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The Reading List  By  cover art

The Reading List

By: Sara Nisha Adams
Narrated by: Tara Divina, Sagar Arya, Paul Panting
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Publisher's summary

An unforgettable and heartwarming debut about how a chance encounter and a list of library books helps forge an unlikely friendship between two very different people—a lonely London widower and a troubled teenager.

Widower Mukesh lives a quiet life in the London Borough of Ealing 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.

©2021 Sara Nisha Adams (P)2021 HarperCollins Publishers

What listeners say about The Reading List

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What a wonderful story

This is a great book. Now I want to read all of the books on the reading list! It made me laugh and cry and I was sorry to have the book end.

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Well worth the listen!

I really enjoyed getting to know the characters as they explored the different books. The way they found the list and interacted. The narrators did a wonderful job as well. I want to read the books on the list too!

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DELIGHTFUL!

Truly a delightful story and characters. I fell in love with all of them! But watching the friendship evolve between Mr. P and Aleisha was so special!

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loved it

i laughed, i cried, i enjoyed, i hope you do too.
may you have a blessed day.

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  • MB
  • 04-27-22

Deeply moving and beautiful book

If you like books you will be drawn to the filter - and you will be glad that you were. If you aren’t a book reader so much, this book is also for you. It is a universally relatable story about life, love, loss, pain and joy. The performers were excellent too - they were so good that they added an extra dimension. Of interest is the fact that race is never directly mentioned. Yet, all that is needed for this story is right there. I’m still processing it all, I can’t find the right words. Please do not be intimidated if you have not read the books - the author is very capable of giving you everything you need to know. This would actually be a great book for someone who wants to read more often. Or an avid reader…anyone.

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Books can help us to live life

Full of wisdom, love, pain, friendship, and hope. Very well written. Amazing as an audio book to get the feeling of the people through voices. I will be thinking about this one for a long time.

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Touching Story

An interesting look at the way books shape our lives, and bring people together. very good narrators.

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Such a pleasure to listen to.

Just wonderful! I grew to love these characters! Peaked my interest in the books on the list also!!

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Charming

What a great feel good story! An odd to books- the power of them and the joy. The narrators made this so enjoyable!

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The Reading List

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! I loved the characters, the story and the narrators! They have made me want to get all the books on the Reading List and read them all, in fact I’ve downloaded some of them already! I hope this book inspires you as much as it did me!!

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