Pages


Tuesday, July 1, 2014

Book Review - The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin


The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry

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

Not something I'd have picked up by myself (title and cover both aren't very... pick-worthy... ) but thanks to other bloggers, I'm glad I read this :)

I bet pretty much all of you would enjoy reading this charming story - it's about an independent bookstore owner (A.J. Fikry) and his family and friends... and people who love to read! There are quite a few references to other books and authors in the book, including Jeffery Deaver lol :)

I thought the ending was a little quiet, but I suppose it is fitting to A.J.'s personality. I thought I'd get a bit more emotional when reading this, but I didn't.

3.75 Stars but bumped to 4 Stars because it leaves an impression, more so than other novels I'd read this year.

Some quotes -

You're a good reader, and you'll probably see it coming. (Is a twist less satisfying if you know it's coming? Is a twist that you can't predict symptomatic of bad construction? These are things to consider when writing.) (p160)

We read to know we're not alone. We read because we are alone. We read and we are not alone. We are not alone. (p249)

We are not quite novels... We are not quite short stories... In the end, we are collected works.. He has read enough to know there are no collections where each story is perfect. Some hits. Some misses. If you're lucky, a standout. And in the end, people only really remember the standouts anyway, and they don't remember those for very long. (p249)





Note - The book was borrowed from the library.



All reviews and posts are copyrighted by Christa @ Mental Foodie. Please do not use or reprint them without written permission.

5 comments:

  1. Love the alone not alone quote :-)

    ReplyDelete
  2. This book was such a wonderful treat! It wasn't on my radar either until everyone started reading it.

    ReplyDelete
  3. This is on my list to read in the next few months. I'm glad you enjoyed it!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh, I'll have to add it to my "to read" list, soon!! Sounds fun. (=

    ReplyDelete