There are few things better to read about if you're a book lover than the love for books. Every now and then you come across a book where the love for books just jumps at you from the pages (or in my case, from my eReader). If you want to explain to someone why books can change people, this would be the perfect kind of book.
Sara, recently unemployed and an avid reader, has travelled all the way from Sweden to Broken Wheel, Iowa, to visit her pen pal and fellow reader Amy, only to find out that she has recently passed away. Left in Amy's house with all her books and kind of adopted by the town of Broken Wheel, she sets out on a mission to share the love of books.
Definitely the best part of the novel was the books. Even though the books mentioned tend to be women's fiction and classics, and there was a heavy under representation of SFF. One girls comes in asking for a book featuring at least one dragon, and Sara had to think a very long time before finding something. And, as usually the title is given, not in this case. And I was wondering which dragon book she would choose (I have a suspicion it's Eragon though). I mean, Sara has every right not to be a SFF fan of course, but as she preaches 'You should read what you sell' I'd expected that would reach further than just the gay erotica.
Broken Wheel is not your everyday society. It had a big mid-20th century feel to it. And while I found the characters in small doses enjoyable, I found it hard to focus too long on their seemingly exaggerated problems. I admit that I don't often read women's fiction, just for this particular reason. Near the end I had the feeling the story deranged a bit and became stranger and stranger. To me it felt more and more like Bridget Jones, which is often mentioned in this novel.
All in all, certainly recommended if you want to read about books (don't we all) and are willing to therefore read through a somewhat - I'm not quite sure just how to describe it- (love) story that was not completely necessary in my humble opinion.
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
27
0
