I “read” this on multi-cast audio, and enjoyed it very much. It is quite possible that the voices, particularly of the older Indian gentleman, improved the reading experience over that of text on the page.

This is a story about two lonely people, an elderly widower and a seventeen year old girl, who both read the same reading list, and how it changes their lives. Mental health issues play a role, as well as grief. I found the elderly gentlemen refreshingly endearing.

I haven’t read all the books on their reading list, but a few details referred to in the ones I had read had errors in them. This was unfortunate and unnecessary. But I did like how books were the central theme that brought people to positive change. I know that can happen and have felt it in my own life too. And who wrote the reading list in the book, anyway?

Here are some quotes about books from the book:

• “Sometimes, books just take us away for a little while, and return us to our place with a new perspective.”
• “I guess books say different things to different people.“
• “Books always change as the person who reads them changes too.“.
• “…books, they had the power to heal.”
• “I think you can read whatever you want into anything. That is the point of books.”

The Reading List is set in a suburb of London, and doesn’t leave the characters where you found them, even though their location remains the same. This for me is true about good books, and it made me want to read the ones discussed that I hadn’t yet read. You might enjoy reading this book about the effects of reading too. It is especially good on audio. I give it 4 stars.