“It would be nice if you were here,” she murmurs. Then she falls asleep. I am alone in the bookstore, looking across the city at her sleeping form, lit only by the gray light of her laptop. In time it, too, falls asleep, and the screen goes dark."
published: 2012
pages: 242*
read: 7/17-18/2020
book: 62 in 2020
*according to the kindle version of my library hold.
SYNOPSIS
The Great Recession has shuffled Clay Jannon away from life as a San Francisco web-design drone and into the aisles of Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore, but after a few days on the job, Clay discovers that the store is more curious than either its name or its gnomic owner might suggest. The customers are few, and they never seem to buy anything; instead, they "check out" large, obscure volumes from strange corners of the store. Suspicious, Clay engineers an analysis of the clientele's behavior, seeking help from his variously talented friends, but when they bring their findings to Mr. Penumbra, they discover the bookstore's secrets extend far beyond its walls.
THOUGHTS
what in the world did I just read?
this is one of those books that's been around for forever therefore has forever been on my tbr list but I just never got around to it.
I was thisclose to buying it at B&N when I bought Open Book by Jessica Simpson book and I couldve read it for free when I had scribd but somehow, I ended up putting it on hold at my library and like always, i forgot.
I got it the other day and I decided to finally jump in.
Like I said on goodreads: "what in the Sally sells seashells down by the seashore did I just read?"
I haven't really seen reviews for this one around in a while besides Rad's on ig but even then prior to that, I dont think anyone really spoke about what this book entailed.
I knew it was about a dude who works at a 24 hr bookstore. I just thought idk, spooky ghost shit would happen if I had to guess. No idea really where it would go but I did not expect at all what I got.
Uh. So this was a funny read (it had its moments) and overall, I do think this was a good read. While I'm definitely not mad I read it, I do have to say I'm glad to be done with it. Something about it kinda gave me the hibbie jibbies. First when I started reading it and kinda the overallness of it all in the end.
At first it was kinda dragging for me, then it picks up but about 70% in I was kinda just ready for it to be over.
This story is about essentially a "cult" hell bent on discovering the message one person left behind that leads to the discovery of everlasting life.
This has been going on for 500+ years. Here comes Clay to (unknowingly) shake things up.
I won't go into details about that because it would be considered spoiler-ish and I dont wana do that here but woooah, what the fuck.
Maybe I still need time to process this book but..., not really. I mean, idk if it was just weird af because I had no idea what it was about or what but!, while I know I should focus on what it's really about, the bigger picture, I'm choosing to focus on Clay's relationship with Neel. And how they both bonded as kids over some dorky ass books which I wont say anything else about except: 😍. And how I love the way their relationship was played out in this story.
Or I can also focus on how Clay had what he needed when he needed it (can also be a bit spoilery)...basically what I'm tryna say is that theres a lot going into this story besides the main point but I kinda dig that!
overall, trippy read.
anyway, jump over for super basic spoilers because I couldn't even if i tried.
This story is about essentially a "cult" hell bent on discovering the message one person left behind that leads to the discovery of everlasting life.
This has been going on for 500+ years. Here comes Clay to (unknowingly) shake things up.
I won't go into details about that because it would be considered spoiler-ish and I dont wana do that here but woooah, what the fuck.
Maybe I still need time to process this book but..., not really. I mean, idk if it was just weird af because I had no idea what it was about or what but!, while I know I should focus on what it's really about, the bigger picture, I'm choosing to focus on Clay's relationship with Neel. And how they both bonded as kids over some dorky ass books which I wont say anything else about except: 😍. And how I love the way their relationship was played out in this story.
Or I can also focus on how Clay had what he needed when he needed it (can also be a bit spoilery)...basically what I'm tryna say is that theres a lot going into this story besides the main point but I kinda dig that!
overall, trippy read.
anyway, jump over for super basic spoilers because I couldn't even if i tried.
thanks for reading!
SPOILERS
S P O I L E R S
S P O I L E R S
S P O I L E R S
S P O I L E R S
S P O I L E R S
Clay is walking around San Francisco looking for a job when he inadvertently stumbles upon Penumbra's bookstore which happens to need a night clerk.
He interviews for it, gets it and starts the job. But the peculiar thing is no one really buys books it's more like they borrow them and then return them for other books.
He was told not to look inside of them so he doesnt until his roommate Matt stops by one night and does the looking for him.
The point of the story is that there is a Society (cult) whose set their life mission to find the message hidden in these books.
Theres the one main book that lives in NEW YORK but you don't get to touch that book until you've solved the mystery in all of the other tiny books and written your own book that passes the test you are given.
For 500 years theyve tried cracking the ultimate message. Here comes Clay and cracks the first piece of the puzzle with the help of Kat who happens to work at Google. From there on Penumbra let's him in on the story and basically, he goes to New York and copies the one book that is never supposed to be leaked and then hands it over to Kat to crack.
....which of course she doesnt.
It's not until Edgar (the dude that guards the entrance to the underground library in New York) asks Clay to track down the missing Gerritszons font pieces (honestly, I'm missing a lot here so it makes sense if you're all wtf? *head scratch*) that Clay makes the connection to the mystery message.
When Clay was in 6th grade, he bonded with Neel over some dragon books. They've both read them several times but it's not until hes driving home with the missing pieces that hes listening to the audio version of the book that he realizes how to find the message.
Turns out the message was in all of the Gerritzons font tablet things. They were like carved in all tiny and when put together, its Gerritzon saying thank you to his friend Teobaldo for essentially giving him the key. (Garritszons was forced to work in i forgot where that went against his beliefs so when he turned 16, he ran away and ended up working with Teobaldo where he was able to create his font and live his life they way he wanted to.)
Penumbra and crew had spent 500 years looking to find this message because they believed that it would lead to everyone finding immortality (they believed Garritszons never really passed away and that once they found this message not only would he come back but also revive all those who wrote their own books and have since passes but also all those currently doing the work)
Honestly, a lot of other shit also goes down but I don't feel like getting into it.
At the meat of the story, everything I wrote above is what the story is all about.
The end. :D
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