Book Review: The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams

I just finished this amazing book called The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams. It sucked me in and I could hardly think of anything else for the 3 afternoons it took me to devour it. I also loved that it had short chapters so I could read a chapter between tasks.

The book has lots of characters but the main characters are Mukesh and Aleisha. They live in London and they meet at the local Harrow Road Library. They are there for very different reasons.

Mukesh is an elderly widow, learning to live without his beloved wife Naina. While his daughters are at his home to go through their mother’s things they find a library book with a thick layer of dust on the cover: The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audry NIffenegger under the bed. Mukesh had always enjoyed watching documentaries while his wife always had her nose in a book. In fact most of his memories were of her curled up with a book. As he began reading The Time Traveler’s Wife he began feeling like he was with his wife. As if she was there with him and his loneliness was gone.

Aleisha is a 17-year-old girl, between high school and college. She has always done well in school; she intends to study law after the summer is over but she hasn’t been able to get the job she wants so her older bother, Aiden has suggested she apply at the library, his favorite place, and past place of employment. At first she doesn’t enjoy her job. She hasn’t read for enjoyment before and she is bitter about not getting the job she likes but she finds a reading list tucked inside a book and is intrigued and begins reading the list and finds it is a great way to travel to other places. Any other place than her stressful home and boring life.

Throughout the book, many people find the same reading list hidden in many places all over town:

• To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
• Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
• The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
• Life of Pi by Yann Martel
• Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin
• Little Women by Lousia May Alcott
• Beloved by Toni Morrison
• A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth

It occurred to me who might have been the person that wrote the list at some point in the book and I was happy to find I was correct.

This book is about relationship, and finding yourself while losing yourself in a book. You can do this by learning the lessons in stories. I am so thankful that my sister, Jamie Holloway loaned this book to me, if you want to read her book review please see JamieChasesButterflies.com.

At the end of the book the author shared their reading list. If you are interested here is Sarah Nisha Adams’ reading list:

• The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri
• The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
• White Teeth by Zadie Smith
• Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
• Standard Deviation by Katherine Henry
• A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry
• Stranger Weather in Tokyo by Hiromi Kawakami
• The Magic Toy Shop by Angela Carter
• I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
• Sunlight on a Broken Column by Attia Hosain
• There But For The by Ali Smith

I have read a few of the books on these lists but I intend to read them all and reread the ones I have read again. It is good to revisit a good book. I also took a few minutes and crafted my own reading list in case you are interested:

• The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein’
• A Little Princess by Francess Hodgson Burnett
• Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver
• The Bluest Eyes by Toni Morrision
• Memoirs of a Geisha by Arther Golden
• The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
• Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neal Hurston
• Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
• The Soul of an Indian by Charles Alexander Eastman
• Carmello by Sandra Cisneros

Each of these books came to me at very different times in my life and left their mark on me forever. I would love to hear your reading book list too. If you want to share leave it in the comments below.

Buy your own copy of The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams on Amazon

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Thank you Jesus that You are the Son of God, the God that created heaven and earth. Thank you Jesus that You came to earth in the form of a man so that You would be able to empathize with my humanity. Thank You that You did this in order to fulfill the promises You made at the foundation of the world.

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