The Reading List – Sara Nisha Adams

A book about books, what more could a book lover possibly want to read?

Aleisha is a reluctant employee at the local library and not that much of a reader, this is a job that her brother previously did and is a stop gap until the next part of her education.

She ventures no further than the library and home, her world is very small but she discovers a list of books to read that allow her world to expand and perhaps allow her to connect with other people, with her mother, with library patrons.

Mukesh, a widower misses his wife terribly, the gap she has left behind can never be filled and the stifling protection of his daughters means he has yet to find a new way to live being a widow. He wants to connect somehow to his granddaughter and through her love of books he finds himself at the library that Aleisha works at. He finds a list of book that broaden his horizons and he finds new worlds to share with everyone.

The list of books, covers a wide range of different books, which if you are familiar with will make perfect sense into how they fit into the story and their own stories they tell to help both Aleisha, Mukesh and us as readers. If you are not familiar with then you have just gained a whole list for to enjoy at your leisure.

This is a powerful and emotional book and I was caught out by one particular plot thread, so swept away was I with the story and the characters, it felt that I was suffering my own loss. The comfort was the familiarity of books, the comfort that they can give and the way they help and heal. The message which this debut novel has conveyed with sensitivity, across cultures, across ages and across book shelves.

Without doubt, one of the best books I have read and one that I would recommend for anyone who has a passion about books.

Thank you to the publisher via netgalley for the opportunity to read this book.

The Reading List is out now.