book is an intersection between Google decoders in the new world of Information Technology, and the old world of Fifteenth Century printmaking. It's a story about friendship, creativity, challe..."

Connie, you stated so well what I delighted in in this book.

[Paul]

The was a delightful book ! I enjoyed the contrast between the world of books and the world of computers. I have recommended this to several people already (with positive responses).

[Carly]

I am giving this book 4 3/4 stars only because I sort of agree with the "bad" guy in the story.

I completely loved this book though. It was like a low key The Da Vinci Code minus the religion and world traveling and the danger. It was bookish and techy all at the same time.

It spoke to my geeky little soul.

It felt sort of like a John Green book, but it was written for adults. Granted, I've only read one John Green book.

This is the kind of book that I usually feel let down by at the end. You've had this spectacular buildup and usually there is no way the author can end it in a satisfying way. But in this story, I didn't find that happening and I think that was because Clay kept telling the readers that he knew that it wasn't going to end the way the secret society thought that it would. He was warning us. So even though I wasn't expecting a big bang of an ending, I thought that the readers were let down easier than usual with this kind of story.

[Soelo]

This was such a good book. I was afraid it would get annoying or trite with all the references to tech/geek culture. Thankfully the historical mystery kept it from that.

[Bea]

I was so looking forward to this book, and I did enjoy it. However, either I am a nerd or at least more nerdy than I know, but I was surpriesed that the Google part was so interesting to me and that I understood most of it.

I really liked how Clay grew into a guy who found what he loved. A nice metamorphosis from a loser. I also liked how he found the right friend who could help with the quest. I only wish his love life had worked out but I got why it didn't.

This was a fun read for me.

[Barbara ★]

Adding a spoiler tag is very simple. It's just like bolding something or italizing. Just put < SPOILER> and the beginning of your comment. And < /SPOILER> at the end. (Without the space of course).

[Ms.soule]

I'm with Andy P. on this book - it very much reminded me of Jasper Fforde's novels in that it was quirky and almost impossible to describe what it's really truly about. It did lead to some great discussions with my husband on bonding the arcane with modern tech and even future tech. Plus a few rounds of Maximum Happy Imagination. Four stars for the main character and how it bent my brain.

[Marie-Anne]

I was not sure what to expect in this book. And I really enjoyed it from page 1. I never thought I would read within the near future a fiction book where Hadoop would be important in the story (and have it explained so simply and clearly). The story is modern, futuristic and historical, all at the same time. I loved it. I have a technical background and had to look up some of the "technologies" mentioned. As it turned the only ones I did not know where fiction, except for one: I had never heard of Vonnegut diagrams before. For anyone interested on real versus fiction, you might also want the read this review.

[Barbara ★]

This definitely wasn't what I expected though I truly have no idea exactly what I did expect as this was a book chosen as a group read not something I, myself would have choose to read. It was surprisingly enjoyable though the ending left a lot to be desired. It was rather rushed and totally anti-climactic. I totally missed Manutius' message. (view spoiler)[Friends are the greatest thing ever? That is what they have been trying to decipher for over 500 years. You have got to be kidding me! (hide spoiler)]

The inner workings of google were fascinating though I do wonder if any of that is actually true. I liked the puzzles, the secret societies and even the workings of the bookstore. I liked the characters though I did find myself rolling my eyes at some of their shenanigans.

[Rebecca NJ]

I've been trying to process how I feel about this book for the last few days and I think Kristi decribed it best. She wrote in Post #11 I had high hopes for this book, and I ended up disappointed. I read this expecting a book about books and instead got a book about Google. I did enjoy the historical aspect and the inside look into Google which I hope was somewhat accurate but in the end, I felt that I was (and still am) missing something - there was so much more that could have been written. Maybe I need to go and do a few rounds of Maximum Happy Imagination.


Random side note - I loved how the cover of my hardbound copy from the library glowed in the dark!

[JennRenee, Moderator]

I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would. I liked the characters and the plot. the only issue I had.. I felt it was slow in parts. but for the most part really enjoyed it. I gave it 3 stars.

[Sue Q]

WOW I was not expecting this book. By that, I mean that I chose this book out of the three because it had the shortest wait time at my library - and so I didn't really care much about the book at all except that it fulfilled a requirement (compared to all of the other tasks where I could chose from hundreds of possibilities, thus choosing books that I knew would be familiar and acceptable to my palate).

So I think that's why this book blew me away (in a good way). I loved it!!! Thanks for choosing it as a selection!!

[Deana]

I ended up absolutely loving this book, though I do agree with everyone's comments that it is basically a long advertisement for Google and that aspect was a turn off. At the beginning, I found myself getting really annoyed every time Google was mentioned YET AGAIN. But it turned out the story was good enough to make me love it despite that.

As a nerd who routinely uses Hadoop, OCR, Mechanical Turk, etc in my daily life, I loved how this story incorporated all of this current technology into a novel that also features a historical society obsessed with word puzzles, books, and fonts. I would totally join that book club!

I liked the characters (except Neel... what a creeper) and enjoyed all their shenanigans. Definitely recommending this to some of my friends from work.

My only other real complaint was (view spoiler)[ in the end, wasn't the code just a simple substitution cypher? Ok, so yeah, you had to look at the font's character to see what the X should translate to instead of to a piece of paper that says like A=F, B=R, etc. But ... how is it really that different? And ok so there are 3 different Qs, but that is nothing new... Google could totally break that. (hide spoiler)]

[Sue Q]

For Deana:

(view spoiler)[This is how I interpreted the whole letters thing.. I think that the edges of the letters had a pattern (that could only be seen through a microscope/magnification). That pattern correlated with the letter it was on. i.e. The outside edges of an "e" block correlated to the "e" itself. The pattern was what showed up in the printed book. If this is the correct interpretation, then only the person with the pattern could do the easy 1:1 translation. Dunno. Anybody else? (hide spoiler)]