A BEST OF SUMMER READ ACCORDING TO NEWSWEEK, PARADE MAGAZINE, NBC NEWS, LITHUB, AND POPSUGAR!
""The most heartfelt read of the summer...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.
Download and start listening now!
"Really entertaining read and great for discussion among a book club. You can definitely tell someone who loves books wrote this one. There were accents of the characters but still easy to understand and honestly I think makes the audio version more engaging personally. Would recommend this book!"
— BookClubSistah (5 out of 5 stars)
“A quietly beautiful novel about the magic of books and the joy of human connection.”
— Newsweek“A remarkable, heartwarming debut about the power of fiction.”
— Pop Sugar“The story is an absolute joy…A captivating and exquisitely crafted debut.”
— Heidi Swain, author of A Taste of HomeSara Nisha Adams is a writer and editor. She lives in London and was born in Hertfordshire to Indian and English parents. Her debut novel The Reading List is partly inspired by her grandfather, who lived in Wembley and immediately found a connection with his granddaughter through books.