Adams, Sara Nisha "The Reading List"

Adams, Sara Nisha "The Reading List" - 2021

I received this book from a friend who had read and loved it. Thank you, Lisbeth.

And I loved it just as much. We all have reading lists with books that are special to us. They might have helped us through a hard time, inspired us, taught us, informed us, reminded us of something or someone, or just made us feel good afterwards.

Here we have a reading list that has been compiled by somebody anonymous and turns up at several places. It helps a widower get over the death of his wife, a teenage girl who finds a lot of examples to get through a tough time in her life, a little girl to take her first steps into a more "grown up" thinking.

This is what the Reading List says:

Just in case you need it:
To Kill A Mockingbird
Rebecca
The Kite Runner
Life Of Pi
Pride And Prejudice
Little Women
Beloved
A Suitable Boy

I think most of us have a feeling where the reading list might come from. I discovered that my idea was right from the beginning. Which made the book even more special.

I have read all of the books except for two:
Lee, Harper "To Kill a Mockingbird" - 1960
Du Maurier, Daphne "Rebecca" - 1938
Hosseini, Khaled "The Kite Runner" - 2003
Martell, Yann "Life Of Pi" - 2001
Austen, Jane "Pride & Prejudice" - 1813
Alcott, Louisa May "Little Women Series" - 1868-86
Morrison, Toni "Beloved" - 1987
Seth, Vikram "A Suitable Boy" - 1993

At the end, the author adds more books that she would have liked to include in the list, had it been "hers". She mentioned that they found her at just the right time in her life.

Lahiri, Jhumpa "The Namesake" - 2003
Roy, Arundhati "The God of Small Things" - 1997
Smith, Zadie "White Teeth" - 1999
Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi "Americanah" - 2013
Heiny, Katherine "Standard Deviation" - 2017
Mistry, Rohinton "A Fine Balance" - 1995
Kawakami, Hiromi "Strange Weather in Tokyo" (センセイの鞄/Sensei no kaban) - 2001
Carter, Angela "The Magic Toyshop" - 1987
Angelou, Maya "I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings" - 1969
Hosain, Attia "Sunlight on a Broken Column" - 1961
Smith, Ali "There But For The" - 2011

As you can see, I have read most of those books, as well, I might have to check out those that I didn't. I noticed that all but one of the books have been written in English. I bet that my list would have had books from more than just two countries. There are so many great authors out there in this world.

From the back cover:

"When Aleisha discovers a crumpled reading list tucked into a tattered library book, it sparks an extraordinary journey.

For the list finds Aleisha just when she needs it most, the stories transporting her away from everything - her loneliness, her troubles at home - one page at a time. And when widower Mukesh arrives at the library, desperate to connect with his bookworm granddaughter, Aleisha introduces him to the magic of the reading list. An anxious teenager and a lonely grandfather forming an unlikely book club of two.
Some stories never leave you.

And some change your life, forever."