THE READERS OF BROKEN WHEEL RECOMMEND

Do you love your local bookstore? Then you’ll definitely want to nominate your bookstore to win a grant in the “Readers, Recommend Your Bookstore” campaign by independent publisher Sourcebooks. The “Readers, Recommend Your Bookstore Campaign” is inspired by the phenomenal support booksellers have given The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend by Katarina Bivald, which was selected as the #1 Indie Next Great Read for January 2016.

“Bookstores are the heart and soul of their community and have enormous impact on readers’ lives,” said Dominique Raccah, founder and CEO of Sourcebooks. “The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend inspired us to create a campaign that will not only give back to a few deserving bookstores, but hopefully highlight all the many wonderful bookstores that service communities across the country.”

Anyone can nominate their favorite bookstore at http://books.sourcebooks.com/readers-recommend-your-bookstore-sweepstakes/. Sourcebooks will award the winning bookstore with a $3,000 prize; two additional bookstores will each receive a $637 prize (the population of Bivald’s fictional Broken Wheel, Iowa). In addition to bookstores receiving prizes, weekly giveaways for those who nominate will be held throughout the campaign. Voting began January 4 and runs until February 19 when the winning bookstores will be announced.

Sourcebooks is also giving away copies of The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend. Enter below for your chance to win!

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The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend by Katarina Bivald
ISBN: 9781492623441 (paperback)
ISBN: 9781492623458 (ebook)
ASIN: B0108GOL9Q (Kindle edition)
Publication date: January 19, 2016
Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark

Once you let a book into your life, the most unexpected things can happen…

Broken Wheel, Iowa, has never seen anyone like Sara, who traveled all the way from Sweden just to meet her pen pal, Amy. When she arrives, however, she finds that Amy’s funeral has just ended. Luckily, the townspeople are happy to look after their bewildered tourist—even if they don’t understand her peculiar need for books. Marooned in a farm town that’s almost beyond repair, Sara starts a bookstore in honor of her friend’s memory. All she wants is to share the books she loves with the citizens of Broken Wheel and to convince them that reading is one of the great joys of life. But she makes some unconventional choices that could force a lot of secrets into the open and change things for everyone in town. Reminiscent of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, this is a warm, witty book about friendship, stories, and love.

Sara, a Swedish bookseller, has been pen pals with Amy, an American from Broken Wheel, Iowa for two years. Now that Sara is unemployed, she has decided to take a vacation to the US and accept the invitation to stay with Amy for a few months. Sara’s plans change when she arrives in Broken Wheel and finds out that Amy has died. Faced with a two-month vacation in Iowa and a non-refundable plane ticket, Sara decides to make the best of a bad situation and pays homage to her love of books and attempts to repay a town’s kindness in The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend by Katarina Bivald.

Sara Lindqvist has never been a spontaneous person, but since becoming unemployed in Sweden, she decided to take her pen pal Amy up on her offer to stay with her in Broken Wheel, Iowa. Sara is looking forward to two months with her friend, spending time discussing books rather than writing about books, and reading. Her family doesn’t understand why she’s going to Iowa rather than New York or California and when they’re told that her friend has died their limited ability to understand Sara and her choices disappears completely. Sara is now in a foreign land without her friend Amy as a buffer, but she has come to know the residents of Broken Wheel through Amy’s letters. The only thing she can think of doing in order to repay the kindness of the town’s residents is to open a bookstore and share Amy’s books and Sara’s love of books and reading. Sara only has two months to make readers of the residents of Broken Wheel and her efforts are met with suspicion, laughter, and awe. Sara’s efforts quickly bring the town’s residents together and before you know it, the residents have fallen in love with Sara just as she has fallen in love with them. No one wants Sara to leave, but can a mutual love-fest built on books be enough to keep Sara in the US legally?

I enjoyed The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend. (What’s not to love about a story dealing with books and reading?) Sara isn’t your typical heroine, as she is somewhat shy and reserved, except when it’s time to talk books. Sara and Amy had a special friendship built on their mutual love of books, and Sara is spreading the joy. This story is a romance (between Sara and the town’s residents as well as one particular resident…read the story to find out more) and is filled with humor and touches of sadness. The characters are wholly believable with their quirks and antics to help Sara out upon her arrival and then to keep Sara in the US. Yes, there’s a lot more going on in this story such as the survival of a small town despite all the economic hardships it faces, residents struggling with love lost and love found, and more. I found this to be a fast-paced read and one that I can heartily recommend to anyone that enjoys romance or simply reading about books and reading. I look forward to reading more from Ms. Bivald in the future. Make sure you put The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend on your TBR list, you won’t regret it.

Disclaimer: I received a digital copy of this book for review purposes from the publisher via NetGalley. I was not paid, required, or otherwise obligated to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

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