The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry

Posted on 20 September 2018 by Gabrielle Zevin

As surprising as it is moving, The Storied Life of A J Fikry is an unforgettable tale of transformation and second chances, an irresistible affirmation of why we read, and why we love.We are not quite novels.We are not quite short stories.In the end, we are collected works.A J Fikry s life is not at all what he expected it to be His wife has died his bookstore is experiencing the worst sales in its history and now his prized possession, a rare collection of Poe poems, has been stolen Slowly but surely, he is isolating himself from all the people of Alice Island from Chief Lambiase, the well intentioned police officer who s always felt kindly toward him from Ismay, his sister in law, who is hell bent on saving A.J from his dreary self from Amelia, the lovely and idealistic if eccentric Knightley Press sales rep who persists in taking the ferry to Alice Island, refusing to be deterred by A.J s bad attitude Even the books in his store have stopped holding pleasure for him These days, he can only see them as a sign of a world that is changing too rapidly.And then a mysterious package appears at the bookstore It s a small package, though large in weight an unexpected arrival that gives A.J the opportunity to make his life over, the ability to see everything anew It doesn t take long for the locals to notice the change overcoming A.J., for the determined sales rep Amelia to see her curmudgeonly client in a new light, for the wisdom of all those books to become again the lifeblood of A.J s world Or for everything to twist again into a version of his life that he didn t see coming. 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Fikry [ Author ] Gabrielle Zevin [ Kindle ePUB or eBook ] – kino-fada.fr 5 We read to know we re not alone We read because we are alone We read and we are not alone We are not alone.Once in a while a book comes along that captures your heart and soul where the characters become like friends and family, and a part of you wants to pack a bag and travel to that magical place forever At the start you just know it is going to be something special by the end you feel physical pain knowing that these people are gone from your lifeOne day you may pick it back up to...I m starting to think I m the only bibliophile on earth who didn t care for this book After everything I d read about it, I didn t think it could possibly fail to be fantastic For me, though, it tips way too far into chick lit and YA territory, and succumbs too often and too early to schmaltz and melodrama.Now, there are certainly some good points A.J himself, an independent bookseller and just coping widower, is a delightfully irascible character with some decided literary prejudices that I m starting to think I m the only bibliophile on earth who didn t care for this book After everything I d read about it, I didn t think it could possibly fail to be fantastic For me, though, it tips way too far into chick lit and YA territory, and succumbs too often and too early to schmaltz and melodrama.Now, there are certainly some good points A.J himself, an independent bookseller and just coping widower, is a delightfully irascible character with some decided literary prejudices that I can certainly affirm no series, no genre mash ups, no celebrity memoirs, and please, dear God no vampires Zevin s literary references range from the classical to the contemporary and are bang on trend e.g Alice Munro and David Foster Wallace.I truly enjoyed the first two chapters, with the quaint mystery of the stolen Poe first edition, and as a believ... Every word the right one and exactly where it should be That s basically the highest compliment I can give and I am truly glad that it didn t took me so long to read it The words you can t find, you borrow Maybe I could find the words but honestly, that first quote from this wonderful book was the right way to compliment it And to do that, well I quote a second one too And you will find several quotes in this review since honestly, this is one of the most quotable novels that I Every word the right one and exactly where...There ain t nobody in the world like book people It s a bit embarrassing to admit how emotional this book made me I m not even a fan of Zevin s work I quite liked the concept behind Elsewhere but not the execution, and I pretty much hated All These Things I ve Done But this book is just so warm and funny and bittersweet It speaks to the thing inside me that has always loved books, will always love books, and has allowed my life to be swept in certain directions by my love for literatureThere ain t nobody in the world like book people It s a bit embarrassing to admit how emotional this book made me I m not even a fan of Zevin s work I quite liked the concept behind Elsewhere but not the execution, and I pretty much hated All These Things I ve Done But this book is just so warm and funny and bittersweet It speaks to the thing inside me that has always loved books, will always love books, and has allowed my life to be swept in certain directions by my love for literature.A.J Fikry is one of my favourite kinds of characters he s cynical and grumpy, but simultaneously witty, clever, funny and lovable This is es... A town isn t a town without a bookstore.while it s true that this is the literary equivalent of a stone skipped over a pond, it s a pretty damn charming stone reading about other booknerds, even when they are better described as bookcranks, is delightful to me A Novel Bookstore, Salamander, Mr Penumbra s 24 Hour Bookstore, etc are among my favorite books are they the best books ever written nah but they have characters whose sensibilities are so close to my own, it s hard not to feel a lit A town isn t a town without a bookstore.while it s true that this is the literary equivalent of a stone skipped over a pond, it s a pretty damn charming stone reading about other booknerds, even when they are better described as bookcranks, is delightful to me A Novel Bookstore, Salamander, Mr ...This is the most precious, adorable, cutesy wootsey bunch of tripe I have ever read in my life How is this book so popular It s clich after clich after clich ad nauseam Ugh.A grumpy grumpy bookseller who is a widower leads a sad and lonely Scrooge like life until a chubby, perfect, articulate, beautiful baby is left in his book shop and teaches him to love and live again Excuse me while I go vomit in the corner Then to top it all off view spoiler he gets brain cancer and his loving ne This is the most precious, adorable, cutesy wootsey bunch of tripe I have ever read in my life How is this book so popular It s clich after clich after clich ad nauseam Ugh.A grumpy grumpy bookseller who is a widower leads a sad and lonely Scr...Thank you to the publisher for an advance reading copy.I shouldn t have read this A book marketed as heartwarming is never for me But I read it anyway because I love books about books so much, and it sounded so good Based on the book s description and marketing, I know that it s meant to really appeal to book clubs and librarians and bookstores, and I think the author is doing everything humanly possible to kiss up to those groups without delivering anything with any depth I don t think it Thank you to the publisher for an advance reading copy.I shouldn t have read this A book marketed as heartwarming is never for me But I read it anyway because I love books about books so much, and it sounded so good Based on the book s description and marketing, I know that it s meant to really appeal to book clubs and librarians and bookstores, and I think the author is doing everything humanly possible to kiss up to those...There s joy in my heart and a skip in my step today after closing the last page of this jewel of a book A must for book lovers and booksellers alike, The Storied Life of A.J Fikry is an affirmation of the love of books and reading and how they meld lives together A.J Fikry, is the owner of the independent bookstore, Island Books Fikry is grieving the loss of his wife, sales are down, a rare book worth scads of money is stolen from the shop leaving him irritable, and irritating Frankly he s There s joy in my heart and a skip in my step today after closing the last page of this jewel of a book A must for book lovers and booksellers alike, The Storied Life of A.J Fikry is an affirmation of the love of books and reading and how they meld lives together A.J Fikry, is the owner of the independent bookstore, Island Books Fikry is grieving the loss of his wife, sales are down, a rare book worth scads of money is stolen from the shop leaving him irritable, and irritating Frankly he s depressed and is turningandinward, cutting himself offthan the normal is...I love getting books from Netgalley You never know what you are going to get It might be a complete dud or it might be something like this book A book that sweeps you up A book that makes you wantI sit up tonight reading this because I just couldn t stop AJ Fikry is a snarky man who owns a bookstore Every bookworm s dream, and he is a major bookwormDespite the fact that he loves books and owns a bookstore, AJ does not particulary care for writersAJ has a rare book worth enou I love getting books from Netgalley You never know what you are going to get It might be a complete dud or it might be something like this book A book that sweeps you up A book that makes you wantI sit up tonight reading this because I just couldn t stop AJ Fikry is a snarky man who owns a bookstore Every bookworm s dream, and he is a major bookwormDespite the fact that he loves books and owns a bookstore, AJ does not particulary care for writersAJ has a rare book worth enough money that he could ...This was really lovely It was perfectly written seriously, Gabrielle Zevin has mastered using the English language , and heartfelt It was a little sappy at times, but it felt appropriate I loved the span of this book over a decade of fascinating stuff happened And I loved the setting a book store on a tiny island I loved the emphasis on books and love and trying to be a good person I m not giving a 5 5 simply because I don t think it did anything particularly new, and didn t make This was really lovely It was perfectly written seriously, Gabrielle Zevin has mastered using the English language , and heartfelt It was a little sappy at times, but it felt appropriate I loved the span of this book over a decade of fascinatin...

English
20 September 2018

Gabrielle Zevin