The Midnight Library: A GMA Book Club Pick

ByMatt Haig

Release Date: 2020-09-29
Genre: Fiction & Literature

Score: 4.5

4.5

From 12,047 Ratings

Description

The #1 New York Times bestselling WORLDWIDE phenomenon

Winner of the Goodreads Choice Award for Fiction | A Good Morning America Book Club Pick | Independent (London) Ten Best Books of the Year

"A feel-good book guaranteed to lift your spirits."—The Washington Post

The dazzling reader-favorite about the choices that go into a life well lived, from the acclaimed author of How To Stop Time and The Comfort Book.

Don’t miss Matt Haig’s latest instant New York Times besteller, The Life Impossible, available now

Somewhere out beyond the edge of the universe there is a library that contains an infinite number of books, each one the story of another reality. One tells the story of your life as it is, along with another book for the other life you could have lived if you had made a different choice at any point in your life. While we all wonder how our lives might have been, what if you had the chance to go to the library and see for yourself? Would any of these other lives truly be better?

In The Midnight Library, Matt Haig's enchanting blockbuster novel, Nora Seed finds herself faced with this decision. Faced with the possibility of changing her life for a new one, following a different career, undoing old breakups, realizing her dreams of becoming a glaciologist; she must search within herself as she travels through the Midnight Library to decide what is truly fulfilling in life, and what makes it worth living in the first place.

Reviews

10/10 writing - thank you MATT!
5
By mmanjang
The book in one of the early chapters states something that sets the tone perfectly: "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?"

The first half of the book follows Nora (main character) through different versions of her life, and what struck me most is that no matter the circumstances, she is still the same person. It drives home this idea that who you are at your core doesn't really change. There's even a line near the end that sums it up about how love, laughter, fear, and pain are universal currencies across every life you could live. Around the halfway mark, Nora meets Hugo, the book introduces the concept of quantum physics and parallel lives and I personally appreciated this scientific explanation to what was going on and also helps the book from feeling like fantasy novel.
Adiamond
5
By ADiamond59
I could not put this fascinating book down. Wonderful and heartwarming.
YOLO (or do you?)
3
By SavGDub
Considered DNF because the first half was slow and—not quite predictable—almost unsurprising. However, the book itself is rather like the library it frequents: rich with metaphor, emotion, opportunity, and nuggets of wisdom. It is an exploration of life—the only one we have—and what it means to treasure it.
Deep thoughtful
5
By nicolesyoga
Loved it
What I already knew but needed to be reminded of
5
By Kim Kimm
Absolutely enthralled by this book.
And there I was…
5
By Juanbeom
I am not much of a reviewer but I wanted to put something down for such a lovely read.

Reading this book, as cliché as it may sound, sparked some change in the way I see life. My life. This book definitely made me realize that I truly do not know what I am doing with my life, but that it is okay not to know.

Anyway, I don’t know where I was going with this, but I recommend you read this book. Find the time to sit and enjoy the beautifully painful and relatable and hopeful story it tells.
Midnight Library
5
By dalba12
Such a good read. Mid way through it got so good I couldn’t put it down. First book club book and this was five stars. Never knew where Nora was going or what she was doing next!
Life Changing
5
By LAwomen
Matt is an amazing author. This book will change your life - it changed mine 💕
Midnight library
4
By queezygyro
Easy read
A quick meaningful read
4
By MikeyPod
really enjoyed this book. It was an easy read, which was exactly what I needed. There were some powerful moments and several passages I highlighted along the way. At times, I wished the message had been delivered with a bit more subtlety; it might have landed more deeply if it hadn’t worked quite so hard to make its point.

Still, I found it engaging and hard to put down. It gave me some meaningful perspective on regret and the importance of letting it go.

The Midnight Library: A GMA Book Club Pick

ByMatt Haig

Description

Reviews

10/10 writing - thank you MATT!

Adiamond

YOLO (or do you?)

Deep thoughtful

What I already knew but needed to be reminded of

And there I was…

Midnight Library

Life Changing

Midnight library

A quick meaningful read

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