"The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend" is a book built around books and the people who love them. It's about the power of books to build friendships, repair broken hearts, set dreams aloft, and change prejudices. It's a book that had so much promise, but for me ultimately fell short of the perfect "sweet spot" nice and cozy little story.

Sara is a young Swedish woman who is pen pals with elderly Amy of Broken Wheel, Iowa -- a small down-of-it's luck town hit hard by the recession. Despite having never met in person, they develop a solid friendship, and bond over a love of books. When the bookshop Sara works at closes, she decides the time is finally right to visit Amy in the USA. Unfortunately, she arrives in town at the exact moment Amy's funeral is taking place (not a spoiler -- this all takes place in the first chapter).

The residents of Broken Wheel know all about Sara from Amy's letters, and embrace her arrival. They insist that she stay, if she wishes, and welcome her with open arms. Sara soon makes friends with those in town, but is dismayed to learn that Amy was the only one in town who enjoyed reading. Sara tries to remedy this situation by opening up a bookstore in one of the many shuttered storefronts in town, and stocking the store with Amy's voluminous collection of books.

True to form, each of the side characters in the book fits a role you can probably guess -- recovering alcoholic, uptight Christian lady, town busybody, handsome single guy, etc.

The book's whole premise relies on Sara feeling like she "belongs" in the town, and like it's "home"; the townspeople feeling like she belongs there; and a love story. Despite nearly 400 pages (which definitely felt like it was dragging at times), some of these connections just felt weak to me. I definitely wasn't getting "the feels" and so the book wasn't quite as satisfying as it could have been.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for a galley of this book in exchange for an honest review. ( )

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. ( )