Storied Life of A.J. Fikry

Gabrielle Zevin

★ ★ ★ ★

What a wonderful story... I liked the twist & turns, I liked most all of the characters, I liked the writing..... I liked the notes about books in relation to life that begin each chapter.

Blurb: "AJ Fikry's life is not what he expected it to be. His wife has died, his bookstore is failing, and his prized possession, a rare collection of Poe poems has been stolen. He is isolating himself from all the people of Alice Island and from Amelia, the Knightley Press sales rep who refuses to be deterred by AJ's bad attitude. And then a mysterious "package?" appears at the bookstore that gives AJ the ability to see everything anew. It doesn't take long for the locals to notice the change, or for that determined sales rep, Amelia, to see her curmudgeonly client in a new light; or for the wisdom of all those books to become again the lifeblood of AJ's world."

But for me the above blurb isn't exactly what the story was about. For me it was about: love, hope, redemption, and the coming back to life of one who had long ago given up.