The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin

 What a happy surprise this little gem of a book is! Someone in our Stonebridge Friends book club recommended it, and we'll discuss it in August. It was available at the library now, so I snapped it up. It is witty, clever, sweet, and has TONS of literary allusions and suggestions. A wonderful little read! Well, not so little -- 258 pages, but they went by quickly.

There are some F bombs, but not too many. And there is some jumping into bed early in relationships, but these do not dominate the story. And I can live with them, given the sparkling dialogue and compassionate story. It's also got a little mystery that is tied up neatly and surprisingly at the end. The characters are delightful and you want them all to be your friend. I loved how the curmudgeonly A.J. develops into a very sweet person. 

One of the highlights for me is the way several people in the story describe what they like to read. They are so specific! And there are many books and short stories that are recommended and they would make a great TBR list on their own. The little town on Alice Island sounds quaint, and the book store is where you wish you could shop. I also loved it when A.J. was able to educate the police chief's taste and then grow a police book club grow.

I'm considering buying my own copy so I can reread it and mark up the parts I like best. It was fun to watch the relationship grow between Amelia, the book rep, and A.J., the book seller. I might do that in time for our meeting in August. I'm very curious to know who recommended this one. I'm also excited to see that this author has other books. And since this was published in 2014, maybe there are even more? I hope so!

Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn

 This is another book recommended by our friends and neighbors, Marian and Brian Wangsgard. They both love this book and enthusiastically told me I wouldn't be disappointed. I would give it 4 stars. Yes, it's delightful and very clever, and it helped me through a day I had a bad headache, but is it a great one? No.

It reminded me of the Guernsey Potato Peel Society (wrong title, but I know what I mean) book in two ways: it's a story told in letters (epistolary) and it's set among an isolated, usually friendly society. The people and their letters are very charming. And it took all of my brain power to understand some of the nuances that come near the end of the story.

The part I didn't like was the cruelty of the ruling board and the lack of any substantial resistance to it. I know the author intended it as a cautionary tale, but there isn't any subtlety to it. I felt a bit clobbered over the head with that. But what is fun is the mental challenge of the words, and I had to admire the vocabulary of the residents as they chose words that would not contain the forbidden letters but still get their ideas across. There are parts that are just so clever I laughed out loud and shook my head. This author is brilliant and obviously a lover of words and wordsmithing.  I also enjoyed the development of the romances and relationships as they unfolded. Nice too, that the whole story ended happily. It's a charming book with a sinister undertone. Enjoyable.