Search This Blog

Saturday, March 19, 2016

Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore and The Grave Tattoo

I went to the library Thursday afternoon and picked up several books.  I forgot my list--so annoying because I couldn't remember any of the "new to me" authors I had jotted down over the last couple of weeks.  Nevertheless, I came home with several books.

Mr. Penumbra's 24-hour Bookstore was one that had been on my list for a long time.  It was raining, so I settled in with it first.  At first I was delighted.  I liked Clay's initial descriptions of his situation and his roommates, and of course, the description of his finding a job at Mr. Penumbra's bookstore. The mystery charmed me.  Initially.  I read straight through, becoming less enchanted about half way through.  

Although the characters had wonderful potential, they became stock characters to advance the plot.  The plot...well, not even the plot really engaged me.

I wonder if there is a tipping point with books....  I know one reason I delayed reading this after putting it on my list several years ago had something to do with "too many" five star reviews.  Sometimes, if I see a book with dozens of glowing reviews, I'm afraid I'll be disappointed.

Enough time had passed, however, that I thought I could give it a fair shake.  And it started off so well!  I even like Robin Sloan because of his descriptions of Clay's friends Matt and Neel.  Those descriptions feel so genuine, as if he really knows these people--a testament of friendship--which is, I think, one of the themes of the book.  After the first chapters, though, the friends are sublimated to a plot that didn't work well for me.  

Maybe I was just not in the mood for this one.  It has been so loved by so many readers that I was sorry not to belong to the group of admirers.  It certainly won plenty of honors.

A Winner of the Alex Award, a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for First Fiction, named a Best Book of the Year by NPRLos Angeles Times, and San Francisco Chronicle

Library copy.

Fantasy.  2013.  288 pages.

On to the next in my library bag.

The Grave Tattoo by Val McDermid.  I've enjoyed so many of McDermid's books that I felt this stand-alone would make up for my disappointment with Mr. Penumbra.  Alas.

The premise was interesting.  I love books about lost manuscripts, love Wordsworth, and have always found The Bounty mutiny fascinating.

I plodded through the entire thing, wondering why I didn't just add it to the DNF pile.  But it was Val McDermid!    

To save time, I'm going to direct you to Sam's review.  He gives an excellent synopsis of the plot.  

McDermid's books have never before failed to engage me.  This one has plenty of murders, and yet is not as dark as most of McDermid's books.  Looking at Goodread reviews, I notice that many that have not read McDermid's books before liked the novel much more than those who have followed her books over the years.  Interesting. 

Two books in two days that failed me.  That doesn't mean that either book will fail you!  Both books have as many or more positive reviews than negative ones.

I've enjoyed a couple of McDermid's Karen Pirie series, but my favorite is the Wire in the Blood series.  McDermid also has a couple of series that I haven't read.  Here is a list of her books, both series and stand alones.  Has anyone read any of the Kate Brannigan or Lindsay Gordon books?

Library copy.

Crime/Mystery.  2007.  400 pages.

17 comments:

  1. I've only read the Wire in the Blood books and also A PLACE OF EXECUTION - loved that one. Sorry that both of these didn't work so well, but guess it's good that they were library books. No money involved.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've liked so many of McDermid's books, but this one was very different. And that may have been part of the problem--it wasn't what I expected.

      Delete
  2. Oh no, I hate it when I have such high hopes and the books failed. Hopefully your next read will be much more rewarding!

    ReplyDelete
  3. That is too bad you didn't like Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore. I have been meaning to read it forever!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think I was expecting something else, but many people love it!

      Delete
  4. I love the mystery of what makes a book appeal to one person and not to another. Even stranger is the way a book can be a complete turn-off one time, a discard, and seem wonderful the second time you pick it up. Avid readers have, I think, so much of themselves invested in the books they read, that mood swings and emotions have a lot to do with how a book "reads." That's what makes "us" us.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I didn't pick up Penumbra because someone wrote a review once similar to yours, so in the sea of 5 stars, I sat up and took notice of that one and didn't check it out of the library.

    I have been meaning to get a McDermid for so long because I love British crime fiction and people, such as Kay, recommend her highly. I just never did-- so many other series to read! I might pick up A Place of Execution since it's a stand-alone. I had no idea she wrote so many series, thought only the Tony Hill one. Good to know.

    Thanks for being honest. This does happen to us all occasionally. Just recently I put aside Heather Gudenkauf's newest that some people raved about and others gave mixed reviews. I liked her previous titles, but I couldn't get into it, and I thought, but wait... it's Gudenkauf, I really like her stories! For now it's part of my put-aside, but not DNF pile. But life's too short, etc. etc. so who knows.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This is the first McDermid that did not work for me. I wanted to explain why, but that involved too many spoilers!

      Delete
  6. I once was very excited to read Mr. Penumbra's 24-hour Bookstore, but somewhere along the line that excitement faded somewhat. Maybe one of these days. I'm sorry Val McDermid's book wasn't better for you. Hopefully you have since read something worthwhile.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I'm sorry that these two books had failed you. Mr Penumbra's 24-hour Bookstore sounds like an interesting read. I admit I've more expectations when a book receives glowing reviews and all the hype. Sometimes they live up to our expectations and sometimes they don't. Hope your next read will be better! :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. :( And not every book, even by authors you usually love, works every time!

      Delete
  8. I felt just the way you did about Mr. Penumbra! It was fine, I wasn't mad at it, but it didn't wow me the way it obviously did others. :/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Exactly! Mr. Penumbra just wasn't as good a fit for me as it was for so many others. My expectations were a little different, and the direction Mr. Penumbra took didn't satisfy my expectations.

      Delete
  9. I quite liked Penumbra but yeah, somewhere along the way when all the googlers get involved things begin to go off track a bit and it ends up not being as satisfying as one would hope.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The googler intervention did slow me down. Up until then, I was having fun with it, but I gradually lost interest with the diversion.

      Delete