Date: 28 June 2015
Location: Gary & Peggy
The Happy Bookers convened at Gary and Peggy’s house to discuss The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin. Rarely does one of our book selections get a “thumbs up” from everyone in the group but “The Storied Life..” was the happy exception. In fact, it would be hard to find another book more ideal for a reading group discussion. After all, we are a group of book lovers and we love bookstores and libraries. What was NOT to like about a sympathetic main character who owns a bookstore and a plot that involves a baby left on that character’s doorstep as he is grieving over the death of his wife, which leads to a second chance for love with another character who is also passionate about books. Most of us particularly enjoyed the many allusions to other books and fictional characters. We liked the short story recommendations that began each chapter and how the reader only gradually realizes A.J.’s reasons for making those recommendations. Our discussion soon became a discussion of each of our own all-time favorite books and whether our choices reveal anything about ourselves (as A.J. seems to think). Toward the end of the discussion, Bonnie passed out a list of real and fictional bookstores to see how many each member could identify.
— Bonnie