• Author: Gabrielle Zevin
• ISBN: 9781616204518
• Genre: Contemporary Fiction
• Pages: 288

A. J. Fikry’s life is not at all what he expected it to be. He lives alone, his bookstore is experiencing the worst sales in its history, and now his prized possession, a rare collection of Poe poems, has been stolen. But when a mysterious package appears at the bookstore, its unexpected arrival gives Fikry the chance to make his life over–and see everything anew. – Goodreads synopsis

I had heard nothing but great things about The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry, and so I bought the book with every intention of reading it soon after I got it home.  As with many of the books I’ve bought before I joined the #ShelfLove challenge, it sat on the shelf for a couple of years.  Then I read The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend by Katarina Bivald.  Reviews frequently suggested that anyone who enjoyed The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry would love this book too.  I loved The Readers of Broken Wheel, and so it wasn’t long before I finally took The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry off the shelf.

Like The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend, I couldn’t put this book down.  Both stories involve a bookstore and an unexpected death, and both are mostly light-hearted, feel-good reads.  However, you can’t read one and say you’ve read the other because that’s where the similarities end.  The closest story to The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry I’ve come across is the movie Jersey Girl, at least superficially.  Regardless of its similarities to other stories, it’s well worth the short time it takes to read it.

I will be adding this book to my list of go-to comfort reads along with The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend.  If life is getting you down, or you just need to relax into a book that isn’t too heavy but isn’t pure brain candy either, then I recommend The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry.