The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry

An easy read for an easy summer day or a cold winter night when you don't feel like working too hard at your reading. It has both clichéd and heartwarming moments, fun for all the literary references which act as plot devices. It certainly puts reading front and center, and divides the world into the good (those who read) and everyone else. It has a #MeToo subplot that is critical to the main plot, but it was written in 2014 and it certainly does not tackle such hard issues (the consequences of a minor star author enjoying plucking the fruits of his minor fame, and the consequences he sows all around him). I admit it made me smile and chuckle out loud and cry—it definitely pulled my strings. I did not love the writing style, but it certainly did not drag. Another reader suggested it might be made into a Meg Ryan / Tom Hanks romcom á la Sleepless in Seattle, and I wholly agree - there's nothing wrong with indulging in the occasional cream-filled chocolate, is there?