Sunday January 22nd, 2017 Bookstore magic

A literary adventure story complete with secret societies, global conspiracy, and the secret to eternal life can be found in Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan. In San Francisco, a young man arrives at an old, mysterious bookstore searching for work.  Recently laid off from his job as a web-designer, Clay Jannon, a young man who rarely touched paper, becomes the night clerk at Ajax Penumbra’s 24-hour bookstore. Clay is told to catalogue each transaction along with the customer’s appearance, attitude and aura into the customer journal.  In addition to all this, customers do not pay for their books, but rather borrow them.

As the mystery of his job envelops him (is the bookstore a front for criminal activity? where does the money for his salary come from?), he decides to break the rules and, enlisting the help of friends, conducts his own covert operation.  Together the team of friends travels to New York City where they discover a secret literary group, the Unbroken Spine, which seeks to decode the Codex Vitae developed by a 16th century printer and founder of the society.  The friends uncover the great mystery behind the Waybacklist, a set of encrypted books on the bookstore’s shelves, and with the aid of technology, ultimately solve the secret of the Codex Vitae.

Through the medium of a suspense-filled adventure tale, the story’s underlying theme pits Old Knowledge (books) against Internet Knowledge in a battle to solve an ancient puzzle. In fairly recent times we have witnessed a revolution in how information is obtained and disseminated.  Because of the internet, the world of books, publishing and reading has changed – there are ebooks, ereaders and tablets added to the mix. Instead of traditional written letters we often use on-line social media for communication; school children manage assignments utilizing Google Drive and obtain information via a wide variety of print and digital resources. Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore incorporates all of this.  It combines the worlds of print and stories (fonts, hidden messages), manual craftsmanship (movie prop making), and technology (data visualization, Google, computer language).

The perfect setting for this tale of books and technology, cryptography and conspiracy, friendship and love is a used bookstore. Wherever you may travel, you are guaranteed to find something that piques your curiosity in a used bookstore.  In addition to the books and the authors, you often make the acquaintance of other readers.  They write their names inside a book, carefully or scribbled, scratch notes in the margins, and highlight favourite passages.  There is much delight to be had in browsing through the stacks of a library or used bookstore, letting your eyes rest on the titles of books which are waiting to be discovered and enrich your life.

Currently, Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore is available in print, audio book, and ebook formats at your Thunder Bay Public Library. And if you are lucky, one day you may come across a copy as you browse the shelves at the Friends of the Public Library used bookstore in Victoriaville where you will find good quality books for children and adults all generously donated by the public or the library.

The Friends’ latest adventure is the launch of the Dream Travel Raffle with prizes that include a travel voucher for two anywhere WestJet flies, a luggage set from Canadian Tire (Fort William Road), and a spa package for two (Terra Nova).   Tickets are available at the Friends used bookstore and at all Public Library locations, with the draw to be held on February 15th at 11 am at Waverley Library. New Friends’ members are always welcome, and membership forms can be found at any branch of the Thunder Bay Public Library.
Fran Duke