Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore

One huge problem I had with this book was how the author referred to female characters as “girls” when they were clearly over the legal age of adulthood (18 years old in the US). Females who make it to 18 and beyond are called women; calling them “girls” is infantilizing and condescending. This aspect of the book really upset me, and every time I came across its use it would derail me from the story.

Aside from the infuriating use of a patronizing term, I did enjoy this book. The plot was light and fun, and the developments kept me interested. It was very curious to me that the author would choose to fictionalize many aspects of Google, since the reality of the place is already rather (self-consciously) wacky. In any case, it all hung together very well and made for good reading.