Matt Haig

THE NUMBER ONE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A BBC TWO BETWEEN THE COVERS BOOK CLUB PICK Between life and death there is a library. When Nora Seed finds herself in the Midnight Library, she has a chance to make things right. Up until now, her life has been full of misery and regret. She feels she has let everyone down, including herself. But things are about to change. The books in the Midnight Library enable Nora to live as if she had done things differently. With the help of an old friend, she can now undo every one of her regrets as she tries to work out her perfect life. But things aren’t always what she imagined they’d be, and soon her choices place the library and herself in extreme danger. Before time runs out, she must answer the ultimate question: what is the best way to live?

The Midnight Library

Olivia 

You can have everything and feel nothing.

Caroline 

It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see. 

“A pawn is a queen-in-waiting. All you need to do is find a way to keep moving forward. One square after another. And you can get to the other side and unlock all kinds of power.”

“Every second of every day we are entering a new universe.”

She imagined herself as just another freak of nature. Just another sentient animal, trying their best. 

The touching, funny and heartwarming new novel from the Sunday Times bestselling author of How to Stop Time and Reasons to Stay Alive.

chiara

He had left Puglia – the handsome heel in the boot of Italy - to come to Swinging London in the 1960s. Like other men in the desolate port town of Brindisi..

She was in shock. But it was a slightly different kind of shock than the others on the dinghy assumed. It wasn't the shock of having been close to death. It was the shock of realising she actually wanted to live.

‘You see, doing one thing differently is very often the same as doing everything differently. Actions can't be reversed within a lifetime, however much we try ...  The only, way to learn is to live.‘

the source of all problems and its answers too - regret 

‘It's something you have written without ever having to type a word.’ 

‘This book is the source of all your problems, and the answer to them too.’

She knew she should be experiencing pity and despair for her feline friend- and she was -but she had to acknowledge something else. 

As she stared at Voltaire's still and peaceful expression - that total absence of pain – there was an inescapable feeling brewing in the darkness. 

Nora's life has been going from bad to worse. Then at the stroke of midnight on her last day on earth she finds herself transported to a library. There she is given the chance to undo her regrets and try out each of the other lives she might have lived. Which raises the ultimate question: with infinite choices, what is the best way to live?

High Fidelity

‘That’s not the point. It is still a library. If you are in a cathedral, you are quiet because you are in a cathedral, not because other people are there. It’s the same with a library.’

211-213 is echt vreselijk saai om te lezen. Het begint steeds met ‘In one life…’ en dan een soort samenvatting van dat leven. Niet echt boeiend. 

Taryn

She realised that you could be as honest as possible in a life, but people only see the truth if it is close enough to their reality. 

Ellie

“The thing you have to remember is that this is an opportunity and it is rare and we can undo any mistake we made, live any life we want. Any life. Dream big...You can be anything you want to be. Because in one life, you are.”She sipped her coffee. “I understand.“ “But you will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life”, he said, wisely. “You're quoting Camus.”  “You got me.”

Between life and death there is a library. When Nora Seed finds herself in the Midnight Library, she has a chance to make things right. Up until now, her life has been full of misery and regret. She feels she has let everyone down, including herself. But things are about to change. The books in the Midnight Library enable Nora to live as if she had done things differently. With the help of an old friend, she can now undo every one of her regrets as she tries to work out her perfect life. But things aren't always what she imagined they'd be, and soon her choices place the library and herself in extreme danger. Before time runs out, she must answer the ultimate question: what is the best way to live?

A Novel

bianca

There was something quite freeing about that. To be existing without any expectation, even her own.

Between life and death there is a library. And within that library, the shelves go on for ever. Every book provides a chance to try another life you could have lived. To see how things would be different if you had made other choices . . . Would you have done anything different, if you had the chance to undo your regrets?

Happy moments can turn into pain, given time.

Her whole being ached with regret, as if the despair in her mind was somehow in her torso and limbs too. As if it had colonised every part of her.

It reminded her that everyone was better off without her. You get near a black hole and the gravitational pull drags you into its bleak, dark reality.

The thought was like a ceaseless mind-cramp, something too uncomfortable to bear yet too strong to avoid.

She knew she should be experiencing pity and despair for her feline friend – and she was – but she had to acknowledge something else. As she stared at [his] still and peaceful expression – that total absence of pain – there was an inescapable feeling brewing in the darkness.

‘I may have not been sure about what really did interest me, but I was absolutely sure about what didn’t’ 

‘But you will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life’ 

‘I never found the companion that was so companionable as solitude.’ 

‘Never underestimate the big importance of small things,’ Mrs Elm said. ‘You must always remember that.’ 

‘A person was like a city. You couldn’t let a few less desirable parts put you off the whole. There may be bits you don’t like, a few dodgy side streets and suburbs, but the good stuff makes it worthwhile’ 

Róbert Istók

I absolutely loved this book, went through it in 2 days. Once you read it, the way you will look at regret will change. No matter which path we choose in life, there is never one without pain, in one way or another.

Josette

This book is just amazing. I'lI definitely be reading more books from Matt Haig.

Lynn

i just have no words - i don’t think i have ever highlighted this many passages in a book. Fantastic message, heroic delivery. Best book i have read this year so far.

I needed more in the ending, it was oversimplified and rushed to me. Absolutely loved the journey between about 20% to 80% and the use of parallel lives.

Abigail

Maria

3.5 stars!

Found this in the Goodreads Choice Awards. I like the idea of the book a lot, but I think I didn't connect with Nora super well and wasn't emotionally invested. I would say this is more of a "cerebral" kind of fiction, even though it's about a woman's regrets, we're often told what the regrets are instead of feeling it so rationally I understand what it's doing but I don't know if I felt it in a deeper level.

I liked that (spoilers) ultimately Nora picked the life she's always had. That what makes our regrets so painful is often beyond this one specific thing or another (it's not just a job we didn't take or a guy we didn't stay with), and often times that was the best we can do in that situation. It's an encouraging message the book is telling us, that we have to believe we're living our best life right now and not let our regrets get in the way of that.

charlotte brand

Megan O’Connod

3.5* 

I appreciated what this books tried to do. It was the ultimate look at your life and all the paths it could have taken and what could have happened if you had done something differently. It did come across as self-help-y which makes sense as I believe the author has written self-help books before. 

It was .. fine. Like it does come into my mind every so often with the over all message but I think it could have been done better. It felt like a collection of short stories almost with all of the different ways her life could have gone and I enjoyed that aspect.

Veronica 

bad. boring. stupid. self help book lookin ass. Do you not waste ur time

Audrey Lord

You know how sometimes you need a book? I needed this one

Lane Hokanson

A lovely read that is, at turns, both funny and filled with sadness. Will leave you feeling refreshed and ready to step back into your everyday life.

Lucy Marshall

A slow burner at the start, however definitely worth sticking it out. I really enjoyed it even though I didn’t expect to

I think it is hard to get trough. The concept is very beautiful but I could keep my mind to it 

Daphne kooymans

gabriella

Steffi J

I LOVED THIS BOOK! Loved it so much I finished it in just over 24 hours.

Every adventure that Nora Seed has when she experiences her alternate life is a fun read, with a lesson in store for her and for the reader.
This book basically teaches us that the grass is not always greener on the other side. That message is neatly and beautifully presented in this book. Worth a reread.

** spoiler alert **
           Very touching. The kind of book that makes you contemplate your own life, and realise that emotions such as: pain, grief, heartache, depression etc. are all unavoidable yet serve a purpose.

The concept of the midnight library was an incredibly creative way of capturing that stage between life and death, where Nora is given the chance to witness the infinite possibilities of what her life could’ve turned out to be had she made a different choice. 

There were moments where I debated on continuing the book because I couldn't deal with Nora’s pessimism and lack of courage to change her current situation. But understanding how common it is to get this way when feeling hopeless and a loss of purpose, I couldn’t abandon the book entirely.

I loved that the book was dotted with thought-provoking passages, but the last quarter is where it really picked up for me. Nora’s character development and change in perspective was refreshing; her desire to live, wonderfully reaffirmed that it’s the appreciation for what we have, and the will to take action, that makes life worth living.

A few highlights:

“Every book provides a chance to try another life you could have lived. To see how things would be if you had made other choices… Would you have done anything different, if you had the chance to undo your regrets?”

“Want,' she told her, in a measured tone, 'is an interesting word. It means lack. Sometimes if we fill that lack with something else the original want disappears entirely.” [Context: when Nora says she wants to die]

“It was interesting, she mused to herself, how life sometimes simply gave you a whole new perspective by waiting around long enough for you to see it.”

“We only know what we perceive. Everything we experience is ultimately just our perception of it. “It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.””

Well written and I enjoyed the use of multiverse theory, found the character development to be very engaging. Didn't enjoy the premise of suicide opening a magical space of exploration to discover the purpose behind one's existence. Usually this journey of healing takes place after an attempt on one's own life, nobody magically wakes up from something so traumatizing with this sort of clarity.  I also found myself mourning for many of the lives Nora could have had, which probably was not the point since it ends with her valuing the life she is living and the small differences she can make.

Lily Elizabeth Labella

TRIGGER WARNING FOR SUICIDE

Well written and I enjoyed the use of multiverse theory, found the character development to be very engaging. Didn't enjoy the premise of suicide opening a magical space of exploration to discover the purpose behind one's existence. Usually this journey of healing takes place after an attempt on one's own life, nobody magically wakes up from something so traumatizing with this sort of clarity.  I also found myself mourning for many of the lives Nora could have had, which probably was not the point since it ends with her valuing the life she is living and the small differences she can make.

Shreya Bajpai

Jessica Louise Stevens

What an INCREDIBLE book! Easy to read but with a very important message. I would recommend to anyone who is having a reading slump as it is captivating but a quick read!!

Jacqueline Englund

I’m not even entirely sure what to say about this book.....a library, regrets, the meaning of life, mental health, philosophy, love, hurt, hope....this book was everything I hoped it would be and more!!!

Alexis

I genuinely loved this book. If someone did not like a typical self development book I would suggest this because it truly opened up a part of my soul. 

At the end when the librarian yelled, "Live!" I cried so hard. 

This book will live with me forever and was my favorite of 2022 out of the 50 I read.

Heather shane

The book started off a little bit dark but by the end I was reading with tears in my eyes. What a beautiful read.

Allie Bilawchuk

** spoiler alert **
           I found the ending quite disinteresting to be completely honest. Well I understand how the author wanted to wrap everything up in a pretty bow I found it hard to understand how everything just became perfect for Nora. That was my only critique that kept it from being a 5 star.

The Midnight Library

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