66. The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry - Gabrielle Zevin

2014, Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill
HC $24.95

260 pgs.

Adult CRF

Finished 10/20/2014

Goodreads rating: 4.01

My rating:    (5) Awesome 

TPPL

Setting: Contemporary Alice Island (a fictional island off Hyannis, Cape Cod, Massachusetts)

1st sentence/s:  "On the ferry from Hyannis to Alice Island, Amelia Loman paints her nails yellow and, while waiting for them to dry, skims her predecessor's notes.  'Island Books, approximately $350,000.00 per annum in sales, the better portion of that in the summer months to folks on holiday,' Harvey Rhodes reports.  'Six hundred square feet of selling space.  No full-time employees other than owner.  Very small children's section.  Fledgling onn-line presence.  Poor community outreach.  Inventory emphasizes the literary, which is good for us, but Fikry's tastes are very specific, and without Nic, he can't be counted on to hand-sell.  Luckily for him, Island's the only game in town.'

My comments:  I loved this book.  I loved the way it was written. I loved all its references to books and short stories. I liked the format.   And I adored the characters. I appreciated all the "hints" in A.J.'s notes of what was to come, how you slowly realized what was going to ultimately happen.  The plot unfolded perfectly. It's been a long, long time since I've stayed up so late into the night to finish a book.  My favorite character?  The chief of police, Lambiase.  Biggest problem?  How to pronounce "Lambiase" and "Fikry." Super story.  I've listed the short stories that begin each chapter below.

Goodreads book summary:  On the faded Island Books sign hanging over the porch of the Victorian cottage is the motto "No Man Is an Island; Every Book Is a World." A. J. Fikry, the irascible owner, is about to discover just what that truly means.
          A. J. Fikry's life is not at all what he expected it to be. His wife has died, his bookstore is experiencing the worst sales in its history, and now his prized possession, a rare collection of Poe poems, has been stolen. Slowly but surely, he is isolating himself from all the people of Alice Island-from Lambiase, the well-intentioned police officer who's always felt kindly toward Fikry; from Ismay, his sister-in-law who is hell-bent on saving him from his dreary self; from Amelia, the lovely and idealistic (if eccentric) Knightley Press sales rep who keeps on taking the ferry over to Alice Island, refusing to be deterred by A.J.'s bad attitude. Even the books in his store have stopped holding pleasure for him. These days, A.J. can only see them as a sign of a world that is changing too rapidly.
          And then a mysterious package appears at the bookstore. It's a small package, but large in weight. It's that unexpected arrival that gives A. J. Fikry the opportunity to make his life over, the ability to see everything anew. It doesn't take long for the locals to notice the change overcoming A.J.; 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 A.J.'s world; or for everything to twist again into a version of his life that he didn't see coming. As surprising as it is moving, The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry is an unforgettable tale of transformation and second chances, an irresistible affirmation of why we read, and why we love.

 Short stories mentioned:
Dahl -  "Lamb to the Slaughter" (1953)
Fitzgerald - "The Diamond as Big as the Ritz (1922)
Harte -  "The Luck of Roaring Camp" (1868)
Bausch - "What Feels Like the World" (1985)
O'Connor - "A Good Man is Hard to Find" (1953)
Twain - "The Celebrated Frog of Calaveras County" (1865)
Shaw - "The Girls in Their Summer Dresses" (1939)
Paley - "A Conversation with My Father" (1972)
Salinger - "A Perfect Day for Bananafish" (1948)
Poe - "The Tell-Tale Heart" (1843)
Bender - "Ironhead" (2005)
Carver - "What We Talk about When We Talk about Love" (1980)
Dahl - "The Bookseller" (1986)

33. And the Dark Sacred Night - Julia Glass

Audio read by

13 unabridged discs

2014, Pantheon

400 pgs.

Adult CRF

Finished on the road between NM and IL 6/4/2014

Goodreads Rating: 3.63

My Rating: 3/It was okay

TPPL

Setting: Contemporary Vermont, NH, and NJ

My comments:  I didn't love this book, I didn't dislike it, some parts were really good and other seemed unneeded and uninteresting.  The book is broken into five sections from four different points-of-view.  The second part flew by and was totally enjoyable - maybe because this is one character that I really LIKED, but the other four dragged.  Good reader -  I listened to it while driving between New Mexico and Illinois.  Long drive.

Goodreads Review:  Kit Noonan’s life is stalled: unemployed, twins to help support, a mortgage to pay—and a frustrated wife, who is certain that more than anything else, Kit needs to solve the mystery of his father’s identity. He begins with a visit to his former stepfather, Jasper, a take-no-prisoners Vermont outdoorsman. But it is another person who has kept the secret: Lucinda Burns, wife of a revered senior statesman and mother of Malachy (the journalist who died of AIDS in Glass’s first novel, Three Junes). She and her husband are the only ones who know the full story of an accident whose repercussions spread even further when Jasper introduces Lucinda to Kit. Immersing readers in a panorama that stretches from Vermont to the tip of Cape Cod, Glass weaves together the lives of Kit, Jasper, Lucinda and ultimately, Fenno McLeod, the beloved protagonist of Three Junes (now in his sixties). An unforgettable novel about the youthful choices that steer our destinies, the necessity of forgiveness, and the surprisingly mutable meaning of family.