The Reading List

by Sara Nisha Adams

He can feel the story take control of his mind, pulling him away. His own thoughts, his worries, that voice, begin to buzz at the back of his mind, and eventually they become nothing but white noise.

Just in case you need it: To Kill a Mockingbird Rebecca The Kite Runner Life of Pi Pride and Prejudice Little Women Beloved A Suitable Boy

As he steps away from the library, he feels the peace, the silence, slide away from him as he heads toward the lights and sounds of the city he calls home.

“The people are endlessly fascinating,” Aidan had said to her when she’d told him she’d actually gotten the job. “Like, just watching people sit and be quiet, or browse, or whatever, when they don’t realize they’re being watched . . . It’s like, I don’t know, no one’s trying to be someone they’re not in a library.”

I know this isn’t your usual thing, but I read To Kill a Mockingbird when I was twenty-one and going through a hard time—it taught me a lot back then, and I got to see the world through the eyes of a child once more, the good and the bad. It was an escape for me; I threw myself into the world, into the injustices, into the characters, and it was the respite I needed from my own life—for it helped me care deeply about someone else’s.

Sometimes, books just take us away for a little while, and return us to our place with a new perspective.

Indira was always searching for connection; it was just that, quite often, no one was searching with her.

for the first time since Leilah’s dark days, weeks, and months had begun, she had let her daughter in, even if just for a moment. All thanks to a boy, a tiger, an orangutan, a zebra, and a hyena stuck on a boat. Leilah kissed Aleisha gently on her face and wandered upstairs without looking back. The book was still open in Aleisha’s hands, but she couldn’t read the words any longer. The plastic cover was hot and soft under her fingertips. She wanted to remember this moment, the warmth of it, and how a terrifyingly unpredictable tiger and a boy could create this magic beyond the pages. She didn’t want to think about whether this moment, this feeling, her own and Leilah’s, would last until the morning. She knew she might never re-create this moment again, but she hoped she could. She believed the book . . . and the list . . . they might bring her mother back to her.

Priya was reading a book he knew all about. 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.

“Please try to remember that books aren’t always an escape; sometimes books teach us things. They show us the world; they don’t hide it.”

Books always change as the person who reads them changes too.

This is my reading list. Jhumpa Lahiri, The Namesake Arundhati Roy, The God of Small Things Zadie Smith, White Teeth Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Americanah Katherine Heiny, Standard Deviation Rohinton Mistry, A Fine Balance Hiromi Kawakami, Strange Weather in Tokyo Angela Carter, The Magic Toyshop Maya Angelou, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings Attia Hosain, Sunlight on a Broken Column Ali Smith, There But For The

Love After Love by Ingrid Persaud, a story of found family—it

Keeping the House by Tice Cin—a novel full of strong, smart women, about the roles they play in their family and community in North London.

The Impossible Us by Sarah Lotz, which I read holding my breath. A bighearted love story that is clever and funny and sharp.