WOW! That's all I have for you is, WOW! Nothing is a more attractive topic than combining of old world knowledge and lifestyles with the differences of how we live and think with today's technology. It makes for a very interesting story. What a delightful book, that was a quick and easy read, but really left me thinking. Would definitely recommend it if you are interested in art & design history, and have a love of typography like I do.

It starts out like a fine mystery. The protagonist, Clay Jannon, is hired by a San Francisco independent bookstore owner -- Mr Penumbra -- to retrieve books from 10 pm to 6 am, at the request of long time bookstore customers holding an unusual interest in highly obscure volumes. In fact Clay has never heard of any of these book titles, which are never purchased, only loaned. When Clay examines one of these books, he sees page after page of unreadable encrypted characters, no spaces, no punctuation. Yet the customers return night after night, returning one book, and taking another. At this point, about 10% in, the story looks like it has potential. Then the whole thing degenerates into a sort of "Dungeons and Dragons" meets Google:Books fantasy. The story failed to hold my interest. I can't recommend this one. One word summary: Tedious.

This is one of my favorite books ever. Not only are the characters vivid and realistic, but the plot deviates entirely from the stereotypical 'hero's adventure'. I would suggest this book to anyone!

When Clay Jannon is laid off from his web-design job at New Bagel, his curiosity gets the better of him as he accepts a job at Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore. But after just a few days on the job, Clay begins to realize that this store is even more curious than the name suggests. There are only a few regular customers – who borrow the books, not buy - hardly enough to keep the bookstore in business. Even stranger is the fact that Clay has been asked to not only keep track of the books the customers sign out, but to log other details about the customers as well (time they came in, what their moods were, details about their clothing – down to the type of buttons on their jackets – all kinds of weird details). Clay realizes there is something mysterious going on and after he begins to track the regulars’ book selections, he sees a distinct pattern emerge. Each reader is completing the books in a specific order. He begins going through the books himself and finds out they are written in a code that has to be deciphered. He learns from Mr. Penumbra that deciphering the codes in these books in their specific order will enable the reader to solve ‘The Founder’s Puzzle’ which is the first step in moving closer to becoming one of the secret society ‘The Unbroken Spine’ who are busy day in and day out trying to decipher the ‘Founder’s Book’ which is supposed to hold the secret of eternal life. This is a really fun read that combines elements of fairy-tales with adventure stories. A real combination of old world knowledge mixing with new world technology. Reviewed by TC

Funny, thoughtful, engaging story with mystery elements that tackles how and where print books and all things electronic intersect.

I expected to love this book, but for some reason just - didn't. I really, really liked it, but I never reached the point where I couldn't put it down. I did love the characters - especially Clay, Mat, Neel, Deckle and Mr. Penumbra. I also liked the "quest" feel of the plot, and the way everything fit together in the end. However, I think that some characters' preoccupation with immortality kind of turned me off.

Honestly it was okay. The description of the book sounded more interesting than the book itself turned out to be. After a while I was beginning to wonder if the author was getting a kickback from Google. I would compare it to National Treasure, only for computer geeks and with less suspense…… no suspense, really. To sum it up, there’s no suspense, no romance, a little mystery but nothing that kept me up late unable to put it down. The book could have been so much more but it just wasn’t.

I loved this book, it was utterly delightful. I picked it up on the new book shelf because the title caught my eye. But it was one of the best books I read all year. A quick read, I was ready to return it after one weekend. This is a book where old knowledge meets new technology, Google itself is essentially a character.

I once heard a story about a grade school teacher who was reading the first Harry Potter book to her class. She would turn the book around to show the pictures to the kids. One boy would squeeze his eyes shut and say 'No, no, no. I only want to see the pictures in my head. ' There are so many ideas and terms introduced in this book that I would like to Google (*a highly appropriate search engine, by the way), but I never will. Like the little boy who would not look at the pictures, getting the answers would ruin the magic for me. I write this review having only read to page 270. I have 18 pages to go and I don't want it to end. Yes, it is one of 'those' books. The story is like "National Treasure", "The DaVinci Code" or an "Indiana Jones". Well-written, entertaining and enthralling. Its content makes it a good read for YA too. I'm going to tell everyone I know to read it. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.

There isn't a lot of character development, but the book is nevertheless a mostly engaging read. Should appeal to those interested in technology and books, as well as fans of Then We Came to the End by Joshua Ferris. WeAreSpartacus/LauraADPPL