Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Libraries, bookstores and friends (family) the true gold of this world. At least for me. Family fits in there, too, but to me, they are friends with common DNA. Just like books in the bookstore or library, a friend/family member is there to lend their uniqueness to your life. Gold.
I borrowed this book from the library. I was lucky that they had it in Kindle form and that text-to-speech was enabled. I think I will have to buy this book in Kindle form and see if there is an Audible version. That would make the book even more golden.
Thank you, my good friends, for recommending this book so highly. Though it fits none of my criteria for my reading goals of ‘books by women with strong female protagonist’, it still has a couple women that are smart and goal oriented. Still, it wouldn’t pass the Bechdel Test http://bechdeltest.com/.
Look, for many of you the title will dissuade you from reading the book. It, frankly, sounds dreary! But as I was telling my husband, it feels as intriguing as Da Vinci Code (sorry, I never read that one–not my kind of book). There are codes to solve and mysteries to unravel all against the background of San Francisco and New York. For me, the best part is that there is no blood and guts to worry about. Yet the story keeps you engaged, wondering what is going to happen next.
I would like to read it again. I look forward to the second book.
Darswords 
You can’t judge a book by its cover, especially in the age of kindle, but I found myself wishing this one had a cuter cover. I have found myself, very superficially, passing it by in the bookstore…my bad!
Sorry it took me so long to get back to you. By the way, had my three BFFs in Northern Nevada not recommended the book to me, I doubt I would have given it a second look. I don’t know what the cover should contain that would intrigue me, but, you’re right, this one is boring. The book, on the other hand, is SUPER! I very much judge books by their covers, even on my Kindle. It matters to visual people, I think. We need a little art to lead us into the story. I wish there were more illustrated books for adults. My eyes like getting lost in a good picture.
I am definitely going to read this book, on yr. recommendation, BUT I will imagine a cover with some sort of color-tinted sepia photo of Colin Firth type looking at leather bound books! Maybe there will be a cat on a shelf somewhere too, lol.
Wait till you read it before designing the cover. I still can’t up with what the cover should look like. Closest I can get is a fancy Google search page. But that seems boring. Okay, How about a Google search page done similar to the cover of Da Vinci Code? As as I can come to how it should look. 😉
I will let you know after I read it, lol.