Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore

Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore

Last summer, at the AP Lit. Conference in Austin, the teacher sitting next to me was reading this book.  I have been searching for it ever since, and finally had my local mom-and-pop bookstore order it for me.  It was so worth the trouble!

This contemporary novel falls under the genre of magical realism.  It is a tightly structured, well told story about a computer programmer fan of fantasy fiction, people who love books, Google, and the quest for immortality.  I can’t tell you anything else, or it will give everything away, but I can add this:  the cover glows in the dark!  That’s not just a marketing gimmick, either, but an excellent visual of one of the story’s major components. But wait… I’ve said too much.

This story was one of those that I’m still thinking about after I’ve put it down.  It satisfied my longing for a story I could fall into and love, which is hard to do lately. I highly recommend this book.