The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry: A Novel

📚 Why We Recommend It

To every book lover, a bookstore is more than a retail space—it’s a shelter on rainy days, a spark of connection when you gush about an obscure novel, and a quiet escape when life feels overwhelming. The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry doesn’t just tell a story; it wraps this love for books and life into a narrative as cozy as a well-worn sweater.

A.J. Fikry’s life is stuck in a downward spiral: widowed, he clings to his tiny bookstore on Alice Island, watching sales plummet and his prized Poe poetry collection get stolen. He hides behind a wall of bookish stubbornness—hating postmodernism and magic realism, dismissing a memoir recommended by publishing rep Amelia with a sharp “no”—acting like a grumpy hermit guarding his shelves. Then a mysterious package arrives, a small catalyst that shatters his isolation and makes him see: books aren’t just for hiding from the world—they’re for connecting to it.

Gabrielle Zevin (bestselling author of Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow) writes with a tenderness that speaks directly to book lovers. A.J. and Amelia’s relationship doesn’t bloom from grand gestures; it grows from bickering over a memoir, bonding over a short story collection, and realizing they share that rare “you get my taste in books” spark. Even the books in the store feel alive—some spark arguments, some mend fences, some become secret codes between strangers.