The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend Audiobook By Katarina Bivald cover art

The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend

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The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend

By: Katarina Bivald
Narrated by: Fiona Hardingham, Lorelei King
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A debut novel to charm all listeners, that shows beyond all doubt that it's books, along with love, that make the world go round.

It all began with a correspondence between two quite different women: 28-year-old Sara from Haninge, Sweden, and 65-year-old Amy from the small town of Broken Wheel, Iowa. After years of exchanging books, letters and thoughts on the meaning of literature and life, Sara, mousy, disheveled, who has never been anywhere in her life--has really lived only for her work in a beloved bookshop, which has just closed its doors for the last time--bravely decides to accept her unknown friend's invitation to visit. But when she arrives, she finds her house empty, the funeral guests just heading home. . .

Sara finds herself alone. And what choice do the inhabitants of Broken Wheel have but to take care of their bewildered tourist? And what choice does Sara have, faced with a town where nobody reads and her desire to honour her friend, but to set up the perfect bookshop with all the books she and Amy shared--from Yann Martel's Life of Pi to Iris Murdoch and Jo Nesbo, to Bridget Jones and Doug Coupland's All Families Are Psychotic to Little House on the Prairie? And then watch as the townsfolk are, one by one, transformed in unexpected ways. . .

In the glorious tradition of 84 Charing Cross Road, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café, Will Schwalbe's The End of Your Life Book Club, Jane Austen, and movies such as You've Got Mail and Love Actually, The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend is a big-hearted, witty book about books, friendship, love--and always being open to the unexpected.

©2016 Katarina Bivald (P)2016 Random House Audio Coming of Age Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Literary History & Criticism Literature & Fiction Small Town & Rural Women's Fiction Heartfelt Feel-Good Witty
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Delightful story - well read. I do wish the British narrator realized that folks in Iowa do not speak with Southern accents, but that is a minor complaint

Wonderful sweet funny story

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Would you consider the audio edition of The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend to be better than the print version?

yes

What other book might you compare The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend to and why?

All Girl Filling Station

Which character – as performed by Fiona Hardingham and Lorelei King – was your favorite?

obviously Sara

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The entire book was moving and delightful

Any additional comments?


would suggest it to anyone it was wonderful

Wonderful New author

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I enjoyed the story, a little predictable but still good! I thought the southern accents a little steep for Iowa but still enjoyed the pleasant story. Lovely happy ending...

Nice Easy story

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This book was selected for our book club reading. It was certainly fun and interesting however, it was quite predictable as to what was going to happen in the end, but it was still a nice story.

Sweet but predictable

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So enjoyed. Sometimes made me laugh and mostly made me smile. Excellent narration and unlikely but very enjoyable storyline

Uplifting book

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A very character-driven story, made completely relatable to those who love the company of books :)

Rich characters you hate to leave!

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Oh dear sweet laureate Jesus,
Would someone PLEASE tell this narrator that people from Iowa DO NOT speak like they are from A. the deep, deep south or B. the most rural part of Tennessee. Plot good, writing good, narration so implausibly wrong it almost/should have/actually did ruin the book. Skip audio and check this one out from your local library where you can read it and imagine your own voices.

Location, location, location

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This book was entertaining in the first listen and even more endearing in a second. Re-reading books shows the true strength and construction of a story. This one works first and second time around.

works even better with a second listen

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This book took a long time to get into and toward then end was too predictable. Lacked character development and seemed rushed to finish. Wait for the movie, it will probably be better than the book.

Ehhhh...predictable

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This book is, I think, quite intentionally very, very similar in theme and style to "84 Charing Cross Road" and "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society." There's a literary correspondence and eccentric characters in a small town. Love of reading and sharing that enthusiasm bring people of different backgrounds and inclinations together.

I jumped into the action assuming it was taking place several decades ago. To my surprise, early on a cell phone is used. We're contemporary, in other words, and it doesn't quite make sense. Cell phones but no email? Old fashioned pen pals who have never shared photos or skyped one another? An educated and apparently well-off Swedish woman who has never traveled or gotten a driver's license? Like the other books mentioned above, "The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend" brings to mind an earlier era, yet it claims to be happening in the 21st century.

It's also just too long with a few too many characters with a few too many problems. Although these people are sympathetic and varied, their stories begin to pall. and keeping them sorted out in the 12+ hour listen becomes trying. And making each tale end successfully and happily requires some contrivance.

There's promise here in the appeal of the characters and the depiction of a small, Midwestern town in economic crisis. It's interesting that a book so devoted to fly-over territory in America is translated from the Swedish!






Not Quite of Its Time

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