The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry

by Gabrielle Zevin

[Terri M. LeBlanc]

Beach read alert!

or

I’m sick and don’t have much in the way of focus alert!

I borrowed The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin from my sister-in-law on Labor Day weekend. It’s a book I’ve heard quite a bit about and certainly wanted to give it a shot because it was about a bookstore and a man who loves books. I can admire that.

I will admit that I read this book while I was suffering from a cold. It doesn’t have much in the way of deep revelations about life. It’s a lighter adult fiction read. The characters are fairly two-dimensional and predictable, but I did enjoy “A.J. Fikry.” Perhaps the cold medicine took over my brain, but by the end of the story I wanted to vacation on Alice Island and spend hours in Island Books. It sounded like my kind of place.

Sometimes, I guess, one needs a lighter read. For those times there are books like The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry that fill that space. You can find comfort in the corners of that familiar bookshop in your mind and forget that you are stuffed up and feeling like crap.

Don’t read “A.J. Fikry” if you are looking for something revolutionary and life changing. Read it if you are looking for something light, familiar and comfortable. It certainly fits that bill. And I’ll see you on Alice Island soon. Meet me for lunch at Pequod’s.


This review was originally posted on Second Run Reviews