Mr. Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore

This is a book I've been hearing about for a while. Not in the "you should read this" sense; more in the "you haven't read this?" sense. From the title, I knew it took place in a strange bookstore, and I assumed there would be an element of magical realism. Used bookstores seem ripe for magical realism.

Except that there isn't a fantasy element to this story at all. It could be considered science fiction by some, except for the fact that I am intimately familiar with all of the technology mentioned in this book. So what we have is a plot that seems ripped from a modern science fiction book (it reminded me of Ready Player One, had that book been well-written), but firmly rooted in the current world.

The story is a bit of an adventure and a bit of a mystery. There's a code to be discovered and cracked, and an entire secret society that's been built up around this code. Add in a fantastic love interest (who also walks away and is allowed to walk away when her career becomes more important) and a wonderfully eccentric boss, and then entire book was a lot of fun.

I had one nitpick, which kept this book from being perfect and one of my all-time favorites. There was a character (the rich best friend) who made his fortune by writing software to render women's breasts. It was a weird character trait that came up again and again as a weird joke. If his career had been just slightly different, I would have been a lot happier.

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