As a child I adored Reading Rainbow. For those who do not know, Reading Rainbow is a show on PBS that has been around since the early 80’s. It highlights children’s books and other book related content. Besides an amazing theme song (that I’ve been known to belt out on occasion) the show features a special segment where a real honest to goodness reader child, not a paid actor, mind you, reviews their favorite book. Oh how badly I wanted to be one of those kids! I realize that this is the point in the blog where you really learn for yourself that I am not just nerdy now but have been so since I was a little Tanya but I’m okay with that. So in an attempt to fulfill my lifelong dream of being a book critic I am starting a feature on this blog called “Color Spectrum of Reading!” All copyrights reserved. 🙂 I read a lot and often have no idea what book to read next when I am choosing a book. I really appreciate when someone takes the time to review thoughtfully and put me on the right path to a beautiful journey nestled in the pages of a book. I hope to do the same here.
To start this post series off, I will share the book I just read “Mr. Penumbra’s 24 Hour Bookstore” by Robin Sloan.I adored this book. Oh, how I adored this book! In a nutshell, this modern tale playfully draws the reader into the life of a man, Clay Jannon, with little direction in his life. Soon you are plunged into adventure, with peculiar bookstores, secret societies, clever women, and intelligent friendships, and propelled into wanting everything wonderful for the main character. His life, once dull and monotonous, becomes as bright and vibrant as the front cover of the book itself, with true friendships and wild adventures. The book is light-hearted and playful, perfect for someone who would like to spend a delightful afternoon on a journey with a wizard, a warrior, and patron.
Robin Sloan is a wonderful writer. His words made me laugh out loud more times than I can count. I love when an author writes as though he were your friend, sitting next to you, telling you a good story over a beer. He does this in spades. After I read his book, I went right to his website to see if the man had written anything else I could get my hands on. His website held a few short stories but alas, I was left wanting since Penumbra is his first novel. I expect great things in the future from Mr. Sloan.
{my invisible camera} 