Genre:
Relationship Fiction
Read-Alikes:
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce
A Man Called Ove by Fredrick Backman
Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore by Matthew Sullivan
This week’s staff pick is a slightly older book that was a recent pick for our Virtual Book Club. If you are in the mood for a fast-paced and heartfelt novel that is perfect for book lovers, A.J. Fikry is the book for you!
“We are not quite novels.
We are not quite short stories.
In the end, we are collected works.
“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 Chief Lambiase, the well-intentioned police officer who’s always felt kindly toward him; from Ismay, his sister-in-law, who is hell-bent on saving A.J. from his dreary self; from Amelia, the lovely and idealistic (if eccentric) Knightley Press sales rep who persists in taking the ferry 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, he 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, though large in weight—an unexpected arrival that gives A.J. 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., for the determined sales rep Amelia to see her curmudgeonly client in a new light, 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.” –Goodreads.com
Thanks for reading,
-George, FTPL
