The Reading List

Preview

Failed to add items

Sorry, we are unable to add the item because your shopping cart is already at capacity.

Add to basket failed.

Please try again later

Add to wishlist failed.

Please try again later

Remove from wishlist failed.

Please try again later

Adding to library failed

Please try again

Follow podcast failed

Unfollow podcast failed

£0.00 for first 30 days

LIMITED TIME OFFER

Get 3 months for £0.99/mo

Get this deal

Try Premium Plus free

Offer ends December 16, 2025 11:59pm GMT.

Prime members: New to Audible? Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.

Just £0.99/mo for your first 3 months of Audible.

1 bestseller or new release per month—yours to keep.

Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, podcasts, and Originals.

Auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.

Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.

Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.

Access exclusive sales and deals.

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

The Reading List

By: Sara Nisha Adams, Paul Panting

Narrated by: Sagar Arya, Tara Divina, Paul Panting

Get this deal

Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly. Offer ends December 16, 2025 11:59pm GMT.

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Only £0.99 a month for the first 3 months. Pay £0.99 for the first 3 months, and £8.99/month thereafter. Renews automatically. Terms apply. Start my membership

About this listen

A new chapter is just beginning…

*A finalist in the Goodreads Choice Awards for Fiction 2021!*

‘A love letter to books, reading and the power of connection – absolutely gorgeous’ Sunday Times bestseller, RUTH WARE

When Aleisha discovers a crumpled reading list tucked into a tattered library book, it sparks an extraordinary journey.

From timeless stories of love and friendship to an epic journey across the Pacific Ocean with a boy and a tiger in a boat, the list opens a gateway to new and wonderful worlds – just when Aleisha needs an escape from her troubles at home.

And when widower Mukesh arrives at the library, desperate to connect with his bookworm granddaughter, Aleisha introduces him to the magic of the reading list. An anxious teenager and a lonely grandfather forming an unlikely book club of two.

Inspiring and heartwarming, The Reading List is a love letter to storytelling – its power to transport us, connect us, and remind us that a new beginning is only a page away…

A real heart-lifter . . . . A joyful, uplifting read’ Good Housekeeping

‘A gorgeous debut novel about the power reading has to bring people together, no matter the barriers of age, culture and class’ Red

City Life

Family Life

Fiction

Friendship

Genre Fiction

Literary Fiction

Urban

Feel-Good

Heartfelt

Inspiring

Listeners also enjoyed...

Pride & Prejudice: Special Edition with Bonus Chapter cover art

The Particular Charm of Miss Jane Austen cover art

Critic reviews

"The story is an absolute joy. I loved the way Aleisha and Mukesh found their lives entwined thanks to the power of books.... A captivating and exquisitely crafted debut." (Sunday Times best-selling author Heidi Swain)

"If you love books, read this. If you love people, 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)

"The Reading List absolutely captures the magic of reading and of libraries. I felt a part of Mukesh and Aleisha's book club, revisiting some of my favourite novels alongside these new friends." (Louise Hare)

Most relevant

This book is everything I could have possibly asked for. Hearing it was like being wrapped in a warm hug the whole time. The writing is beautiful – so warm and utterly pulls you in. It made me grin, it made me laugh and it also made me cry along the way. Told with such tenderness, it’s a story I’m recommending to everyone I know!