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

This 24 hour bookstore (in California) has members who borrow the same books in the same order. They are part of a society that existed for over 500 years.  Members are trying to solve a mystery and when they do, they are allowed to write their personal story for the library.  Their story is not read until they die.  Mr. Penumbra sells books also.

Clay is the narrator and he is one of the workers in the store.  He beings an on-line ad campaign to attract paying customer and he provides a store coupon.

One of his tasks as a clerk in the store is to chart down notes on each member in a log book when they visit the store.  Mr. Penumbra wants to know what they were wearing, what their mood was, how they smelled, looked, etc.   When Clay discovers the members are borrowing the same books in the same order, he creates a visualization chart to try to find out what the reason is.  There is a mystery underfoot. The alleged mystery is supposed to be the answer to the secret of longevity. 

Clay enlists the help of Cat and another friend to help him solve this mystery.  

Cat works for Google and she acquired one of the coupons for the store. That’s how she met Clay and got involved with the mystery.

I thought this was a great mystery story involving a bookstore – albeit a kooky bookstore.    Wasn’t really fond about the secret society, but I do like the way the author ended the story with a snap shot of what became of the main characters after the mystery was solved.  I would recommend this book to any reader.

Dictation by Cynthia Ozick

Ok, so I didn’t realize this was a set of short stories until I got the book home from the library.  I don’t remember where I saw this book, but the title was what attracted me.  Dictation.  I transcribe letters in my job as a secretary, thus the intrigue for the title.  I have now learned that I am an amanuensis (and saying it fast sounds like I’m a nuisance!)  

Dictation, Actors, At Fumicaro and What Happened To The Baby are the titles that make up this quartet. 

Four short vignettes, that  involve married couples, babies, and chambermaids.  Two of these stories appeared in The New Yorker and The Atlantic magazine. The author is a recipient of the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Rea Award for short stories. 

Dictation took a while for me to grasp, but basically these 2 amanuensis’s are transcribing for competitive authors and one of them decides to slip a paragraph from her authors book into the other authors and vice versa.  The authors completely trust their transcribers and the amanuensis feel this is they are rightly justified to make this switch because they otherwise would not get any recognition for their work!

Rabbit, Run & Rabbit Redux & Rabbit is Rich & Rabbit at Rest by John Updike

Set in the 1960’s, this story is about life, love and losses.  It is about trying to live the American Dream – to be comfortable and to raise a family and be respectable citizens.

 

Harry “Rabbit” Angstrom is a runner.  He ran from a marriage, then ran back to it, then ran again. 

What I found interesting about the 1^st book is that some subjects mentioned were really considered taboo in that era, but the author pulls no punches.  (After writing this, I read the author’s commentary at the end of book 2 and he mentions that the original printing had a lot edited out.  In later years, he was allowed to print the book the way he originally wrote it).

Rabbit appears immature – he tells his girlfriend if she doesn’t answer a question, he will leave and not come back and he does just that.  On the other hand, he was on his way to the hospital to see his wife and newborn baby.  Perhaps he used that as an excuse, hoping his girlfriend wouldn’t say anything.

The second book is Rabbit Redux.  Here we find Rabbit, 10 years later, back with his wife who he now suspects is having an affair.  What’s good for the goose is good for the gander.

Book three, Rabbit is Rich, has Rabbit running his deceased father-in-law auto dealership. 

Rabbit at Rest is the final book and has the same drama as the first three books. Rabbit and Janice bought a condo in Florida and they spend the summer months there.  Nelson and Pru visit with their two children.  Nelson is still edgy and jumpy with his father – same as in books two and three. He has his own demons that he is dealing with.

I should not be surprised that the series ends the same way it began – with Rabbit on a basketball court.

The Mermaid of Brooklyn by Amy Shearn

What would you do if your husband left you with a toddler and an infant?

Jenny, Betty and baby Rose are left to fend for themselves when husband/father Henry just doesn’t come home from work one night. Nor the next, or the next or the next…. And when he does return, he asks “where’s the dog??? “

When Henry doesn’t come home from work, Jenny worries slightly, then decides to jump off the Brooklyn Bridge.  She has a life-changing experience that somehow involves a mermaid and before you know it, three months later, her husband comes home.   

Jenny transitions to a more independent person after she spends time with the mermaid who coaxes her into situations that Jenny would never do on her own.  The mermaid helps her search her soul and realize that she has something within herself that is important.  

I enjoyed reading this book especially because it’s about my birth place Brooklyn. The setting is Park Slope, Brooklyn and the neighbors are preppy types, some slightly upper crusty where the moms stay at home and meet at the park with their children and they all know each other and gossip about each other.

Fifty Shades of Grey/Fifty Shades Darker/Fifty Shades Freed by E.L. James

It took me entire year to read these 3 books. 

Anastasia “Ana” Steele is the main character.  She has no idea what is ahead for her when she meets Christian Grey.

She is a quiet person and Christian is far from that, in his own way.  He keeps to himself personally and is very private, even though he is the owner of a multi-million dollar corporation. 

Ana falls in love with Christian and eventually they get married – she to all the emotions he seems to possess, hence the name fifty shades.  At the end of book one she realizes that Christian is not capable of giving or receiving love because of his past. 

In the second book, Fifty Shades Darker, Ana ponders that she can recognize his needs and accommodate, but can she really handle them?   Oh, and by the way, everyone should know that these books are quite erotic.

In between the second and third book, someone tries to kill the happy couple, and more plots are added about the other characters in the story, so Fifty Shade of Grey is not just about sex.