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The Reading List

The Reading List

Current price: $39.99
Publication Date: August 3rd, 2021
Publisher:
HarperCollins
ISBN:
9781665100717
Pages:
0

A beautifully written novel about people connected by a local library and an amazing reading list. As the characters’ lives are revealed through interweaving storylines, readers will root for them, cry for them, and celebrate their victories.

Lisa Driban, Hockessin Book Shelf, Hockessin, DE
August 2021 Indie Next List

This book was like a hug at the end of a long year. It dives into how reading a certain book at a certain time can truly change your life. The characters are so well written, and the story is a beautiful journey of love and loss. Be ready to want to read the books on the reading list!

Alecia Castro, Sweet Home Books, Wetumpka, AL
Fall 2022 Indie Next List for Reading Groups

Description

A BEST OF SUMMER READ ACCORDING TO NEWSWEEK, PARADE MAGAZINE, NBC NEWS, LITHUB, AND POPSUGAR

An unforgettable and heartwarming debut about how a chance encounter with a list of library books helps forge an unlikely friendship between two very different people in a London suburb.

Widower Mukesh lives a quiet life in Wembley, in West London after losing his beloved wife. He shops every Wednesday, goes to Temple, and worries about his granddaughter, Priya, who hides in her room reading while he spends his evenings watching nature documentaries.

Aleisha is a bright but anxious teenager working at the local library for the summer when she discovers a crumpled-up piece of paper in the back of To Kill a Mockingbird. It's a list of novels that she's never heard of before. Intrigued, and a little bored with her slow job at the checkout desk, she impulsively decides to read every book on the list, one after the other. As each story gives up its magic, the books transport Aleisha from the painful realities she's facing at home.

When Mukesh arrives at the library, desperate to forge a connection with his bookworm granddaughter, Aleisha passes along the reading list...hoping that it will be a lifeline for him too. Slowly, the shared books create a connection between two lonely souls, as fiction helps them escape their grief and everyday troubles and find joy again.