Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore (Robin Sloan)

Why I have this book: It is this month's book club book.

I'm still processing my thoughts on this book. Maybe I'll make a list:

1) I would have never been compelled to buy this book of my own accord. But that's why I like being in a book club... it opens one up to new reading styles and genres.

2) The storyline seems more in line to me as a book written for a young crowd (like Harry Potter) than for adults, but then there was the swearing and a couple of hints about sex. (Although I've noticed from Amazon reviews that swearing and sex are starting to be the norm in books written for the younger crowd.)

3) One thing that bothered me was how the protagonist would say something... "I wondered why this or that was the way it was." Then the next character would answer what he was wondering. It really threw me until I figured out that this was part of the author's writing style. It seemed like the character was thinking a thought to himself, then the other character would be reading his mind. It just wasn't the normal way of writing out conversation and it made me do a double take, even after I figured it out. It interrupted the flow my reading so many times.

4) I thought the premise was creative, fun, and clever. (And if there was no swearing and sexual innuedos, I would recommend it to young readers.)

5) It had a Harry Potter feel to it, although there is no magic or anything like that.

6) The "answer" to the puzzle was great, but it was also anti-climactic in it's unveiling and the affect it had on the searchers. There could have been a little more depth to the ending, which is one of the reasons I think it is more suited to a younger reading crowd. It comes across more as "cute" than "profound."

So, my overall opinion is that I liked it. It would make a good movie, I think, with a little tweaking for a target audience of younger people (although adults would enjoy it, as well) and a little more character development of some of the peripherel characters.  Some of it seemed a little too unrealistic, but that's the beauty of fiction, ya? There was enough of a "fantasy" feel to this to pull it off if one isn't going to get too persnickety about it... (I know, that sounds strange coming from me.)

There were quite a few uses of the "S" word... and interestingly, I didn't notice any other swear word being used. There were a couple of suggestions that characters were having sex, but nothing in detail and not a central part of the story. I still wouldn't give it to my teenager to read, just on principle, and it seriously could/should have just been left out of the story. It added nothing to the development of the supposed relationship or the storyline.