Well, The Readers of the Broken Wheel Recommend by Katarina Bivald is precisely the kind of book described above. An ode to books and readers, the book plays its part well. Broken wheel is a strange town, granted, and Sara has set new definitions of friendship with her pen pal. Beautiful gestures come together with Sara opening a bookstore in the memory of her friend. It is surreal, almost otherworldly as the plot reeks of raw innocence. The story progresses in the most charming way, and is indeed commendable for a debut. Although I could’ve read through it again and again, at times, the prose was verbose enough for me to flip through or skim through pages. Nevertheless, the book rekindles the magic that bookstores hold, and one cannot help but wonder if we can ever go back to the times of paperbacks and hardcovers, before e-readers took over. The entire plot has a sense of old-world charm to it with its roots in the bond between pen pals. But then again, I wouldn’t mind that, if the story is about reading and books. Every reader, whether casual or ardent, should read it at least once. Image Credits: www.amazon.com Kritika Narula [email protected]]]>