OCTOBER 2021 - AudioFile
Narrators Tara Divina, Sagar Arya, and Paul Panting bring us this intergenerational novel about a grandfather and granddaughter who are struggling through grief and falling in love with reading. Listeners are treated to a seamless listening experience as the narrators deliver warm, rich descriptions of Mukesh and Aleisha's separate grief-stricken paths. Divina portrays the young, bored, teenager Aleisha, who is looking for something to do when she comes across a list of recommended books during her work at the local library. Panting portrays the older Mukesh, who is looking for a way to connect and is willing to read whatever his granddaughter recommends. Bookworms will love this title, which celebrates reading—and the power of books to bring us together. M.R. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine
Publishers Weekly
06/28/2021
Adams’s winsome debut follows a widower who takes up reading in order to honor the memory of his wife. After Londoner Mukesh’s wife, Naina, dies, he picks up the book she was reading before she died, The Time-Traveler’s Wife, hoping “to turn the black letters and yellowed pages into a letter from Naina to him.” When he later returns the book to the library, he meets the restless and prickly 17-year-old library worker Aleisha, who reluctantly took the job after encouragement from her troubled older brother, also a bookworm. As time passes, Mukesh and Aleisha become good friends, with Mukesh and his granddaughter, Priya, joining in on a reading list Aleisha found tucked in a returned book, which includes such classics as To Kill a Mockingbird, Little Women, and Beloved. When the creator of the list is revealed, there isn’t much in the way of surprise, but it gains emotional resonance after Adams links the list to a late-breaking tragic event. Adams is a brisk and solid plotter, and has an easy hand with creating characters who are easy to root for. Readers will be charmed and touched. Agent: Hayley Steed, Madeleine Milburn Literary. (Aug.)
From the Publisher
"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." — Popsugar
"Thoughtful and heartwarming... An absolute delight to read, it will be catnip to book groups craving a story to remind them why we read and how very important libraries and book shops are." — Library Journal (starred review)
"A lovely story about how a love of reading can transport us to other worlds and also bring us together.” — Toronto Star
"This moving debut demonstrates the power of novels to provide comfort in the face of devastating loss and loneliness, with relatable characters and a heartwarming tone throughout. Readers who enjoyed Gabrielle Zevin's The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry and Nina George's The Little Paris Bookshop will find themselves drawn in by this book." — Booklist
"The most heartfelt read of the summer...a surprising delight of a novel." — Shondaland
“The story is an absolute joy. A captivating and exquisitely crafted debut.” — Heidi Swain, bestselling author of The Winter Garden
“If you love books, read this. If you love people, read this. If you love crying with sadness, crying with happiness, and feeling like you have been wrapped in the blanket of someone else's life, read this.” — Debbie Johnson, bestselling author of Maybe One Day
“A wonderful read about the fundamental power of books to lift our lives from the mundane and transform them into something truly magical.” — Imogen Clark, bestselling author of Postcards From a Stranger
“The Reading List absolutely captures the magic of reading and of libraries. I felt a part of Mukesh and Aleisha's book club, revisiting some of my favourite novels alongside these new friends.” — Louise Hare, author of The Lovely City
Imogen Clark
A wonderful read about the fundamental power of books to lift our lives from the mundane and transform them into something truly magical.”
Toronto Star
"A lovely story about how a love of reading can transport us to other worlds and also bring us together.”
Newsweek
"A quietly beautiful novel about the magic of books and the joy of human connection.
Heidi Swain
The story is an absolute joy. A captivating and exquisitely crafted debut.”
Louise Hare
“The Reading List absolutely captures the magic of reading and of libraries. I felt a part of Mukesh and Aleisha's book club, revisiting some of my favourite novels alongside these new friends.”
Debbie Johnson
If you love books, read this. If you love people, read this. If you love crying with sadness, crying with happiness, and feeling like you have been wrapped in the blanket of someone else's life, read this.”
Popsugar
"A remarkable, heartwarming debut about the power of fiction."
Booklist
"This moving debut demonstrates the power of novels to provide comfort in the face of devastating loss and loneliness, with relatable characters and a heartwarming tone throughout. Readers who enjoyed Gabrielle Zevin's The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry and Nina George's The Little Paris Bookshop will find themselves drawn in by this book."
Shondaland
"The most heartfelt read of the summer...a surprising delight of a novel."
Newsweek
"A quietly beautiful novel about the magic of books and the joy of human connection.
Booklist
"This moving debut demonstrates the power of novels to provide comfort in the face of devastating loss and loneliness, with relatable characters and a heartwarming tone throughout. Readers who enjoyed Gabrielle Zevin's The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry and Nina George's The Little Paris Bookshop will find themselves drawn in by this book."
Library Journal
★ 08/13/2021
DEBUT London-based widower Mukesh grieves the loss of his wife Naina and passes his days in routine loneliness. Seventeen-year-old Aleisha is working in her local library for the summer, escaping the troubles at home and tamping down university anxiety. When Mukash visits the library to return a book for his late wife and hoping to use reading to connect with his young and alienated granddaughter Priya, Aleisha gives him a list of novels she discovered in a returned copy of To Kill a Mockingbird. As Aleisha, Mukash, and then Priya read through the list together, their lives open in surprising directions, demonstrating once again the enriching qualities of the novel. VERDICT This thoughtful and heartwarming debut joyfully joins Gabrielle Zevin's The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry, Antoine Laurain's The Red Notebook, and Nina George's The Little Paris Bookshop as yet another homage to the power of books and reading. An absolute delight to read, it will be catnip to book groups craving a story to remind them why we read and how very important libraries and book shops are.—Susan Clifford Braun, Bainbridge Island, WA
School Library Journal
★ 08/01/2021
Elderly Mukesh Patel has become a hermit since the death of his wife. Naina was an avid reader, a passion Mukesh never shared. Happening upon a library copy of The Time Traveler's Wife that she'd forgotten to return, he starts to read it and finds himself entranced. Teenager Aleisha is not a reader and is completely bored with her summer job as a library clerk. While she's checking in books, a piece of paper falls out of one. Titled "JUST IN CASE YOU NEED IT," it's a list of eight classic books, beginning with To Kill a Mockingbird. With nothing else to do, she decides to read all the books on the list. Aleisha shares the list with Mukesh, who soon begins to use the library as an escape from his too-quiet home. The feeling of being immersed into the world of a book is accurately depicted. The novel is divided into sections based upon each book, and the characters eventually learn how the books' themes resonate in their own lives. VERDICT This is a book for lovers of books, especially fiction. It might also be perfect for those who think they don't love books.—Marlyn Beebe, Long Beach P.L., CA
OCTOBER 2021 - AudioFile
Narrators Tara Divina, Sagar Arya, and Paul Panting bring us this intergenerational novel about a grandfather and granddaughter who are struggling through grief and falling in love with reading. Listeners are treated to a seamless listening experience as the narrators deliver warm, rich descriptions of Mukesh and Aleisha's separate grief-stricken paths. Divina portrays the young, bored, teenager Aleisha, who is looking for something to do when she comes across a list of recommended books during her work at the local library. Panting portrays the older Mukesh, who is looking for a way to connect and is willing to read whatever his granddaughter recommends. Bookworms will love this title, which celebrates reading—and the power of books to bring us together. M.R. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
2021-06-16
An aging widower and a lonely teenage girl form an unlikely friendship by bonding over books.
Aleisha works at the Harrow Road Library in North London not for her love of books, but because she needs the money. When Mukesh, an older man who's recently lost his wife, visits the library seeking a book recommendation, Aleisha has little to offer. As he pushes for a suggestion, she becomes defensive, even rude. She regrets her behavior almost immediately, but she’s more focused on difficulties in her home life, including her absentee father and her mentally fragile mother. Even so, when she stumbles on a handwritten reading list tucked into a just-returned book, she impulsively uses it as a way to apologize to Mukesh, recommending the first book, To Kill a Mockingbird. She also decides to read every book on the list herself, rationalizing that it will help pass the long days in the library. When Mukesh returns to tell Aleisha how much he enjoyed Mockingbird, they decide to create an impromptu book club. It seems this budding relationship is just the thing to save Mukesh from his continued grief over his late wife. Meanwhile, Aleisha begins relying on Mukesh as the only stable adult in her life. When Aleisha’s family suffers a devastating event, Aleisha looks to Mukesh to help her pick up the pieces, but he’s not sure he’s the person she needs. Full of references to popular and classic novels, this debut focuses on reading as a means of processing and coping with challenging life events. The author deftly captures the quiet and listless vibe of ill-fated libraries everywhere. Told from the perspectives of both Aleisha and Mukesh, as well as a sampling of other characters, the story shows an insightful empathy for difficulties faced at divergent life stages. The author explores many difficult topics with grace, like mental illness, grief, abandonment, and self-doubt. Although the pace starts off slow, things pick up in the later pages and reach a satisfying conclusion.
A quiet and thoughtful look into loneliness, community, and the benefits of reading—suited for true bibliophiles.
