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The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry

Gabrielle Zevin

Start date: July 12, 2014

Finish date: July 21, 2014

Discussion: Books of the Month

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What Members Thought

Jan 15, 2019 Trisha rated it liked it

“You know everything you need to know about a person from the answer to the question, What is your favorite book?”

This was cute and quick read. A.J. seems lonely as the book starts - living alone, running a mildly failing book store after having lost his wife to a tragic accident. He's pretty grumpy and shut off from those around him - which is odd and especially tough in a very small island community.

But soon he loses something, gains another and really transforms his life. It's all about him f ...more

14 likes · Like · see review

Oct 31, 2018 Lesa Divine rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorite-list, read-it, library, 2018

4.5 🌟
I enjoy reading a book about books. Enjoy the reference to other books and authors. Got me wanting to check out some authors I've never heard of.

A.J a bookseller on a small island. He's lost his wife months before and he's a miserable man. He drinks himself to sleep at night. He's rude to people.
But one day things really change when a expensive book of his comes up missing. But then days later he's given a child. Not just any child a smart child very intelligent for her age and her mom want ...more

3 likes · Like · see review

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

3 likes · Like · see review

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.

...more

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May 08, 2014 Patti rated it it was amazing

Let me just start out by saying I will read any book that is about a bookstore or books. I love them! So when I read about this book I knew right away that I had to read it.

A.J. Fikrey is a widower, a bookstore owner, and a drunk. He is on the verge of bankruptcy when within a span of a few days his life changes dramatically. He discovers that his rare copy of Poe's Tamerlane, worth a lot of money has been stolen, and two year old Maya is left on his doorstep. Fikrey decides he must keep Maya as ...more

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Sep 09, 2014 Rachel N. rated it really liked it

A.J. Fikry owns the only bookstore on Angel Island. He is grieving and depressed after the death of his wife in an auto accident when someone leaves him a gift in his store that changes his life. I loved the characters and the descriptions of books and bookselling. I found some parts near the end of the book really took away from the main story for me so that's why it's not a 5 star read in my case. I still highly recommend the book. ...more

Like · see review