{"id":24942,"date":"2014-10-12T21:13:16","date_gmt":"2014-10-13T01:13:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=24942"},"modified":"2014-10-12T21:13:16","modified_gmt":"2014-10-13T01:13:16","slug":"review-of-the-storied-life-of-a-j-fikry-by-gabrielle-zevin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=24942","title":{"rendered":"Review of The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry, by Gabrielle Zevin"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"storied_life_of_aj_fikry_large\"<\/a>The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry<\/em><\/p>\n

by Gabrielle Zevin<\/p>\n

read by Scott Brick<\/p>\n

HighBridge, 2014. 7 hours on 6 compact discs.
\nStarred Review<\/p>\n

After listening to the first CD of this audiobook, I was strongly tempted to quit. Put the whole book away. The book doesn\u2019t even begin with A. J. Fikry. It begins with a woman who\u2019s a publisher representative. She takes the difficult journey to Alice Island in Massachusetts to meet with the owner of Island Books. He hasn\u2019t read his email and isn\u2019t expecting her. In fact, he hadn\u2019t realized that her predecessor is dead.<\/p>\n

He is curmudgeonly and terribly rude to her. After she leaves, we see him get out the rare book that he\u2019s counting on to pay for retiring from the bookselling business. He drinks until he passes out and imagines his recently-killed wife helping him to bed.<\/p>\n

In the morning, his rare book, the one worth a fortune, is gone. The same policeman helps him who investigated his wife\u2019s car accident.<\/p>\n

Depressing story, right? I wasn\u2019t crazy about the reader, either. It wasn\u2019t terribly easy to tell who was talking by the voice.<\/p>\n

But I continued into the second disc\u2026 and someone left a baby in the bookstore.<\/p>\n

The baby changes A. J.\u2019s life. In good ways. And this book about A. J.\u2019s life ends up being delightful.<\/p>\n

There are some dramatic plot twists thrown in. Perhaps the story isn\u2019t entirely likely. But it has plenty of heart.<\/p>\n

We see A. J.\u2019s daughter grow to be a teenager, with the story focusing in on different crucial times in their shared lives. She\u2019s a girl who loves books and reading. They are my kind of people.<\/p>\n

By the end of the book, we\u2019ve got a tribute to independent bookstores, and how they give a community its heart.<\/p>\n

highbridgeaudio.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Buy from Amazon.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Find this review on Sonderbooks<\/a> at: www.sonderbooks.com\/Fiction\/storied_life_of_aj_fikry.html<\/a><\/p>\n

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.<\/p>\n

Source: This review is based on a library audiobook from Fairfax County Public Library.<\/p>\n

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.<\/p>\n

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