Circulation Desk

Spring 2021: We are Collected Works

---

It is so simple…I have it all figured out….The words you can’t find, you borrow. We read to know we’re not alone. We read because we are alone. We read and we are not alone. We are not alone….My life is in these books…read these and know my heart. We are not quite novels….we are not quite short stories…In the end, we are collected works.

-Gabrielle Zevin, The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry

Why did I wait so long to read The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry? It’s been on my list for several years now. It was a delightful story and full of great wisdom and great quotes about books and the reading life. I also needed it right now. I love reading almost always, but when the right book at the right moment comes along, it’s an extra special experience. 

The Moment

As we begin to emerge from a pandemic that altered so much of our lives, I believe many of us are also engaged in reflections and conversations about what it means and what we have learned about ourselves and about each other. 

Some of us are shifting our goals, ambitions, and definitions of success. Most of us are assessing and quickly re-assessing our sense of risk as we begin to gather in-person again. Many of us are disheartened to realize that not all of our fellow human beings understand the common good in the ways we do. We know this has always been true, of course, but these differences have been rendered visible through these unprecedented circumstances. We’ve learned new things about ourselves and about each other. How do we go forward now? 

It’s a moment of questions, changes, and uncertainty, sure to upend things and people we thought we knew and trusted. Happily, we have books to help us imagine and “try on” the types of situations we want for ourselves and understand a little more clearly the changes we might need to get them. 

Fikry’s Storied Life

A. J. owns a bookstore called Island Books on the small island town of Alice, Massachusetts.  The motto for his bookstore is, “No man is an island. Every book is a world.” 

When the story opens, A. J. is lonely, grieving the death of his wife, and barely existing. He lives above his bookstore. He reads. He’s not very friendly or helpful to his few customers. And he drinks too much. It takes the loss of his most valuable possession and the unexpected adoption of an abandoned two-year-old girl named, Maya, for him to begin again. We observe A. J. across many years as he journeys from being an isolated island unto himself into a fully-loved and loving member of his community. He risks love and he learns to trust not only the people in his life but his circumstances. 

It’s a lovely and satisfying story, but it also has an unusual, bookish structure, making it even more fun and meaningful for those of us who love books. Rather than traditional chapter titles or numbers, the book’s movements are separated by A. J.’s notes about some of his favorite stories. For me, it was such a beautiful example of how books accompany us through life - offering us solace, hope, new questions, new possibilities - and, for this reader, a new list of books and short stories to read.  

The Collected Works of My Spring

A. J.’s collected works in this novel are offered to his daughter, Maya, as a way for her to understand him. My notes here, as always, are not so grand, but rather a simple reflection of this season of life connected to the books I’ve been reading. 

I’ve read books about survival. I’ve read some great reminders of how the past can stay with us and the great relief found in forgiveness. I’ve read books that have helped me see the world differently. And I’ve read books about the awesome power of love - my favorite theme, always. 

Stories of Survival

It’s been good to be reminded in this season that our pandemic isn’t nearly as devastating as the circumstances faced in other times and places. I read two novels this spring illustrating the ways the struggle for survival both narrows our sense of what we want but also opens us to taking greater risks to achieve it. 

I highly recommend reading Alice Walker’s The Color Purple and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Purple Hibiscus as a “pairing.” Not only do they both refer to the gloriousness of the color purple, they also explore many of the same themes - silencing, abuse, concepts about God, and freedom. Although both are personal stories, they also shed light on how societal culture helps to perpetuate abusive systems in families.  These are both well-written, powerful books. 

Stories that Recast the Past

I read another pair of books that feature protagonists who try, in different ways, to redeem that past. In The Dry by Jane Harper, Aaron Falk resists a return to his childhood home but once he’s there he is compelled to unravel the murder of his best friend and learn new truths about an old one. In The Perfect Comeback of Caroline Jacobs, on the other hand, Caroline decides on her own to return to her hometown to say the things she needs to say to her former best friend. Of course it does not go as planned. Redemption for both of these protagonists comes in the exercise of acceptance and forgiveness in light of the new truths they both find. 

Meanwhile, Jean Hanff Korelitz’s new book, The Plot, is a twisty search for the truth about one character’s past that gets tangled up with fiction. It’s an entertaining read set in the literary world that suggests truth, indeed, is not only stranger than fiction but also more dangerous. 

Stories of Us

One of my reading goals for the year is to read more nonfiction. I love and appreciate great writing that makes complex problems simple to understand. The Sum of Us by Heather McGhee does just that. She takes all of the complexity of system-based racism and economic justice and she makes it clear and understandable, giving us a compelling case to accept that the enemy is NOT each other! If these are topics of interest to you, please consider reading this book. It’s excellent. 

Also excellent, is Rhythm of Prayer edited by Sarah Bessey. I read this collection of prayers during Lent. The writers are all women and many are women of color. The prayers are inclusive of people at the margins of society, asking us to see them and to see their concerns. These prayers pull you into new perspectives and I appreciated that change of view for my season of Lent.  

Stories of Love and Connection

I love stories that explore the “why’s,” limits, and extensions of how we love and connect with one another. Kazuo Ishiguro’s newest book, Klara and the Sun, does this by featuring a protagonist and point of view of an artificial (intelligence) friend, set in the not-too-distant future. What does Klara’s devotion to her family and their devotion to her mean? It’s a fascinating look at sacrifice and attachment. 

I’ve already shared about The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin. It belongs on my list of my favorite books about the connections and bonds we create when we show up for each other in predicable and unpredictable ways across the years. It’s a completely satisfying story with a slight fable quality. 

I also read two contemporary romances. People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry features a couple who are friends for many years before their love turns romantic.  There are many feelings to sort out along the way. Kate Clayborn’s latest, Love at First, features a couple discovering their love for each other while also growing in love and connection with their neighbors, all of whom live in the same building. 

These “collected works” of my Spring have accompanied me through this very strange season of life. In them, I have found comfort, gentle reminders, and nudges. In short, they have both reminded me of who I am while also informing who I want to be. What could be better? 

I want to close this issue with one of my favorite quotes as a kind of prayer. In this moment, we are re-sorting, re-viewing, re-engaging, re-newing, and re-priotizing. As we do so, let’s keep in mind this imperative from theologian, Howard Thurman:

Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.