The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry in WACKY READING CHALLENGES

Jun 12, 2017 Book Concierge rated it liked it

Shelves: family, massachusetts, audio, books-about-books, concierge, library

Audiobook performed by Scott Brick

A.J. Fikry owns Island Books. He had run the store with his beloved wife, until she died in an accident just over a year ago. Now he lives alone in the apartment above the bookstore, eating frozen dinners and drinking until he passes out. And then, one snowy December evening he finds that someone has left a baby between the shelves in the bookstore. And just like that, his life changes for the better.

This is a modern-day fable about second chances and the redem ...more

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Jan 01, 2015 Nancy rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: contemporary, books-about-books

There has been a lot said about how good this book is, and it is lovely. It has the kind of emotional roller coaster and feel-good sense of delight that you would expect and, of course, that is made all the better because of it being mainly about books. For me, though I did really enjoy it, it was a bit too feel-good. It reminded me of a really yummy Chinese meal. You thoroughly enjoy it while you're having it, but within an hour it's as if you haven't eaten at all. ...more

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Apr 16, 2014 Connie N. rated it really liked it

Shelves: white, chick-lit, massachusetts, books-about-books, island

Throughout this book I wasn't sure how I was going to rate it because I just didn't see a lot of substance to it, although it kept my interest. But the beauty of this book is just that. It doesn't have a lot of excitement, no particular action, just a lot of solid life-living. The characters become close friends, despite their flaws, or perhaps even because of them. The reader can definitely relate to them. My eyes welled up with tears more than once, sometimes with sadness and and other times w Throughout this book I wasn't sure how I was going to rate it because I just didn't see a lot of substance to it, although it kept my interest. But the beauty of this book is just that. It doesn't have a lot of excitement, no particular action, just a lot of solid life-living. The characters become close friends, despite their flaws, or perhaps even because of them. The reader can definitely relate to them. My eyes welled up with tears more than once, sometimes with sadness and and other times with happiness. So I would say it's an emotional book, for sure.
We follow A.J. through his life as a small island bookstore owner. He loves literature, knows his stuff, and has settled in a small town because he and his wife have decided to take their almost-PhD's and turn them into a business that they find rewarding. A.J., however, is a curmudgeonly type of guy, despite the fact that he is only 39 when we first meet him. He keeps to himself, doesn't expend any energy with his business, and is very unhappy and unfulfilled. We watch him grow and blossom as he gradually lets people into his life. Even though he never becomes a bubbly outgoing personality, he has a quiet subtle humor that makes him definitely likable. Amelia and Maya are the 2 women in his life who allow us to share what they see in him, making us like him even more. And his friend Lambiase and Ismay are other important and enjoyable secondary characters.
I like the format of starting each chapter with a brief summary of a book that will loosely represent what's happening in their lives. The book loses a star because I am mostly unfamiliar with the books referred to (my fault, not that of the author), but it left me feeling as though I were missing something that I would have enjoyed if only I had read the books.

There are a lot of quotable moments in this book, but my favorite is, "Why is any one book different from any other book? They are different, A.J. decides, because they are. We have to look inside many. We have to believe. We agree to be disappointed sometimes so that we can be exhilarated every now and again." ...more

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May 06, 2014 jingles rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2014

The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin

May 22, 2014
Rating: ★★★★
What an emotional book! A.J. Fikry’s life has been in a downward spiral since the loss of his wife and the theft of a rare Edgar Allan Poe book. A.J. has really tried to put his life back together, but he just can’t seem to find his way. Then something amazing happens. A little two year old girl is abandoned and left in his bookstore, along with a note. What at first seems to be a hardship for A.J., quickly turns into somet ...more

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Mar 13, 2015 Catsalive rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2015

I read The Collected Works of A.J. Fikry , which makes more sense than The Storied Life..., considering A.J.'s analogy: 'We are not quite novels. We are not quite short stories. In the end, we are collected works.'

A lovely, little book. Very easy & quick to read. What a lucky man to own & run a bookshop in a small town - my daydreams can consist of such a thing. A.J. is a cranky, crusty, cynical, middle-aged man, with very particular ideas of the type of books he wants in his shop:

'... How ab I read The Collected Works of A.J. Fikry , which makes more sense than The Storied Life..., considering A.J.'s analogy: 'We are not quite novels. We are not quite short stories. In the end, we are collected works.'

A lovely, little book. Very easy & quick to read. What a lucky man to own & run a bookshop in a small town - my daydreams can consist of such a thing. A.J. is a cranky, crusty, cynical, middle-aged man, with very particular ideas of the type of books he wants in his shop:

'... How about I tell you what I don't like? I don't like postmodernism, post-apocalyptic settings, post-mortem narrators or magic realism. I rarely respons to supposedly clever formal devices, multiple fonts, pictures where they shouldn't be - basically gimmicks of any kind. I find literary fiction about the Holocaust or any other major world tragedy to be distasteful - non-fiction only, please. I do not like genre mash-ups a la the literary detective novel or the literary fantasy. Literary should be literary, and genre should be genre, and crossbreeding rarely results in anything satisfying. I do not like children's books, especially ones with orphans, and I prefer not to clutter my shelves with young adult. I do not like anything over four hundred pages or under one hundred fifty pages. I am repulsed by ghostwritten novels by reality television stars, celebrity picture books, sports memoirs, movie tie-in editions, novelty items and - I imagine this goes without saying - vampires. I rarely stock debuts, chick lit, poetry or translations. I would prefer not to stock series, but the demands of my pocketbook require me to. For your part, you needn't tell me about the "next big series" until it is ensconced on the New York Times Best Sellers list. Above all, Ms Loman, I find slim literary memoirs about little old men whose little old wives have died from cancer to be absolutely intolerable. No matter how well written the sales rep claims they are...'

His wife was the people-person, & A.J. finds it difficult to relate to people at all until he is forced to by the circumstances of a major change in his life - the arrival of a two-year-old girl left in his shop. The book becomes a romance - love for his new daughter & love for his new wife, as well as love for books & a well-told tale. I found A.J. more interesting when he was a crank.

It's such a very nice story that I'm sorry that it was interrupted by the melodrama of glioblastoma multiforme. This bit of soap opera brought my rating down, although it was still a very pleasant way to while away the afternoon.

I agree with A.J. on 'the necessity of encountering stories at precisely the right time in our lives', as there are books I can now read that I couldn't when younger & others I can no longer read.

I don't know why Zevin went with the name Lambiase - I kept calling him lambaste in my head & picturing in my mind someone being criticsed whilst basting a leg of lamb. It must have been the use of Lamb to the Slaughter on the first page that put the roast in my head... and now I'm hungry.

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Dec 27, 2014 Nell rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, gr-read, awards-finalists, z2015

Adored this story of a cantankerous bookseller who opens his heart to an abandoned child. This is a book lovers book set in an island community. The challenges the characters face are mentioned but are mostly 'off screen' because the author skips ahead in the next chapter. The disconnected pieces and lives all connect in some way in later chapters. It's a satisfying read. ...more

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Apr 05, 2014 Karen rated it really liked it

Shelves: j-ya

I was really looking forward to reading this book as I read Zevin's Elsewhere a few years back and really enjoyed it. The Storied Life... did not disappoint. As nearly always, there were aspects that were far-fetched or hard to justify, i.e. Maya is a bit too precocious for her age and I had a tough time with the law enforcement book club, but all in all it was a nice story with some interesting plot twists and grounded, likable characters. Is it really so bad that all the loose ends are tied up ...more

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