Almost the exact same book as The Bookshop on the Corner that I recently read. Cute premise but ultimately unsatisfying. Characters were nice but if the author wanted to turn it into a romance give me some romance! I think the minor characters were more interesting than the main characters. It's not terrible but like the 2 star rating "just ok" ( )

A sweet book about small town America, letters, books and love. I might have rated this a bit higher but it took me awhile to get through it which made it seem a little disjointed. ( )

Sara is from Sweden and has been writing letters to Amy in Broken Wheel Iowa for a while now. They share a love of books and reading. When Sara decides to visit Amy, she arrives to find that Amy has passed away! But the townspeople in this small town know all about Sara coming to visit and are very welcoming to this (their only) tourist! They invite her to stay and won’t even let her pay for anything. It gets to a point where Sara is bored and decides to open a bookstore (which is not allowed on her visa, but she is not being paid, either; she just wants something to do).

I listened to the audio and this was ok. Pretty slow moving and I did lose focus at points so didn’t fully follow some of the townspeople’s activities and even missed who some of the people were. The book references were fun, and it’s a cute story. ( )

Sara began a friendship with Amy discussing and trading books through letters. When Amy invites Sara to come to Broken Wheel, Iowa, from Sweden, for a holiday, Sara agrees. However, when Sara arrives, she finds that Amy has died. The town, however, has been instructed by Amy to welcome Sara and treat her kindly. Sara feels like she knows the town and the people through Amy's letters. The townspeople also seem to know Sara.
Sara tries to fit in, and eventually decides to open a bookstore in the vacant town. As her visitor visa is going to expire, the town comes up with a scheme to allow her to stay.
Sweet, heartwarming. ( )

The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend by Katarina Bivald aims to entertain and uplift as it shows how books really do make the world go round as a Swedish bookseller comes to small town America and finds friendship, love and books aplenty. When Sara Lindqvist arrives to visit her penpal Amy Harris in Broken Wheel, Iowa, she finds not only the town is dying but the elderly Amy has also passed on. The townspeople stock Amy’s house with food and install Sara and make it their concern to see that Sara has everything she needs. Much of Sara’s time is spent trying to pay her way, but everything from drinks in the local bar to rent on Amy’s house is provided for.

Desperate for something to do and to pay back the town, Sara decides to open a bookstore, using the thousands of books that Amy had as her stock. This is definitely a book for readers to enjoy as Sara ponders upon all types of books from Classics to Thrillers to Romance. The people of Broken Wheel are a little too quaint and charming to be believable, but this was an escapist read that felt like a fairy tale.

Unfortunately I just couldn’t totally love this book finding it a little too predictable and at times overly sentimental but it was an okay read and had enough book-lore in it to rate as a comfort read for me. ( )