Sarah's Library

27/06 - Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore is about a bookstore and the slightly fantastical people who frequent it, for either work or pleasure.  There's a secret society that funds it and keeps it going in the background, and to start with I thought there was going to be some actual magic worked into the secret society.  While there were no wands or incantations, there was still magic in the story.  There was magic in the way the 26-year-old star and narrator of the story believes that physical bookstores will carry on because people still like the way books smell, and you can't get that through your Kindle (I read an actual book edition).  There was magic in Robin Sloane's final message, that being immortal isn't about living forever, it's about what you do with your life and your impact on the people around you.  And I have to disagree with his assertion that this book, like all books before it and after, will fade to the back of my mind - I don't think it will fade at all, I think I'll remember the descriptions of Mr Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore with it's three storey shelves and the waybacklist for many years to come.