Av og til les ein bøker som sit igjen lenge, som får hjartet til å banke litt ekstra, som får deg til å ville bli i boka. The Reading List er ei slik bok, ei ordentleg metabok om bøker og om det å lese og dele denne lesegleda, om sorg og einsemd, og om korleis bøker kan endre liv. Orda fekk meg til å smile, for her var det mykje kjenneleg, andre setningar fekk tårene mine til å renne i strie straumar. Ei bok som verkeleg får fram kor viktig biblioteket kan vere i eins liv, at det er ein arena kor ein kan komme og berre vere. Ein arena kor ein kan komme og dele erfaringar med andre, prate om bøker, setje ord på alle kjenslene ein sit med etter å ha lese djupe ord og tankar. Setje ord på tankane ein sit inne med som ikkje går an å prate lett om med alle og ein kvar. Så himla mange gode sitat frå denne nydelege boka, treng vel ikkje å seie at denne boka anbefaler eg av heile mitt hjarte:
"At the time, he had never wondered where she
went when she was within the pages of her book. He just loved seeing the
concentration on her face. Sometimes she would smile, just slightly,
from the corner of her mouth. Other times she would throw her head back
and chuckle, creasing her eyes, and tapping Mukesh on the shoulder as
though he was in on the joke. At the time, seeing how happy she was had
been enough. But now she was gone, he wished he’d tried harder to be
with her in every single moment." (s. 58)
"It was strange, the idea that this book wasn’t just for him, it was for everyone. All these people who had taken it out before him, people who would take it out after him. They might have read it on a beach, on the train, on the bus, in the park, in their living room. On the toilet? He hoped not! Every reader, unknowingly connected in some small way. He was about to be a part of this too. ‘Yes, please.’ He handed both books back to the girl, stamp at the ready, and as he watched, he wondered, had Naina ever held either of these books? She’d been here all the time, she’d read hundreds of books. Had To Kill a Mockingbird been one of them?" (s. 93)
"She didn’t want to admit it to him, but she was excited to have no plans, so she could just curl up with her book. To her, it was the closest thing she’d had to a plan in ages. Now, every morning, she read a chapter or two – every lunchtime she read some more – and she couldn’t sleep now until she’d turned the pages, revisited the characters who were becoming more real with every passing chapter." (s. 133)
"He’d seen books now, but the library was sparse compared to this. Shelves and shelves. Floors and floors. Tables and tables. Piles and piles of books. It was as though they were floating all around him, lifted up by some kind of magic, offering up new worlds, new experiences. It was beautiful." (s. 178)
"Priya squeezed him back, before running in to settle herself down on her usual chair, to continue reading. Naina had set this in motion, step by step, in small, intangible ways. 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." (s. 261)
Legg igjen ein fin tanke