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


frankie

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I've just read this novel and I thought it was a wonderful read :wub: Has anyone else read the novel? Here's the synopsis from Amazon: 

 

 A. J. Fikry, the irascible owner of Island Books, has recently endured some tough years: his wife has died, his bookstore is experiencing the worst sales in its history, and his prized possession--a rare edition of Poe poems--has been stolen. Over time, he has given up on people, and even the books in his store, instead of offering solace, are yet another reminder of a world that is changing too rapidly. Until a most unexpected occurrence gives him the chance to make his life over and see things anew.  

 

Gabrielle Zevin’s enchanting novel is a love letter to the world of books--an irresistible affirmation of why we read, and why we love. 

 

 

It was really a book that I came by accidentally on Goodreads, it wasn't recommended to me by anyone I know. But it was a book about books and people so of course it made its way to my wishlist :giggle: It was very much a book I wanted to love, and fortunately I did find myself sucked into the novel right from the start and loved every page of it :)

Edited by frankie
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I've not heard of it until now, but it sounds very interesting, but having a look for it on UK bookshop websites, I think it's called The Collected Works of A.J. Fikry over here, and it's only recently been published in hardback (back in March) so it's still quite expensive at the moment.  I think I'll wait for the paperback to be published and the price to come down, but the reviews I've seen of it (including yours :)) are largely positive, so to my wish list it has been added. :smile2:

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Yes, the UK title is different, and having heard about it after reading the novel I see where that comes from :) 

 

I didn't know it's still available only as a hardback in the UK. I would've thought that since there's already a Finnish translation, everyone in English speaking countries had every form of the book to choose from :shrug: I guess we were really early with this novel over here, and I'm much obliged for that :smile2: 

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I loved three other books that I read by the author and recommend those, so once the paperback is out I'd love to read this book! Thanks for telling us about it, Frankie :).

 

EDIT: It turns out it was already on my wishlist :P.

Edited by Athena
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I loved three other books that I read by the author and recommend those, so once the paperback is out I'd love to read this book! Thanks for telling us about it, Frankie :).

 

EDIT: It turns out it was already on my wishlist :P.

 

Of course you already have it on your wishlist, your wishlist is massive :D 

 

I'm definitely keeping my eye out for Zevin's other books, too, good to hear you've enjoyed them too! :) 

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  • 5 months later...

I just finished reading this book. It was wonderful! Thanks so much for the recommendation, Frankie.  :friends3:

 

Did you think that Fikry was written to be a little older than he actually was? Maybe it's because he was a bit grumpy (at least initially) that I felt he was older than he was. Does that make sense? He was like a stereotypical 'grumpy old man'. Anyway, it was only an initial reaction, and it soon passed. I loved all of the characters and the plot, even though it made me cry (you know why).

 

I'll definitely re-read this in the future.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I just finished reading this book. It was wonderful! Thanks so much for the recommendation, Frankie.  :friends3:

I'm so psyched that you loved it! :exc: Wohoo! :smile2:

 

 

Did you think that Fikry was written to be a little older than he actually was? Maybe it's because he was a bit grumpy (at least initially) that I felt he was older than he was. Does that make sense? He was like a stereotypical 'grumpy old man'. Anyway, it was only an initial reaction, and it soon passed. I loved all of the characters and the plot, even though it made me cry (you know why).

That definitely makes sense. I'm not sure I picked that up myself when I was reading the book, at least consciously, but I know what you mean.

 

I also loved all the references to books :smile2:

 

 

I'll definitely re-read this in the future.

It's definitely re-reading material!

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