Bookish reads for World Book Day

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

Out-of-work web designer Clay Jannon finds himself doing the night shift at Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore, a hole-in-the-wall shop in San Francisco. Curiosity gets the better of him after a few days on the job, and he becomes determined to find out what this shop is really selling. With a few friends, Clay sets out to unravel the mystery of Mr. Penumbra's round-the-clock bookstore.

If you could return to certain crossroads in your life and take the other path instead, would you? Nora Seed feels she has nothing to live for, so she tried to end it all ... and finds herself in a mysterious library lined with books that give her numerous second chances to live the life she wants. Suddenly, all possible paths her life would lead are open to her. Which will she choose?

First published in 1970, this book contains selected letters from two decades' worth of correspondence between freelance writer Helene Hanff in New York City and a used-book dealer in London. Both would never meet, the distance between them only bridged by a common love for books, yet their bond remains firm. A lover of obscure literature, Hanff's appetites were sated by this bookstore half a world away, and in return the staff at the shop gained a patron and friend.

In Nazi-ruled Germany, young Liesel finds a book left behind by accident near her brother's grave. Thus begins her career as a book thief and her love of books. Liesel snags any book she can get her hands on, but these are dangerous times, and owning the wrong book can get one in trouble. But not as much trouble as harbouring a Jew, which her foster family does.

In post-war Barcelona, a father brings his son to the Cemetery of Forgotten Books and tells him to pick one. The Shadow of the Wind by one Julian Carax would take him on a quest to delve into the author's life years later, when he learns of a plot to destroy all of Carax's novels. Just what is the story behind this novel and who is so hell-bent on erasing Carax's literary legacy?

A mother and son bond over books while the former waits to receive chemotherapy. Conversations about what they're reading turns into an intimate two-member book club where they read and discuss the same book at each session as the mother is given treatment. The exchanges deepen the bond between the two and open them up to other topics besides books. A touching tribute to a parent and to the power of books.

"What are you looking for?" Sayuri Komachi routinely asks visitors of the library at Hatori Community House. The librarian can sense what they need and recommend the book for it, and she does so for several library guests who are at a crossroads in life. Plainly yet poignantly written, this book, like the books Komachi suggests to her guests, may be the one you are looking for.