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

Reviewed by Kristin

Introvert A.J. Fikry runs Island Books out of a cottage on Alice Island. He started the bookstore with his late wife Nic, who he lost suddenly in an automobile accident. The island is a lovely summer getaway and A.J. grudgingly caters to the tourists, but that doesn’t mean he has to be happy about it. He also has advanced degrees in English literature, so he prefers to avoid the dreck that appeals to the masses. Vampires. Ugh. Nic was much better at dealing with popular literature (and people) than A.J.

A.J. is particularly annoyed when a newly hired book sales representative from Knightley Press shows up to present the winter catalog for his perusal. This young woman, Amelia Loman, doesn’t know his tastes or preferences. She tries to talk him into reading a galley of The Late Bloomer, a memoir from an octogenarian man who married late in life and became a widow just two years later. Hmmph. A.J. just throws the copy onto a stack of many other unread advance copies.

Right as A.J. is leaning into his crankiness, someone leaves something in the bookstore, and it changes his life.

I absolutely loved the way this story unfolded. Yes, there were some predictable storylines, but I enjoyed them nonetheless. This is not just a romance, but a story of lives woven together. A.J.’s sister-in-law Ismay, her writer husband Daniel, police chief Lambiase, and others form a community which A.J. comes to realize he is a part of, whether he likes it or not. And Amelia may have been annoying to A.J. at first, but she grows on him.

Throughout are mentions of literature. Tamerlane, Edgar Allan Poe’s first (anonymously) published work, plays a big part as A.J. had discovered a rare copy at an estate sale. Island Books presents a lovely literary backdrop so that the author can title-drop books from The Monster at the End of the book to The Time Traveler’s Wife. After all, it is a very storied life that A.J. is living.

This book came out in 2014 but I just recently discovered Gabrielle Zevin, so I’m catching up. And while writing this, I also discovered that there is a movie version from 2022, so I now have plans for the weekend. Then on to the next Zevin book….

Nevermore's Favorite Fiction: Buster the Dog, Jana Bibi, The Bookseller & more

Buster’s Diaries:  The True Story of a Dog and his Man by Roy Hattersley is pretty much as the title describes it.  Buster is a Staffordshire terrier/ German Shepherd mix who is adopted from a shelter by The Man. The setting is London in the 1990s, and is based on Hattersley’s real dog that ran afoul of Queen Elizabeth II by when he was accused of killing a goose in St. James Park.  The “memoir” is charming, clever, and sometimes quite shrewd in its observations. Our reviewer said it made for an enjoyable couple of hours.

Jana Bibi’s Excellent Fortunes by Betsy Woodman is a delightful tale of a British woman who has lived most of her life in India.  Her son is anxious for her to come to his home in Scotland, a prospect she finds rather depressing but her teaching job will be ending soon and she will need to find a place to go.  News of an inheritance in a rural area of India sends her in search of a new home.  Delightful characters and the 1960s Indian setting made this a very appealing book, recommended by our reviewer.

Tumbleweeds by Leila Meacham follows the stories of three friends in a small Texas town. Trey Don and John are in sixth grade when orphan Cathy Ann Benson moves to town. The three of them form a strong bond, but as they mature, emotions become more complicated.  Then in high school, a prank goes awry and their lives spin off into very different directions.  This is a glorious soap opera, full of drama and plot twists.

Hugo Marston also hailed from Texas, but the former FBI profiler is now head of security for the American Embassy in Paris.  While buying two first editions from his friend Max, the elderly bookseller is kidnapped by at gunpoint.  Hugo finds the French police less than proactive, so he calls in an old friend from the CIA to help solve the case.  The Bookseller  is Mark Pryor’s debut, but is supposed to be the first in a series, and our reviewer found it promising.

Blaze of Glory is the latest Civil War novel by Jeff Shaara. Set during the Battle of Shiloh, Shaara has the knack of bringing history to life by letting the reader glimpse the lives of the officers and enlisted men alike.  This is the first of a new trilogy.  Shaara’s first novel was Gods and Generals, which was a sort of sequel to his father Michael Shaara’s classic Killer Angels.