Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan

Well, this was a treat! I was doing summer reading talks for the 10th graders and this lovely girl came up with a look on her face like she was about to give me an amazing gift. And she did. She recommended this book!

I hung out in bookstores when I was a kid, I met my husband in a bookstore, I still love bookstores - independent, chain, online, whatever. I am not fussy.

This tale starts in an interesting vertical dust factory of a San Francisco bookstore and explodes from there. The story is one of mystery, intrigue and some other stuff.

What you need to know is this:

THE COVER GLOWS IN THE DARK! It completely freaked me out. Be prepared.

Also, the copy I borrowed from Beverly Public Library had been defaced by a ghastly little book reviewer who thought they had the right to critique a LIBRARY BOOK in pencil with snotty comments about grammar, usage and Google. How many books have you written wretched defacer? I didn't love the story from the start (it took about 30 pages for the awesome to kick in) but my ire at the befouler kept me reading. So, HA!

Basically, an underemployed San Franciscan starts work at MP24HBS and uncovers a cult of sorts with the help of a force of nature who works at google and his elementary school best friend who is now a millionaire because of his mastery of... well... he is an expert on... well... you'll find out. They go cross country, the tell some lies, they digitize some stuff and the solve a mystery that may or may not involve immortality. It's terrific.