You may be wondering how we came to select Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore as our Dal Reads title for 2014. First, we developed some selection criteria to ensure that the book will provide us with a robust reading experience. The selection criteria are as follows:

-must be written by a living author (to allow for possible events and engagement with the author)

-must be able to generate discussion and exchange of ideas

-must be appealing to a broad range of readers of varying ages, literacy levels, and life experience

-must be in print and available for purchase in paperback, eBook, and audiobook

-must be strongly written with elements that will generate excitement among readers

-must be published in the last five years

-must meet the current year’s pre-selected theme (when a theme is selected, not valid for 2014)

Then, a number of students from the School of Information Management program suggested titles that met this criteria. We whittled that list down to three, and took the shortlist to the Dal community, hosting a virtual vote on our blog, Facebook, and Twitter, as well as a pop-up vote in the Killam Library. Overwhelmingly, the votes cast were in favour of Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan.

The book is available at all five Dalhousie Libraries, and is on order at the Dal Bookstores in the SUB and on the Agricultural Campus. The novel, published in 2012, is described by Amazon reviews as “an old school mystery set firmly in tech-loving, modern day San Francisco.” The New York Times Book Review said it was, “Part love letter to books, part technological meditation, part thrilling adventure, part requiem… Eminently enjoyable, full of warmth and intelligence.”

Get your copy today!