Nevermore: Good Girl, A.J. Fikry, Broken, and Knightly Quest

Summary by Meygan

First we discussed The Good Girl by Mary Kubica. For those of you who liked Gone Girl, you may want to check out this one! Mia is a daughter of a judge and even though she has been born into money, she doesn’t feel loved. Mia decides that she wants to be an inner-city art teacher and moves out from her parent’s house. One night, Mia has a date with a guy she has been seeing off and on. When he stands her up, Mia hits it off with a stranger who ends up kidnapping her. Our Nevermore reader said the book is really good and the ending is great. She wonders how much of what the protagonist is telling readers is true though. She stated that she hated Amy in Gone Girl, and while she originally hated a character in The Good Girl, she ending up liking him. 

Next was Gabrielle Zevin’s The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry. A.J. Fikry is a man who has just lost his wife to cancer. He owns a book store, which the sales are plummeting. When a 25 month old child shows up at his door, A.J. isn’t sure what to do but he has a feeling that his life is about to change. Our Nevermore reader enjoyed this book, even though she doesn’t believe that a 25 month old in reality would be able to speak as well as the child in the book.  She said that the book reads like a sitcom and there are sad and sweet parts. 

A few of our Nevermore members have read Broken by Karin Fossum. Well known for her mystery novels, this novel is a bit different than the rest. A woman is awakened by a man who claims he is ready for her to write his story. For you see, the man is a character the woman has created in her mind. The woman names him and begins writing his story. They argue about what will happen to his character. This book was highly enjoyed and when asked if the story was confusing, one reader responded, “Not at all.” There are three stories happening within the book—the character’s story, the author’s story, and the main subject of the story. He stated that the author is good at developing personality as well. 

Also discussed was The Knightly Quest and Other Stories by Tennessee Williams. This book contains one novella and four short stories. He said there are no heroes in the story and it is slightly sci-fi. The stories aren’t all bright and sunshiney but the stories aren’t all gloomy either. One of the stories is about a man who returns home to have his travels funded by his parents. However, he returns to find that his brother is in cahoots with the military. Our Nevermore reader liked the book.