The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry

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

Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: Algonquin Books;(December 2, 2014)
ISBN-10: 1616204516

 

From Booklist

In this sweet, uplifting homage to bookstores, Zevin perfectly captures the joy of connecting people and books. A. J. Fikry, the cantankerous owner of Island Books, is despondent after losing his beloved wife and witnessing the ever-declining number of sales at his small, quirky bookstore. In short order, he loses all patience with the new Knightly Press sales rep, his prized rare edition of Tamerlane is stolen, and someone leaves a baby at his store. That baby immediately steals A. J.’s heart and unleashes a dramatic transformation. Suddenly, the picture-book section is overflowing with new titles, and the bookstore becomes home to a burgeoning number of book clubs. With business on the uptick and love in his heart, A. J. finds himself becoming an essential new part of his longtime community, going so far as to woo the aforementioned sales rep (who loves drinking Queequeg cocktails at the Pequod Restaurant). Filled with interesting characters, a deep knowledge of bookselling, wonderful critiques of classic titles, and very funny depictions of book clubs and author events, this will prove irresistible to book lovers everywhere. --Joanne Wilkinson

This is exactly what the title tells you.  It's a story.  No murders. No big adventures. Just a story of a part of a man's life who owns a small bookstore. ("bookstore" was the keyword to perking my interest)

It was a nice read.  Calming. Relaxing. A bit of a love story. (there's more than one kind of love). A background story. Interesting friends and relatives.  Not necessarily a book I would normally read.  But I liked it anyway.  There was one part I didn't like.. but it's a small book and you wouldn't want to know everything should you decided to give it a read.  For the most part I found myself engaged in the story...and I can't say that for everything I read.