The Reading List

A faded list.
Nine favourite stories.
For two strangers, friendship is only a page away . . .

*A finalist in the Goodreads Choice Awards for Fiction, discover this year’s most uplifting and heart-warming debut*

When Mukesh Patel pops to the local library, forgoing his routine of grocery shopping and David Attenborough documentaries, he has no idea his life’s about to change.

He meets Aleisha, a reluctant librarian and the keeper of a curious reading list – just a scrappy piece of paper with the names of 9 stories. It doesn’t seem anything special. Yet something tells her to keep it close . . .

Story by story, Mukesh and Aleisha work their way through the list – their worries slipping away with every encounter, with every world discovered in their unlikely book club of two.

A fresh chance at life, at friendship, wasn’t on the cards for these lonely souls – but every story starts somewhere . . .

‘If you love books, 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

‘It’s a perfect escape for anyone who wants to be reminded of the power of stories’ Stephanie Butland

‘A stunning debut that broke my heart and put it back together again’ Radiya Hafiza

Sara Nisha Adams is a writer and editor. She lives in London and was born in Hertfordshire to Indian and English parents. Her debut novel The Reading List was a finalist in the Goodreads Choice Awards for Fiction 2021.