mr. penumbra's 24-hour bookstore. robin sloan. (68)

the first thing you need to know about this book is that it's glows in the dark! yes! glows in the dark! how cool, right?!?!

the second thing you need to know is that you need to read this book.

to be honest, when i first read the title and what flavorpill wrote about it, i thought it would be like "mr. magnorium's magic emporium" but with books. it wasn't as whimsy as that movie and quite different. but it was still great.

i don't want to spoil it for anyone so will not give too many details about this book. but i did thoroughly enjoy it. i think it is best described as "the da vinci code" for the google generation. it is about a secret society and how a newcomer attempts to crack their secret code using computers. reading about this made me wish that i was a more of a geek because computers are beyond me and it would be amazing to a hacker/programmer/super smart. i was in awe of the intelligence of all of the characters. though i will add that i thought clay cheated because he used computers. in this book, i believed that the journey is more important than the destination.

trying not to give too much of the plot away, i can share that the code they are trying to break will reveal the secret to immorality. and i am glad that clay shared my view about of immortality not being appealing. i personally think that living for all of eternity would be exhausting, imagine being alive forever and what kind of toll that would take on your body and mind. after a while would you just be over it? it would be tedious. i plan on resting when i die. so finding the secret to immorality would not be motivation for me if i was a character in this book. i would be game for any kinda secret society adventure.

i also loved clay as a character (and he must have been a gemini due to his resourcefulness and ability to connect people.) he was witty and smart and loved books. seriously, if i found someone like him on okcupid i would be all over it.

i can't really discuss more without giving things away but will add that i was disappointed that "the dragon song chronicles" and the gerritszoon typeface isn't real in real life. also sad that grumble wasn't a real site. i googled them to see if they exist and nada. but nonetheless, it was a great book, i mean it glows you can't go wrong!

ps "mr. penumbra's 24 hour bookstore" was also on that flavorpill fall forecast entry. but they also did a feature entry about it and listed 10 books for books nerds. so now i am inspired to read this list. (and yes they are right if you love books and your iphone, you will love this book.)