This was not a bad book it just had a few passing priblems. A cute read actually I think I just wasn't in the right mood when I bought it. I will buy her next book though it was great for a debut author.

You know what? This is a tough one. Apparently not everyone likes to read about reading, imagine that! I heard this book compared to many things, but I think Northern Exposure is pretty apt, because that, like Broken Wheel, Iowa, was a town filled with an odd lot of characters not especially known for their reading habits. Ok, there were a few exceptions, but still.

It’s summertime, so we need to suspend our disbelief and imagine that a young girl has traveled all the way from Sweden to meet her penpal on an extended vacation. Of course, they were brought together over their love of books. Doesn’t that just make you feel good, seeing the word penpal? I love the idea that this could still be a thing — take that, facebook — penpals rule!

Seriously, if this sounds ridiculous to you, by all means, don’t pick it up. But, if you traveled 600 miles with Harold Fry without a map or the right shoes; or were captivated by the letters of Juliet and the Potato Peel Pie Society, you will probably want to read this book. And you should. It is a sweet story, and it’s about books and all of the wonderful, odd, sincere people who love them. And even a bunch who don’t, but we won’t hold that against them, because to be honest, they make the story even better.

They began corresponding as pen pals.  Their writing turned rather quickly to discussing books and sharing books through the mail.  Sara Lindqvist, working in a bookstore in Sweden, lost her job.  Amy Harris invited her to come to Broken Wheel, Iowa.  They’d pick her up from the airport.  When the time came, and Sara made the long trip, there was no one to pick her up.  She made her own way to Broken Wheel to discover Amy had died.  Instead of meeting Amy, she met her close friends and her nephew, Tom, shortly after the funeral.

But, Sara didn’t pine away for the friendship that could have been.  She set out on a venture to open a bookstore in Broken Wheel with Amy’s books.  Amy had so many.  From Sara’s perspective, we read, “Amy’s room was like her dream library.  A large bed in the middle where Amy must have spent her days … Along each of the walls: bookcases.  The bedside table itself was a pile of books.”  Opening a bookstore was Sara’s way of giving back to the community of Broken Wheel.  Everyone had taken the greatest care of Amy’s friend, not letting her pay for anything and making sure she had someone to drive her wherever she needed to go.

As a reader who also likes to talk about books, I felt kind of sad at the outset of the novel, thinking about how it could have been for Sara and Amy.  They would have thoroughly enjoyed each other’s company — talking about characters in books as if they were real, talking about the plots, and maybe even agreeing on a couple of book boyfriends.  Even though the beginning is sad, the story is more about moving on and trying to make a difference.  The characters of Broken Wheel were a unique and enjoyable mix and I had no problem envisioning them.  The letters that Amy had written to Sara were interspersed throughout the novel, which helps to fill in the story quite nicely.  The plot is good, but the pace is more like a slow stroll and the story loses momentum.  After reading, I found out Katarina Bivald is a Swedish author and the book was originally written in Swedish.  It read so well, I would not have thought it to be translated.  Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

I have a lot of thoughts about this book, all swirling around in my head avoiding cohesiveness.  

This is not a gripping or exciting book and it isn't a faced-paced one either.  This is a slow moving book and I suspect it's appeal is going to be limited to those readers who have more than a little bit of the characters inside themselves. 

I'm one of those readers; as much as my RL friends would say I'm outspoken and intolerant of crap, a lot of me shares a lot with the Broken Wheel characters, or I have at some point in my life.  So while I can't say this book emotionally moved me or cause me to think Profound Thoughts, I did connect with it and enjoy the story.

3 things that nagged at me:

1.  As lovely as the idea of sharing/selling Amy's books might be, all I could think about was "who inherited those books, and are they ok with you liquidating the estate?!?"  I'm assuming it's Tom, since no other relatives are ever mentioned, but never once is it brought up.  What's the Swedish word for probate?

2.  They misspelled Jane Austen's Sanditon (Sandition).

3.  I forgot the third thing, dammit.  Obviously something huge.

On a side note, my copy is a UK edition, so the translation from the original Swedish used UK words and idioms, which I thought was kind of funny for a story set in the middle of corn-field Iowa.  

All in all, a book I enjoyed.