The Reading List

After finishing The Weight of Ink, a very hefty read, I was glad that next in my "to be read" pile was The Reading List. It's a new novel by Sara Nisha Adams. I might have read about it in Renee's Reading Club on Facebook or it might have been part of a list of good summer reads. Wherever I picked up the idea to read it, I'm glad I did.

The Reading List is not a light and fluffy book, but it was easy to read. It was a novel about the power of books and the place of the library in the lives of a community. It's also about personal connections. It's also about grief.

A bunch of folks in Wembley found a list of books to read in random spots. Some of the people who found a copy of the list were readers, but many were not. It helped that I'd read all but one of the books on the list, but I don't know that it's necessary to have read them in order to enjoy this novel.

As I've shared before, I am a reader, but my husband is not. This quote from the book really screamed out to me.

"She was my wife, I should have paid attention to the books she liked. I liked  to watch her read, but never asked her what was happening in her books. I feel silly starting to read storybooks at my age." "It's never too late to read stories." "Stories feel so weird. Like seeing someone else's life that ou are not meant to. Being nosy!"

Over the past year, my kids and I have talked more and more about what we're reading. I was telling them about The Reading List when one of them asked me what my favorite book is. They might as well have asked me which one of them was my favorite child. There's no way to answer. Then my son said, "Well, you've read so much during the pandemic. What's one book that stands out to you that you've read over the past year and a half?" I did some thinking and eventually settled on Anxious People by Fredrik Backman. My comment when finishing that one was "Brings into focus what really matters." 

The conversation, though, has me thinking about what my favorite books might be. Like if I were to write up a list of books that I think others might find helpful, what books would I include? What books have helped me? I will probably keep thinking of this over the coming weeks and months.

The author shared what would be HER list of books she'd put on a book list which were quite different from the books her character selected for the list used in the novel. The books on her list are books that inspired her to want to be a reader and eventually a writer. I've copied down that list since unbelievably, while I've heard of several of the book, I haven't read a single one on her list!

1. Jhumpa Lahiri, The Namesake
2. Arundhati Roy, The God of Small Things
3. Zadie Smith, White Teeth
4. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Americanah
5. Katherine Heiny, Standard Deviation
6. Rohinton Mistry, A Fine Balance
7. Hiromi Kawakami, Strange Weather in Tokyo
8. Angela Carter, The Magic Toyshop
   
9. Maya Angelou, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
10. Attia Hosain, Sunlight on a Broken Column
11. Ali Smith, There But For The

There were a few other quotes that I highlighted, but strictly because of the text-to-self connections that I was able to make.

She loved this flat because her daughter had made it her own, and Naina had always prided herself on letting her daughters do what felt best for them, and making a space in the world for themselves. "Because if you don't, who will?" she used to say.

I don't often say that, but I always think that about my daughters and their choices.

He only wished that when Naina had gone, too, Naina had been there holding his hand. Leading him through his grief step by step.

This is another thought I often have. Like how would I have possibly made it through the deaths of my parents without having my cousin at my side. But then when my cousin died, who was there to help me make it through that grief?

He knew the world Priya was in right now. There was something magical in that - in sharing a world you have loved; allowing someone to see it through the same pair of spectacles you saw it through yourself.

Readers are never at a loss to find things to talk about with other readers. Ever. "Whatcha reading now?" Sharing books you've both loved. Sharing book recommendations.

And finally:

"I worried that you needed someone to take care of you after Mummy died, but I didn't give you the credit that you could take care of yourself, and when I tried to look after you, I forgot how to keep you company. I'm sorry." 

I'm sorry, Dad. After Mom died, you seemed so lost. I wanted to take care of you the way that you took care of me. In those first few weeks before we found out that you were sick, I should have more fully enjoyed spending time with you rather than worrying about how you were going to survive once I went home. Then, you were sick, and I really did need to, not necessarily take care of you but, advocate for you at the hospital and at the nursing home. I'm so glad, though, Dad, that during those 4 months, we really did get to keep each other company. And I think we did a good job of that.

I highly recommend this novel! This was Adams' debut novel, but she's got another one coming in the spring, The Shared Garden. I'm anxious to learn what that one is about.