The St. Johns County Public Library System is inviting the public to participate in the 20th annual “One Book, One Community” reading celebration, St. Johns Reads, which began Jan. 2. An event focused on creating a shared conversation on a selected novel, the library system will host various programs on “The Reading List” by Sara Nisha Adams.
In addition to book discussions, food and craft programs, and movie nights throughout January, author Sara Nisha Adams will visit each of the six library branches across St. Johns County to discuss her novel.
The schedule for these programs is as follows:
“The Reading List” is available for checkout in various formats, including print, digital audiobook and e-book. For more information about this year’s event, go to sjcpls.org/st-johns-reads/, email sjcpls@tblc.libanswers.com or call your local branch library.
About the novel
An unforgettable and heartwarming debut about how a chance encounter with a list of library books helps forge an unlikely friendship between two very different people in a London suburb.
Widower Mukesh lives a quiet life in Wembley, West London, after losing his beloved wife. He shops every Wednesday, goes to Temple and worries about his granddaughter, Priya, who hides in her room reading while he spends his evenings watching nature documentaries.
Aleisha is a bright but anxious teenager working at the local library for the summer when she discovers a crumpled-up piece of paper in the back of “To Kill a Mockingbird.” It’s a list of novels that she’s never heard of before. Intrigued and a little bored with her slow job at the checkout desk, she impulsively decides to read every book on the list, one after the other.
As each story gives up its magic, the books transport Aleisha from the painful realities she’s facing at home. When Mukesh arrives at the library, desperate to forge a connection with his bookworm granddaughter, Aleisha passes along the reading list, hoping that it will be a lifeline for him too.
Slowly, the shared books create a connection between two lonely souls, as fiction helps them escape their grief and everyday troubles and find joy again.
Funding for this program was provided through a grant from Florida Humanities with funds from the National Endowment for the Humanities. St. Johns Reads is also sponsored by the library system’s Friends of the Library groups.
