The Reading List
A Novel
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4.3 • 374 Ratings
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
NOW A LILLY'S LIBRARY PICK!
"The most heartfelt read...a surprising delight of a novel."--Shondaland
An unforgettable and heartwarming debut about how a chance encounter with a list of library books helps forge an unlikely friendship between two very different people in a London suburb.
Widower Mukesh lives a quiet life in Wembley, in West London after losing his beloved wife. He shops every Wednesday, goes to Temple, and worries about his granddaughter, Priya, who hides in her room reading while he spends his evenings watching nature documentaries.
Aleisha is a bright but anxious teenager working at the local library for the summer when she discovers a crumpled-up piece of paper in the back of To Kill a Mockingbird. It’s a list of novels that she’s never heard of before. Intrigued, and a little bored with her slow job at the checkout desk, she impulsively decides to read every book on the list, one after the other. As each story gives up its magic, the books transport Aleisha from the painful realities she’s facing at home.
When Mukesh arrives at the library, desperate to forge a connection with his bookworm granddaughter, Aleisha passes along the reading list…hoping that it will be a lifeline for him too. Slowly, the shared books create a connection between two lonely souls, as fiction helps them escape their grief and everyday troubles and find joy again.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Adams's winsome debut follows a widower who takes up reading in order to honor the memory of his wife. After Londoner Mukesh's wife, Naina, dies, he picks up the book she was reading before she died, The Time-Traveler's Wife, hoping "to turn the black letters and yellowed pages into a letter from Naina to him." When he later returns the book to the library, he meets the restless and prickly 17-year-old library worker Aleisha, who reluctantly took the job after encouragement from her troubled older brother, also a bookworm. As time passes, Mukesh and Aleisha become good friends, with Mukesh and his granddaughter, Priya, joining in on a reading list Aleisha found tucked in a returned book, which includes such classics as To Kill a Mockingbird, Little Women, and Beloved. When the creator of the list is revealed, there isn't much in the way of surprise, but it gains emotional resonance after Adams links the list to a late-breaking tragic event. Adams is a brisk and solid plotter, and has an easy hand with creating characters who are easy to root for. Readers will be charmed and touched.
Customer Reviews
See AllThe Healing Power of Books
Initially, I thought the book was about the lessons to be learned from them or a connection between them. I started reading and I could not put the book down. The author wove a story about the people who read the books and the connection between the people. This was a totally unexpected approach. The characters were so real and their emotions so visceral, especially the main characters Mukesh and Aleisha, that you were continually routing for them. Loved the insight into the culture of an immigrant community. The book also encouraged me to read the list. Excellent book. A Grande Girl.
Reawakened my love of reading
I read this book while recovering from surgery. I felt like little Priya, totally absorbed in the story and the world of the book.
Lovely story
Wonderful book for lovers of books. Tender and true!