The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry

By: Gabrielle Zevin

Narrated by: Scott Brick

Length: 7 hrs and 2 mins

Publisher's summary

The irascible A. J. Fikry, owner of Island Books - the only bookstore on Alice Island - has already lost his wife. Now his most prized possession, a rare book, has been stolen from right under his nose in the most embarrassing of circumstances. The store itself, it seems, will be next to go.

One night upon closing, he discovers a toddler in his children’s section with a note from her mother pinned to her Elmo doll: I want Maya to grow up in a place with books and among people who care about such kinds of things. I love her very much, but I can no longer take care of her. A search for Maya’s mother, A. J.’s rare book, and good childcare advice ensues, but it doesn’t take long for the locals to notice the transformation of both bookstore and owner, something of particular interest to the lovely yet eccentric Knightley Press sales rep, Amelia Loman, who makes the arduous journey to Alice Island thrice each year to pitch her books to the cranky owner.

©2014 Gabrielle Zevin. Recorded by arrangement with Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, a division of Workman Publishing Company, Inc. (P)2014 (p) 2014 HighBridge Company

Critic reviews

"Zevin is a deft writer, clever and witty, and her affection for the book business is obvious." ( Publishers Weekly)

Be right back out to buy a hard copy

I read this book for a book club. I had never heard of it. I didn't know what it was even about but I trusted my book club. Luckily it was on sale at Audible for $4.95. I trust them but a good deal is even better.

Then I read it or it was read to me to be accurate. It kept my attention which few books of this sort do. I prefer nonfiction, thrillers and sci-fi. So this was outside my normal genres.

The first part was a heartbreaking setup the live of a widower and his little bookstore. It did get melodramatic and a little predictable in the second part and completely off the wall in the final part. However...I loved it.

I loved it so much that I didn't go to my book club meeting. I didn't want their opinions (good or bad) to spoil my reading. Although it had faults, it also had wonderful truths. It had made me feel. When I was finished I felt something more than just a check on my to-do list and a sense of accomplishment. This book was like a good movie. You know the kind where you talk about it for days afterward until your whole family gets tired of you.

I would recommend this to anyone who reads on the regular for all the cute references and just maybe it will have an affect on you too. No promises, but I hope so it is a good feeling when you find a special book.

The narrator was VERY good. He did give a dramatic read if you don't care for those. The Audible sample gives an excellent sample of his delivery.

I am going to buy myself a hard copy too.

A Big Dose of Feel Good

Bookstore Proprietor A.J. Fikry has definite tastes in books:

“I do not like postmodernism, postapocalyptic settings, postmortem narrators, or magic
realism. I rarely respond to supposedly clever formal devices…genre mash-ups. Literary
fiction about the Holocaust [is] distasteful -- non-fiction only, please. Literature should be
literature, and genre should be genre, and crossbreeding rarely results in anything
satisfying. I do not like children's books, especially ones with orphans, and I prefer to not
clutter my shelves with Young Adult. I do not like anything over 400 pages, or under 150
pages."

He goes on to despise: ghostwritten novels, celebrity memoirs, debuts, chick-lit, poetry, or translations..."this goes without saying--vampires." But, he says, he likes "everything else."

Fikry is a delightfully cantankerous man, a widower, satisfied with drinking his days away while the bookstore withers and dies. That is, until his nest egg, a rare copy of Poe's poetry, is stolen and he realizes he'll be making a living at selling books longer than he had intended. The theft sets off a series of events that broadens his lonely world, and tastes in books. It's like watching the Grinch's heart grow three sizes. Much of his personality is dispensed through his comments on known works of literature, and through little pearls of wisdom he passes along. We find out that in spite of his reading discriminations, Fikry is no misanthropic curmudgeon at all.

The setting for this easy-breezy-love-song-to-reading is the kind of endangered species that is the destination find for any traveling bibliophile, a book-peruser's fantasy -- and very fitting because the book has a fantasy, fairy-tale like quality to it. Fikry's store is the lower floor of the little home he used to share with his wife, located on Alice island. I imagined: a charming cottage type with wood floors and braid rugs, a fireplace with overstuffed chairs to curl up in and test run a few books, a little bell over the front door. The sign over the shop reads:
"No Man Is an Island; Every Book Is a World" and I think most avid readers agree with the sentiment.

At one point, Fikry offers this bit of wisdom:

“You know everything you need to know about a person from the answer to the question: What is your favorite book?” -- I'm still trying to choose just one.

For anyone that loves to read, can't imagine ever being without a book, lists reading as their favorite pastime, this might be your answer (or at least one of them) to Fikry's question.

Scott Brick's narration is a (controversial) matter of taste, like oysters or mushrooms or okra...you like it, or you really really don't. I've listened to books where his voice was well suited for the narration, but here it didn't convey the kind of warmth and charm needed to tell this story.

A Literary Lovely!

Well written with strong character development. Some mystery well seasoned with tangled twists keeps you tuned in. The exploration of why we read and why some gifted persons write is also worthy of note.
"Bookies" will love the constant mentions of other books and authors. It pushes you to jot these down since finding other worthwhile authors and reads is a never ending quest for those of us who enjoy reading.
Cheers, Ken

Must Read/Listen for Book Lovers

This was an enjoyable listen beginning and end, the middle got a little boring for me. The ending was actually a surprise that I didn't see coming, so I am glad that when I got bored I didn't stop listening. As readers we all love a good bookstore, and as people we all have our story. This book combined love of books, love of family and friends with interesting characters and a decent storyline.

Charming.

A wry, charming story about a bookstore and much much more. And for once, Scott Brick didn't ruin it even though his narration didn't add anything. With another narrator it might've earned 5 stars.

Gently gripping

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes. Some of my friends would love it. You might like it, too. I enjoyed the book because of the simplicity of the story, the changes the characters underwent during the plot's unfolding, and the main character, A.J., was so thoroughly a bookseller.

What did you like best about this story?

The characters' development and changes

What about Scott Brick’s performance did you like?

It was low-keyed and very much in keeping with the main character.

If you could take any character from The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry out to dinner, who would it be and why?

The police chief, definitely. He undergoes so many changes and so much growth, and I do love a happy ending.

Any additional comments?

All the characters in this book were interesting, three dimensional people. I would probably like them all. IRL, I mean!

A book with a heart

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes, it's a book about life that takes reality and makes it enjoyable while not patronizing the reader. I've already told everyone in my family to read this amazing story.

Any additional comments?

I loved the narrators take on the various personalities that infuse this novel. It was a pleasure to listen to and I was sad when it ended. Listen to this book, you'll be glad you did.

Sorry to see it end

Someone in an earlier review used the word cozy. That's exactly how I would have described this book. A cozy is a term used to describe a mystery but it is a word appropriate here. This was so well written. I found myself hoping that the author was really as well read as her characters. And I felt the same angst at AJ regarding the whole ebook phenomenon. I feel so guilty about my gigantic ebook library.
This is such a wonderful story. I loved every minute of it. I am a huge Scott Brick fan and unlike a previous reviewer, I thought he was the perfect voice, with a dry sense of humor and a slight amount of condescension for this story. I found the whole experience delightful, loved all the characters, and was sorry to see it end.

Makes Me Want to be a “Book Person”.

This is a simple book with great characters. It has all the feels. Most of all it talks about and presents books in such an honest and uplifting way that I’m am inspired to read and talk about differently after reading it.

If you want to escape.. Have I got a book for you!

It went beyond my expectations.. I became apart of the characters lives.. As if I grew up on the island and personally knew them all !