The Reading List
Summary:
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 the London Borough of Ealing 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. (Summary and cover courtesy of goodreads.com)
Review:
There is something charming when you pick up a book about books and this one was much better than average. The storyline has a lot of parallel elements as many of the characters interacts with The List in different ways. Aleisha is an initially unlikeable protagonist who learns to find her own as she learns a bit more about each of the books and the library itself. Mukesh is an older protagonist who is stumbling through a vision of a life that he never imagined.
As each character reveals more about their lives and the complexity of their struggles you cannot help but root for them. Each has a lot of growing to do and the library is exactly what helps them along. For those who have not read the books on The List there might be a few spoilers, so I’m listing them below as warning. I have not read two of the books, “Rebecca” or “A Suitable Boy”, and I didn’t find it difficult to follow along. Five stars for giving me the feels and an impressive debut novel for Adams.
Here are the books from the list in case you’re worried about spoilers:
To Kill a Mockingbird.
Rebecca.
The Kite Runner
The Life of Pi.
Pride and Prejudice.
Little Women.
Beloved.
A Suitable Boy.
Rating: 5 stars!
Who should read it? Anyone who is a book fan.