The Storied Life of AJ Fikry Review

At the beginning of the month, I frantically searched my TBR shelves for the perfect books for Bout of Books. After careful deliberation, I had my list set. Among this list was The Storied Life of AJ Fikry. How could it possibly be a bad book?! It's about a man who lives in a bookstore. That's all I knew when going into it and I could not have imagined any other way. If you know nothing about this book, READ IT BLIND! Trust me here, the pureness of emotion that reading this book blind elicits is well worth it!

AJ Fikry is a grumpy man who owns, and lives in Island Books on the small town of Alice. After losing his wife, he is perfectly set in his ways. He hates many different types of books and refuses to sell any of these or expand his store in any way. When Harvey, the publicist who sells AJ his books, dies and Amelia Loman tries to take over the Island Books account, AJ finds not only his book selection changing, but his life as well. AJ's rare Tamerlane disappears, making him doubt the worth of anything in his life and thus leaving the door to his bookstore unlocked. When returning from a run one morning, AJ sees something very out of place in the small shop: 2 year old Maya, who has been left at Island Books by her mother. Through Maya, AJ learns to expand not only his shelves, but his life, allowing love, happiness, and friendship fill his once hallow life. 

This book is such a quick read. The characters drew me in immediately and I could not stop myself from discovering where their stories were going next. And then the end happened! The END! When a book brings out such a strong emotion in me (ok, picture me in a sobbing puddle on the bathroom floor), there has been a connection made! A pure connection that cannot easily be broken. It was beautiful and touching and will stay with me for quite some time. In the beginning, I thought this would be a fun, easy book, but it actually made me think further and left me with a sense of both joy and loss. AJ Fikry needs the chance to impact everyone the way he impacted me.

Positives: The book! Well written story with memorable characters!

WELL DESERVED 5 OUT OF 5 STARS!