Book #74: The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin

I breezed through this book today during Dane's nap and while Tommy was putting him to bed (it is an almost hard-and-fast rule around here that Daddy does the bed duty, by Dane's preference [and mine, let's be honest] and I love it). I feel like I almost read through it too fast--like I should have soaked it up a little more and focused more on sucking the marrow out of it. I think I missed some of the important stuff from it, I guess. But let me explain: the good part about this book is not about the plot. It really is fairly predictable (once you get into it), and the drama of it all never seems very surprising. Some of it even feels a little manipulative (like Zevin is purposely tugging at your heartstrings with the saddest or cutest things you can imagine). But I felt like I loved the characters, and more, I loved the connections the characters felt to the books that shaped their lives and loves, and the conversations they have about books together (especially between A.J. and his daughter).

This book is about A.J. Fikry, who, when the novel starts, is a cranky young almost-alcoholic widower who owns the one bookstore on Alice Island and who can't imagine anything going worse in his life. However, his one nice/expensive possession gets stolen and he loses his chance at retirement, and his desire to lock his door--which leads to a baby being left in his store while he's out one day. Yep--you guessed it--he adopts the baby, changes his life, becomes happy and learns about how life is still worth living again, and even finds love. So the story is cute and a sweet story about him changing his life and his relationship with his daughter and new life--but you also get to read his recommendations of stories to his daughter and why he loves books and reading, and the book itself is filled with book-ish commentaries and discussions about the importance and purpose of reading and books. And for those of us who covet that bookstore and the life shaped by books--that's a whole motivation for reading in and of itself.