This book had a great premise. I loved the community spirit in this book
It deals with loneliness and mental health.
The writing was ok but nothing groundbreaking

A heartwarming, bittersweet read!
I loved the characters (mostly) & enjoyed reading this but it was very predictable.

Aleisha isn't thrilled by her temporary job in the local Harrow Road library but it offers some sort of escape from home where her mother struggles with mental her mental health and would much rather lean lean on Aleisha's older brother.

Mukesh Patel lives his life by rote follwoing the death of his wife. Listening to voicemails from his daughters, watching David Attenborough and worrying about his quiet, bookish granddaughter Priya. When he finds an overdue library book amongst his wife's things he has an inauspicious encounter with an indifferent Aleisha. But when Aleisha finds a handwritten reading list in a copy of To Kill A Mockingbird she starts to find meaning and magic in books and decides to share them with her lonely customer. The two strike up an unlikely friendship and find that books can help them offer comfort and support through Mukesh's bereavement and a sudden tragedy that rocks Aleisha's fragile family.

A lovely story about the power of books to teach, comfort and create connections. It's an affecting tale with some gentle humour and a shining love for stories. It warms the heart despite often tugging at its strings. I'd tenuously suggest reading the books that are on the list that is central to the story although most of the "spoilers" are for works so well-known that a warning probably isn't necessary.

The premise of The Reading List is quite simple - a mysterious list of books is found by a few different people in different places in Wembley, London. We follow two people who are connected only by the list - Aleisha and Mukesh, who form an unlikely but lovely friendship.

Aleisha works, grudgingly, in the library. She doesn’t read, doesn’t care about books and would much rather be on holiday with her friends instead of being stuck at work or stuck at home with her volatile mother.
Mukesh is a recent widower and has a gap in his life where his wife used to be. He’s struggling to connect with his grown daughters and their children, finding his place in temple and how he does all of the things his wife used to be largely in charge of - make dinner, keep the house clean etc.

Through this list of books, with titles like To Kill a Mockingbird and Life of Pi, Aleisha and Mukesh discover a whole new set of worlds as well as common ground. The other people in and around their lives are in the story too - Aleisha’s Mum and brother, Mukesh’s family and friends, the colleagues at the library.

The writing isn’t very poetic or difficult, so I would recommend against this if you prefer something more advanced or many layered. There’s a fair amount of ‘he said’ then ‘she said’. Nothing wrong with that, of course, and it’s a great book to read if you don’t fancy anything complicated.

This would make a good Sunday afternoon TV programme, a largely comforting watch with a familiar cast of characters.
I should say though, there are a couple of big plot turns which tackle difficult subjects and situations, which could affect readers. One in particular is quite out of the blue and so could be a bit of a nasty surprise.
This part of the story actually increased my interest in this - it made the characters seem more ‘real’, it provided a focus to draw them together and wrapped it all up nicely.

The Reading List itself is interesting and has some classic books on there - some I’ve read, and some I haven’t. It did make me want to read the ones I haven’t, actually - Adams connects the plots of the book and the characters in the story with the ones we’re getting to know in ‘The Reading List’. There are some spoilers in there though so be aware if you haven’t read them, you might find out what happens at the end!

Thanks to HarperCollins and Netgalley for the DRC, as always.

This was a great read and one I enjoyed more than I expected to

Thanks to the publisher for sending me a review copy via Netgalley

The Reading List by Sarah Nisha Adams has ironically been on my reading list for a long time! I had first come across it on and was honestly just taken by its title, the cover and the South Asian rep. I unfortunately never got around to it until it ended up as last month’s book club read.

Synopsis: Sometimes, in the rush of daily life, people just need a little help to find their way. For Mukesh, an elderly widower, life has just seemed empty after the death of his wife Naina. For Aleisha, a teenager with a difficult set of circumstances, life feels like a monotonous existence lived from the sidelines. Based on a chance encounter at their local library and a nondescript reading list, these two form an unlikely friendship.

Thoughts: I feel like I really missed out by not reading this earlier. Despite the rollercoaster of emotions it takes you on, this is such a hopeful book! This works really well as a book club read and easily inspires prompts to open up conversation.

Verdict: If you enjoyed reading Mitch Albom’s The Five People You Meet in Heaven or Matt Haig’s The Midnight Library, you will enjoy this book! This book could be recommended to more mature, upper secondary level students.

This took me a little while to get I to, but I did enjoy it. A heartwarming book about books that shows how reading can help you heal and help you cope with life.

I started this book and put it down several times I just couldn’t get into it but after several attempts something clicked and I’m so glad I stuck with it aleshia and mukesh too unlikely friends on young girl in a job she ain’t keen on and a man struggling with the loss of his wife there lives come together thru a list why? Who? The books on the list meant something to someone and each of them resignate bringing lives together A great read and cried at the end made me add some classics to my TBR.

A sweet story that started off slow but really picked up. I fell in love with the characters and loved the relationship that developed between Mukesh and Alicia. I really felt for both of them and was glad that they found each other’s friendship. I thought the story developed well and I liked the ending, I thought it finished it off perfectly. I’ve read two of the books on the list but I definitely want to go away and read the rest now, it really inspired me!

A sweet and sentimental tale that founders under the weight of a tragic (and unnecessary to the story) event.

Mukesh is a widower and struggling with his loss but makes the decision to visit his local library. There he encounters Aleisha, a student working part-time as a library assistant. Neither are avid readers until Aleisha discovers a reading list (source unknown).

From their joint reading springs an unlikely but warm friendship. Reading helps Mukesh understand his wife’s love of books and both take solace in the life lessons they derive from their reading.

Then an unheralded tragedy occurs and the tone of the book shifts from sweet and sentimental to mawkish and ill considered. A real disappointment.

I loved this book. It made me emotional at times. Books about books are a joy!
A chance encounter with a list of library books starts an unlikely friendship between two very different people.

I usually try to start my reviews by offering a small synopsis of the book (no spoilers, of course); however, that’s not possible with this book as everything is covered in the above blurb. Yes, a few other things happen, but that would be entering in to the no-go area of book reviews, and I simply refuse to do it.

I’m not sure what I was expecting from this book, but I ended up feeling a little let down. It was an OK read, with OK writing, but honestly, it was nothing special. It was a lukewarm cup of tea.

In essence, we have two main characters, who are brought together by a reading list and their local library. Mukesh is an interesting, charming and quite complex character, whilst Aleisha I found to be rather unfinished, despite her storyline. I just couldn’t really warm to her, and never felt like I got to know her properly. Other characters are equally unrounded, and largely annoying.

I really liked the idea of a reading list (and it’s a good list, to be fair, one I will no doubt pick up myself, though I had read at least half of them already) but it didn’t go far enough. At times I felt the author was using it more as an opportunity to highlight her own reading, her own thoughts and opinions, and she relied far too heavily on other author’s words and imaginations to push her own story along. It felt like a cheat in some ways, and it really didn’t sit well with me.

As such, this wasn’t as unique as it should have been and just ended up being middle of the road. Ultimately, I wasn’t impressed.

I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone, as, for me, this was a very forgettable book, though I can see I’m in the minority on this one.

Such a really good debut book I cant wait for more from this author. I felt really attached to the characters and was really gripped throughout.

As much about family and friendship as it is about books, The Reading List shows how the shared experience of reading and talking about books can bring even the most disparate people together and create unique bonds of understanding.

Reluctant reader Aleisha is only working at the library as a stopgap, to escape her family situation, but when she snaps at a vulnerable elderly man and regrets it, she finds herself recommending a book she hasn’t read from an anonymous reading list, as an olive branch. And having recommended the book, she feels compelled to read it. As he feels obligated to read it by her recommendation. And so begins a chain of small and seemingly insignificant meetings and book recommendations, that spark off a series of events and relationships that change both their lives (and those of others around them) in very significant ways.

I don’t feel that you need to have read all of the books on the eponymous reading list to experience the emotional impact of the story, but I confess that I have read them all and it did give an added dimension to the book, as I could relate the plots and characters of those real-life novels with the situations and characters presented within these pages. So, just for information, here are the reading list books in question: The Time-Traveller’s Wife; To Kill a Mockingbird; Rebecca; Life of Pi; The Kite Runner; Pride and Prejudice; Little Women; A Suitable Boy; Beloved. There is no necessity to have enjoyed all of the books on the list – they are all very different, and even Aleisha and Mukesh struggle with some of them along the way – but from a personal point of view, I concur with the list’s author in recommending every single one of them!

Obviously, this book has all of the right ingredients for a heart-warming, touching bookworm-y tale. The story encompasses sensitive issues around loss and grief, familial relationships and connecting to others outside of your comfort zone, but the main message I took away from it (and one I live my own life by) is the healing power of a good book.


Review by Steph Warren of Bookshine and Readbows blog

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for this free ecopy of The Reading List in exchange for an honest review. I loved the idea of this story, it was a celebration of books and libraries. At times I found the pace a bit slow. I didn't enjoy the hallucination/visions of the characters and I wasn't a fan of the plot twist with Aidan.

This book was such a beautiful love letter to reading itself in my opinion. Having been tempted by the title and cover I was not disappointed by the gorgeous narrative which awaited me within.
Ms Nisha Adams introduces us to a whole cast of characters who are brought together by books and in particular the reading list of the title. The two main characters though, Mukesh and Aleisha, have stuck in my heart and I am still thinking about them after closing the book on the final page. If you want to feel hopeful about the spirit of community and the uniting power of books, this is definitely one for you.
I would hate to spoil it for anyone by going into too much detail here but I think it's fair to say that this novel left me brimming with emotion and it was dust in my eyes I swear, I wasn't crying. Well alright, maybe just a little...

I really really enjoyed this. I loved how the stories intertwined. One slight critique was Maybe there was one too many and would have liked more of a focus on auden. Would recommend though.

A bibliophile's paradise - warm, life-affirming and chock full of references.

Oh I do like a book about books, readers, libraries and reading. Gets me right between my covers.

I know that I'm the EXACT reader to enjoy this, which is why I fancied a warm and comfortable book about the things I love best. And I knew as I started the rough way the book would go, with seemingly distant characters at some point blending into one story, with books bringing them together.

Yes, but it was just so LOVELY. And there's a good mixture of characters, an ethnic smorgasbord of young and old, Asian and black, there are mental health problems here, parents and those mourning loved ones. It's a book about a whole community, and how a shared love can bring lonely people together.

A list of books passes into various hands. Who wrote it - nobody knows. Why these books are there - equally a mystery. But for a young library worker, herself disdainful of books, a grieving and withdrawn Asian man, and the others who find this list, it's the start of a tale that brings them together as potential readers and friends.

There are moments of true sorrow here, genuine grief and pain, and a story about forcing yourself out from isolation and seeing answers and help in both other people and in great literature.

I loved the List itself, all of which I have either read and loved or am familiar with, so seeing the comfort and joy the characters experience while discovering these books was a pleasure in itself to me. Very well constructed and thought-out.

It's a title I could easily have (if time!) finished then instantly started again. Any voracious reader who tries this will know what I mean.

Joyous, uplifting and reminds us what it feels like to find a book we connect with.

With thanks to Netgalley for providing a sample reading copy.

My favourite read of 2021. A beautiful book about the joys of reading and connecting with people.
The characters were so well developed and I had tears reading this multiple times.
I will be buying this as a present for friends and family this year !

What a charming novel. That is undeniably the best way to describe it. Charming from the first page to its last.

The Reading List is a Love Actually-esque books with disparate characters who are all somehow connected. It is this connection - often unknown by the characters - that binds the story like the glue that binds a book together.

For me the most heartwarming of connections was between Aleisha and Mukesh, two people who couldn't be further from each others lives if they tried. However, the bond that they create over a newly discovered passion for books is wonderful and to be able to witness unfold is such a privilege.

The Reading List really exemplifies the restorative power of literature and the world wide need to cherish libraries and the treasure the things inside - not just the stories on the page but the stories of the people who use them.

A truly wonderful novel by Sara Nisha Adams.

The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams is available now.

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