THE READING LIST by Sara Nissa Adams

This is a gorgeous debut novel from English writer Sara Nisha Adams.

I picked up this novel at Indigo in Charlottetown before Christmas after being attracted to the cover.

This is a gorgeous debut novel from English writer Sara Nisha Adams. It follows the story of Aleisha, a librarian at a local library, and Mukesh, a Kenyan immigrant looking to connect with his young granddaughter, who is a keen reader. His late wife had forged a close relationship with little Priya through books.

Aleisha finds a handwritten list of books and as she reads them, she recommends them to Mukesh as he seeks to learn to enjoy books, something he hadn’t done while his wife was alive. This list brings books into both their lives that teach them both valuable lessons.

I confess when I was a few chapters in, I was unsure if this was a book I would finish - I had difficulty seeing how the story would progress meaningfully. However, I persevered and I am so glad I did, as it turned out to be a beautiful, moving story.

The only critique I would offer was that there are some chapters where random people are introduced to the reading list in different settings. Now that I have finished the book, I understand the relevance of those chapters but they still feel a little underdeveloped, maybe superfluous to the greater story. Nonetheless, they do not take anything away from the overall novel, so it’s just a small thing.

The writing quality is excellent and I truly enjoyed this book - so much so I stayed up close to three hours last night finishing it, such that it was that I needed to know what would happen next! That’s the sign of a good yarn - and this is a great yarn.

This is a great book. A great summer/beach read or one to cosy up to.