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)

The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry

I often turn to reviews from all of you. I am a great book lover and yes, I do listen to them. I would love to be guilt free enough to sit in my big old cushioned chair and read ... but I dust, do the dishes (try to avoid cooking) and I finish the laundry. I also drive between NYC and NH, those are the best four hours for listening to a good, solid book.

I have been getting tired of all these genre books ... the ones with Black slaves being beaten by horrible white slave owners; the ones with Jewish people being tortured by white Germans; the ones with people hurting other people. Tired of it!

This book, "The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry," is a sweet, gentle book, just what I was looking for. The story was not boring, my attention never wandered, in fact, I did not even want to shut off the light and go to sleep. I totally enjoyed it. I gave it thought during the next day, I was sorry when it ended .

So, if you are looking for "your next book," this is a good one. It sort of falls in the category of "Olive Kettridge" (sp? ) and the "Last stand of Major Petegrew" (sp?). I loved those too.

My life is too busy to be bothered with people beating up other people. I am looking for soft and gentle, but not boring.

Oh yes, very well written.

Good for even non literary nerds

I know several of the references went over my head. I haven't read much. Part of why is I haven't found many I like. I don't enjoy superfical stories. It is hard to find a balance of real but not depressing (because real life is depressing enough) stories. I can't stand when characters are not realistic or aren't well developed into their own beings.
The Storied Life of AJ Fikery is a great book that is on the list of my favorite things. This book was deep while managing to make the heavy topics not too depressing. It is full of beauty and love. Characters are realistic, human, and good people even with thier flaws. The use of explaining literary tactics and then implementing the was exceptional. I like this twists the books takes and the different perspectives given.
Its a good wholesome read. There are occasional cursing or mild references that might not be well received by strongly conservative people. However, even those were done delicately and were not a distraction from this empowering story.

Storied Life Of A.J. Fikry

Would you listen to The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry again? Why?

Yes. Such great development of characters and fun dialog. Plus the constant book references was like going through a friend's book case, meeting all your favorite friends, and then coming across some new ones. Loved the repeating themes. SO well done! Bravo!

What other book might you compare The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry to and why?

Everyone says Silas Marner, but only because of the child comes into his life. It's not the same.

What does Scott Brick bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Wonderful expressions with the characters.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes. Such a treat to listen to.

Any additional comments?

One of my favorites of the summer!

Loved this Book

I bought this book solely based on the title (something I almost never do). Oh what a pleasant surprise, a well told story about a man you can imagine meeting. At a time when we are unable to visit our bookstores this is the story to read to remind us of what we have to look forward to when we can do so again.

Loved this book!

Purchased this book on a whim and didn't know what to expect. Loved this book. The narration was great too. Scott Brick does a wonderful job portraying the different characters through his voice.

Great book, lovable characters

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! It was sad at times, but also sweet and heartwarming. It is one of my favorite reads of 2016 so far (of about 25).

A book to like, not love

Good writing, interesting story, but for some reason I wasn't as invested in the lives of the characters as I wanted to be. I never felt like I understood or could imagine being any of them, save maybe the simple but heart-of-gold cop. Still, it's a good story and the narrator is excellent - - come on, it's Scott Brick so you know the performance will rock. I think my problem may have been I really don't like snobs, and under it all, that's who the main character is - - a caring snob.

Narration was better than expected

I was hesitant to buy this one since so many reviews said the narration was horrible. I will agree that a few times he sounded disinterested to the point of being annoying. However, overall I felt that the narration was perfect for the story. I can't really explain it better than that. It just felt right to me.

As for the story, this was one of my favorites. It was one of those rare reads that you never want to end.

Many surprises

I can usually guess at possible twists, but with this book there were at least 3 that I absolutely did not see coming. I generally read sci-fi but wanted something different. This book was perfect. Can’t recommend it enough!!

starts out slow finishes slow

starts out a little slow then gets interesting in the middle and get slow at the end. I guess it was a decent story