Why I read Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore

When I finish a book I like, after the happy sigh, my next thought usually is, “Who do I know who would like this book?” Sometimes I can really like a book and not be sure anyone I know would also like it. It was like that with The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde. Some of the people who I thought might like it did and some didn’t.

And now there’s Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloane. I finished it last night. I didn’t love it as much as The Eyre Affair — which pushed all my quirky buttons — I wasn’t “dazzled” like some of the reviewers (because I’m not a reviewer, just a reader) but I liked it. The mystery drew me in and I liked the main character, Clay, enough to take the journey with him.

And now here I am, trying to think who I know who would also like it, maybe even like it more than I did. Because some reviewers were “dazzled.” So I’ll take a page from

Heather over at The Galaxy Express blog and try some “If you like…”

You might like Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore if:

You’ve ever re-read a fantasy series
You geek out over computer code
You geek out over fonts
You love/hate Google
You’ve always wanted to work in a mysterious bookstore
You like puzzles
You’ve secretly wished you and your best friends could go on a quest

So you can kind of see my problem. Some books come into our lives that we can’t slot into Friend A or Friend Z’s bookshelves. So you should hop over to Amazon or your favorite bookseller and give it the first page test. Or your preferred page test.

So how about you? Have you ever liked/loved a book and been stumped about who might like it, too? Do you ever recommend books to friends? Comments are entered into my monthly drawing for an AnaBanana gift basket ($25 value). I announce a winner the first blog post of the new month.