If you love books and you love libraries, please check out The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams. This book was beautifully written and had two main characters that really touched my heart.
Aleisha is a teenager, working a ‘boring’ summer job at the library. Mukesh is a lonely widower who misses his late wife terribly. Aleisha discovers a reading list in the back of To Kill a Mockingbird and decides to read each book on the list in order. The magic of the books and their characters begin to change Aleisha’s outlook on life and she begins to recommend the same books to Mukesh. At the same time, crumpled up reading lists are discovered by several others in the community. As the books and their magic begin to circulate, people are brought together in joy, sorrow and everyday life.
In these days of “isolation,” The Reading List was a breath of fresh air. It is a quiet book with lovely characters and wonderful thoughts about books. I loved the characters and cared about their futures. (In the novel, Mukesh is Hindu/Indian, has friends and children with ethnic names and speaks with an old fashioned dialect. Don’t let that ‘strangeness’ stop you from reading the book! You will find that it has a place in the novel’s message too.) Another great book for book clubs . . . and for those who love making lists . . . What books would be on your suggested reading list?
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