The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams
Aleisha is killing a summer working unwillingly at the local library before she goes away to school. Her home life is difficult; she is estranged from her friends; she is extremely lonely until she finds a list of book recommendations and decides to try them.
Mukesh is a widower whose wife was the reader, but when he goes to the library to return a book she had borrowed, he finds himself on a journey down the list with Aleisha in hopes of connecting with his wife’s memory and with his young granddaughter, who bonded with her grandmother over books. Slowly the list and the books change their lives and the lives of the community, but will it be enough to see them through all the challenges life still has in store?
I think I found this book at the right time. It was one of my fall break books, and I had time to let the characters’ experiences of the books mix with my memories of them. I love the idea of someone leaving a reading list of good books for anyone who needed them, and I loved watching the way these books, many of which I had also read and loved, changed lives and forged connections. It made me wonder: if I were going to make a list, what would the books be?
Pride and Prejudice--”It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in search of a wife.” I was hooked from the first sentence, as it was so different from the books we usually read in my English classes. It’s a story of personal growth and of admitting being wrong. It’s a story of family, forgiveness, and how two of the best and most headstrong characters in literature found love. It’s not frothy, but it is full of humor, and it is a book that infinitely rewards rereading.
To Kill a Mockingbird--When I used to read this with my classes, we read the ending together, and I’m not sure I ever read the line, “It would be like killing a mockingbird,” without crying, or the scene on the porch in the last pages. It does have its flaws, but I need its message of empathy and acceptance, and its illustration of how true change happens--one person at a time.
My Reading Life by Pat Conroy or Beach Read--I wrote about it here.
Harry Potter Series--I will never not need these books for their friendship, magic, and belief in the good.
Anne of Green Gables--one of the first kindred spirits I ever recognized in a book. I always hoped she would have liked me.
If you’ve been here for a while, none of these are a surprise. I’ve talked about all of them repeatedly. But each of these books changed my life, and I return to them again and again, looking for answers and comfort and connection. Maybe The Reading List should be on this list too, because it certainly brought these things back to me.
