Book report: Book lover's tech mystery

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

It's got a glow-in-the-dark cover - that alone should be reason enough to get this book. You can make all kinds of neat (temporary) designs by shining a flashlight over the front or back cover, which is really cool considering that if you don't know about it you won't think to turn off the lights for some play time (or you might turn off the lights and be freaked out about that glowing rectangle on the table, like I was!).

But seriously (sort of) this book is also great to read - I really liked it.  I even understood it, including the geeky parts.

The primary location:  San Francisco, a strange, dusty bookstore owned by one Mr. Penumbra.  Penumbra means partial shadow, especially when talking about eclipses. Hmmm.  What is the significance here?  You'll have to read the book to find out.

Secondary locations:  The Google campus in California, a book repository sunk into the bedrock of Manhattan, a knitting museum in Berkeley, an antiquities warehouse in Texas.

Mix together: A secret society, a team of talented friends with just the right skills, and a quest to find the clues and to break the code that could be the answer to immortality... or maybe at least to discover if there is any message in the code at all.

A fast read, great entertainment, some thought provoking moments.  Plus it's inspired me to play around with programming again.

Thumbs up!

   

Book Review: Led Zeppelin: Feather In The Wind

Led Zeppelin: Feather In The Wind - Over Europe 1980
compiled by Dave Lewis
Tight But Loose Publishing, Bedford England 2012

Dave Lewis’ Led Zeppelin: Feather In the Wind Over Europe 1980 is the most awesome and comprehensive compilation of rock music tour data I’ve ever seen. In seven chapters and five Appendices, Lewis covers the 14 day final tour of the most seminal and accomplished rock band of all time as they work their way through Europe. Lewis doesn’t just provide the results of second-hand research, he gives the reader the up close and personal, first-hand reports of his own experiences as he lived with the band and listened to the performances from the stage. He provides transcripts of Page, Plant and others’ comments between songs at each performance, summaries of each day’s performance and reviews from the media as well as excerpts from Lewis’ own diaries. The photos alone are worth this 270 page tome, many of them rarely, if ever, seen before, of casual views of the band or shots of the performance from the stage itself.

Keeping with the personal nature of this book, a chapter includes Dave Lewis interviews of people who were backstage with the band – from Led Zeppelin manager Peter Grant, to road crew and techies, to groupies, plus a chapter of “front of stage” recollections of the lucky fans who got to hear the performances. Finally, the Appendices take on the subjects of the bootlegs, memorabilia, tour statistics (yes, finally a list of all Jimmy Page’s guitars and amplifiers in one place!), discography of the final album Coda, and a listing of notes and sources. 

An added bonus: The limited hardback first edition is individually numbered, certified and signed by the author.

This extraordinary book is a must-have for Led Zeppelin fans, be they born well past the last year of Led Zeppelin’s final performance or of an age with the band members today. If you were there, this will bring back fond memories. If you weren’t, this is the next best thing. If you don’t already have your copy, get one immediately!