Cannonball Read 11

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I Have Always Imagined that Paradise Will Be a Kind of Library

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

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Have you ever felt that a book was written just for you? Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore is my Platonic ideal: a novel by an Elder Millennial, set in an alternate San Francisco Bay Area populated by talented, curious people, weird-but-plausible technologies, and endless shelves of books. By the time I discovered the in-story trilogy of fantasy novels and the credible centuries-old secret society, I committed to becoming a Sloan completist. Our initially hapless first-person hero Clay Jannon is looking for a job, any job. His start-up employer NewBagel went under; turns out not many people want bagels baked by an […]

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8/19/2019 | 's CBR11 Review No:30 |

Episode 1-29: What the F–k Did I Just Read?

A Highly Unlikely Scenario, Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore, The Fold, High-Rise, Turbulence by Rachel Cantor, Robin Sloan, Peter Clines, JG Ballard, Stuart Woods

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Episode 1-29: What The Fuck Did I Just Read? Wherein I review: 111. A Highly Unlikely Scenario, or a Neetsa Pizza Employee’s Guide to Saving the World by Rachel Cantor 112. Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan 113. The Fold by Peter Clines 114. High-Rise by J.G. Ballard 115. Turbulence (Stone Barrington #46) by Stuart Woods Sometimes your little brain needs to get fried.  This was a combo platter of what the f–kery.  I enjoyed Robin Sloan’s wonderous cult of personality, and Peter Clines’ Lost-esque pseudo-sequel to 14.  Didn’t so much love High-Rise which felt like a nasty essay and […]

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8/8/2018 's CBR10 Review No:115 |

Have some actual sourdough ready before you start. #CBRBingo

Sourdough by Robin Sloan

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I read and enjoyed Robin Sloan’s debut novel, Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore, when it first came out a couple of years ago. I thought it was a fun concept that didn’t quite hit all the right notes, but was so short and fast to read that I forgave it a lot. This one was also a fast, short read, but it hit me emotionally in a way that Sloan’s first novel didn’t. Some of the storylines and themes didn’t come together perfectly, which is why I’m holding back the fifth star, but the rest of the book was so charming […]

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8/2/2018 's CBR10 Review No:86 |

I relate to this food

Sourdough by Robin Sloan

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I never expected to personally relate to food. Not to a person eating. Not even to anthropomorphized food a la Sausage Party (why oh why is that my first example .. ). Just to, you know, food. And not even finished food. To a sourdough starter. I came to this realization in a very roundabout way because as I finished this book, gave it its all-too-necessary Goodreads 5 stars, and moved to this review, my first thought was: “This is why I read. This is why I am such a voracious reader. This is why I chew through books the […]

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3/6/2018 's CBR10 Review No:22 |

Is there anything more San Francisco than sourdough bread and tech start ups? 

Sourdough by Robin Sloan

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I wasn’t crazy about Mr. Penumbra’s 24 Hour Bookstore when I read it along with what seemed like half of CBR6. My biggest complaint was the magical realism but the longer I stay in the Cannonball community the more open to new genres I become. Plus Yesknopemaybe read and reviewed Sourdough at the start of CBR10 and prefaced her review by stating she despised Penumbra so if I haven’t stretched my tastes as much as I thought what could it hurt? Sourdough is a quirky story about a software engineer named Lois who discovers a restaurant that delivers a mysterious meal that soothes her stressed stomach. When […]

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2/17/2018 's CBR10 Review No:23 |

Do not read if you are not doing carbs right now

Sourdough by Robin Sloan

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I’ve never been to California in my life. I’ve never even been to the West Coast. I kind of have this image in my head that everybody is either Guy Fieri or Mark Zuckerberg with surfboards in cosplay, which intellectually I know isn’t accurate, but I still have a hard time picturing the San Francisco area otherwise. Similarly, the corporate pieces of the story totally matches with the general idea of what your typical tech San Francisco start-up must be like ( I say that in the general cultural perception sense; I’m not a techy so I have no idea […]

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1/28/2018 's CBR10 Review No:7 |

Hand the carbs over and no one gets hurt

Sourdough by Robin Sloan

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I was a bit nervous renting this one from the library. Unlike what seems like every other reader on the planet, I reallllly despised Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore. I didn’t like the plot, the incessant talking about boobs and Google, or the characters. And yes, I realize I’m a curmudgeon. However, it bothered me how the female character in that book was portrayed which meant that picking up Sourdough, featuring a female protagonist, was a bit of a gamble. Was I going to end up metaphorically throwing this book against the wall (a bit hard when it’s an audiobook)? Luckily, […]

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1/8/2018 's CBR10 Review No:4 |

More fun than the DaVinci Code and at least as plausible

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

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In our house, we tend to purchase hard copies of most of the books we read, as opposed to, say, going to the library or downloading digital versions. So I wish I could say I bought Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore in a quaint neighborhood bookstore, nestled between an independent coffee house and and an artisanal cheese shop. The truth is, though, that I bought it online during a “half price on used hardcovers” promotion. Then again, since this tale merges a world steeped in tradition with the high-tech sector, perhaps my path to acquisition was perfectly appropriate. In Mr. Penumbra […]

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6/18/2017 's CBR9 Review No:11 |


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