Books Like The Reading List

Libraries are fascinating places, and while it is possible to get all your books online these days, they still hold a special place in the hearts of many readers. This sentiment is shared by many authors who chose to center their stories in or around librarians and those working there. For example, in The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams, two very different people form a connection thanks to the library and learn to find joy again in their troubled lives. For more stories where libraries take a central role, check out the following books like The Reading List.  

The Starless Sea

By Erin Morgenstern

The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern follows a graduate student in Vermont named Zachary Ezra Rawlins as he discovers a mysterious book featuring a story from his own childhood. Zachary is desperate to make sense of how his own life came to be recorded, and after uncovering a series of clues, he makes his way to an ancient library that is hidden far below the surface of the earth. However, this library is filled with more than just books and their guardians, as it is actually a magical realm. Unfortunately, some forces are intent on its destruction, and as Zachary explores the strange world of the library, he intends to find his purpose. 

The Library

by Bella Osborne

 

The Library by Bella Osborne is a heartwarming novel about the unexpected friendship between two lonely bookworms. Tom is a teenager who escapes to the library after an argument with his dad that leaves him unhappy about his future prospects. Maggie is a pensioner in her seventies who tells herself she's happy being alone with her novels. However, when these two meet at the library, they recognize something in each other that causes them to form a friendship. The unlikely duo also join forces when their beloved library comes under threat of closure, and together, they set out to prove that it is the heart of their community.

The Book of Form and Emptiness

By Ruth Ozeki

 

The Book of Form and Emptiness by Ruth Ozeki is the story of Benny Oh, a thirteen-year-old boy who begins hearing voices one year after the death of his beloved father. Benny cannot understand what the voices are saying, but he knows they belong to things in his house. He can also sense the emotional tone, so when his mother develops a hoarding problem, the voices become too much for Benny to bear. In an effort to find refuge from the voices, Benny goes to the large public library, where he discovers a strange new world. At the library, Benny not only falls in love with a mesmerizing street artist but also meets a homeless philosopher-poet and discovers a book narrating his own life. 

The Night of Many Endings

by Melissa Payne

 

The Night of Many Endings by Melissa Payne is centered around the library in the small Colorado community of Silver Ridge. The openhearted librarian, Nora Martinez, was orphaned at a young age and had to witness her brother's decline into addiction. Despite all this, she is hopeful that she will be reunited with her missing brother one day, and she treats the library as her home away from home. Nora has also ensured that the library is a sanctuary for those who could use a second chance, and it is here that this group of lonely hearts finds themselves taking shelter when a winter storm buries the town. During this fateful night, the group discovers more about each other and themselves than they ever knew.

The Last Chance Library

by Freya Sampson

 

June Jones is a lonely librarian in The Last Chance Library by Freya Sampson. The thirty-year-old June is so shy and reclusive that she has never left the sleepy English village where she grew up. While June prefers to spend her time buried in the books instead of in the outside world, she has no choice when her library is threatened with closure. As June joins a group of eccentric locals in a campaign to save the library, she finds herself opening up to people for the first time since her mother passed away. Among those willing to help is a kindhearted lawyer, Alex Chen, whose feelings for June are obvious to everyone except her. 

The Lions of Fifth Avenue

by Fiona Davis

 

The Lions of Fifth Avenue by Fiona Davis is set in 1913 and 1993 and is centered around the New York Public Library. In 1913, Laura Lyons' husband was the superintendent of the library, which allowed the family to live in an apartment within the grand building. Laura begins studying journalism, which causes her to cross paths with a radical, all-female group called the Heterodoxy Club. This causes her to question her traditional role as a wife and mother, but Laura is forced to confront her shifting priorities when valuable books begin vanishing from the library. Eight years later, her granddaughter, Sadie Donavon, has a dream job as a curator at the New York Public Library. Sadie is typically risk averse, but when rare manuscripts, notes, and books for her exhibit begin vanishing, she is determined to save both the exhibit and her career.

The Case of the Missing Books

by Ian Sansom

 

The Case of the Missing Books is the first title in Ian Sansom's The Mobile Library series. It stars Israel Armstrong, a Jewish man lured to Ireland by the promise of an exciting new career as the Tumdrum and District Public Library librarian. Unfortunately, when Israel arrives, he finds the library boarded up and is told he will be driving the mobile library around the small town instead. Even worse, the 15,000 books inside the library have all gone missing, and Israel takes it upon himself to investigate where they are.