You may or may not be aware that the study of consciousness attracts an amazing number of quacks and loonies. Penrose may be a good physicist, but that has very little to do with his credibility on neuroscience. If you want to read smart things about consciousness, look to people who study actual brains; Mike Gazzaniga was one of the better ones, at least 10 years ago. EDIT: also Patricia Churchland, who comes at it as a philosopher, but takes the time to learn the neurology.