The Midnight Library

Location & Checkout Length	Call Number	Checkout Length	Item Status
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	Science Fiction / Haig, Matt	4-week checkout	On Hold Shelf
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	Science Fiction / Haig, Matt	4-week checkout	Due 05-14-2024
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	Science Fiction / Haig, Matt	4-week checkout	Due 05-15-2024
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	Science Fiction / Haig, Matt	4-week checkout	Due 05-03-2024
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	Science Fiction / Haig, Matt	4-week checkout	Due 03-27-2024
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	Science Fiction / Haig, Matt	4-week checkout	Due 05-19-2024
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	Science Fiction / Haig, Matt	4-week checkout	Due 05-20-2024
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	Science Fiction / Haig, Matt	4-week checkout	Due 04-29-2024
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	Science Fiction / Haig, Matt	4-week checkout	Due 05-21-2024
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	Science Fiction / Haig, Matt	4-week checkout	Due 04-30-2024
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	Science Fiction / Haig, Matt	4-week checkout	Due 05-14-2024
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	Science Fiction / Haig, Matt	4-week checkout	Due 05-04-2024
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	Science Fiction / Haig, Matt	4-week checkout	Due 05-09-2024
Malletts Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Fiction / Science Fiction / General / Haig, Matt	4-week checkout	On Hold Shelf
Malletts Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Fiction / Science Fiction / General / Haig, Matt	4-week checkout	Due 05-07-2024
Pittsfield Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Fiction / Science Fiction / General / Haig, Matt	4-week checkout	In transit
Pittsfield Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Fiction / Science Fiction / General / Haig, Matt	4-week checkout	Due 05-21-2024
Downtown 1st Floor 2-week checkout	Express Shelf Science Fiction / Haig, Matt	2-week checkout	Due 05-05-2024
Traverwood Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Fiction / Science Fiction / General / Haig, Matt	4-week checkout	Due 05-21-2024
Traverwood Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Fiction / Science Fiction / General / Haig, Matt	4-week checkout	Due 05-09-2024
Westgate Adult Books 2-week checkout	Express Shelf Adult Book / Fiction / Science Fiction / General / Haig, Matt	2-week checkout	Due 04-12-2024
Westgate Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Fiction / Science Fiction / General / Haig, Matt	4-week checkout	Due 03-12-2024
Westgate Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Fiction / Science Fiction / General / Haig, Matt	4-week checkout	Due 05-14-2024
Westgate Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Fiction / Science Fiction / General / Haig, Matt	4-week checkout	Due 05-07-2024
Westgate Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Fiction / Science Fiction / General / Haig, Matt	4-week checkout	Due 04-25-2024

Originally published in Great Britain by Canongate Books Ltd.
"'Between life and death there is a library, and within that library, the shelves go on forever. 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?' A dazzling novel about all the choices that go into a life well lived, from the internationally bestselling author of Reasons to Stay Alive and How To Stop Time. 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 new 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"-- Provided by publisher.

REVIEWS & SUMMARIES

Library Journal Review
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Summary / Annotation
Excerpt
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COMMUNITY REVIEWS

Didn't live up to the hype submitted by rhino322 on June 19, 2021, 5:07pm I was really looking forward to reading this book because so many people lavished praise on it, but I was really underwhelmed. Perhaps my expectations are partly to blame, but I don't think that was the entire story. The book just seemed trite: the language was simplistic, the dialogue reminded me of the writing I did when I was in sixth grade, the characters lacked development, and the "lessons" of the book had all the complexity of a horoscope.

Not worth the hype but sure go for it submitted by yaquta on June 25, 2021, 6:56am This book isnt as spectacular as I expected it to be given all the praise heaped on it. I found the storyline predictable after a bit and you definitely know where the book is going towards the end. The writing was too simplistic and the characters were so blah including the main protagonist. I really liked the premise but I didn't think it was executed effectively. That being said, its a quick read and you will pick up a favourite sentence here or there. So go in with less expectations and you might just like it.

Clever conceit submitted by robinpollak on June 26, 2021, 12:00am This organizing principle of this book is clever. It had a lot more potential than is fully realized here, but the book is still enjoyable. There are some well-thought motifs and throughlines. All in all I’m glad I read it.

Entertaining read submitted by 21621031390949 on June 30, 2021, 5:52pm An enjoyable,, engaging read that I zipped through in a couple of days. Part "It's A Wonderful Life," part time-traveling, with a dash of philosophy, it's a song of praise for owning responsibility for finding your joy, and for second chances. Conclusion is predictable, but the journey there is not so much. Nice, entertaining reading.

Good concept - but . . . submitted by kath on July 20, 2021, 8:48pm the idea was great. but the characters did not develop and neither did the plot line.
Nevertheless, it is a middle of the road book. Some ideas to think about. Written at the middle school level.

Amazing concept submitted by nmrhoads on July 24, 2021, 10:49pm I really liked the premise. I enjoyed reading about her other lives. It was a fun read that touched on important topics

Lifes choices submitted by LVDS on August 2, 2021, 4:15pm An interesting perspective on the many lives we could have lived?!?
With many good-hearted "Life Lessons" thrown in.

Good concept submitted by susieliz on June 9, 2022, 3:31am Would make a great movie but in book form, would have appreciated more plot work and more in depth character work. In ways it felt a little glossy, like a YA book.

Nice premise but... submitted by StephB on June 11, 2022, 4:58pm I read this for my book club, and like others was underwhelmed. Yes, a good premise about the many paths and byways our life can take, but overall simplistic, a little boring, and just not that interesting. It was a very quick read, so at least I didn't waste too much time on it.

Ultimately, a book about hope submitted by Susan4Pax -prev. sueij- on June 12, 2022, 12:22pm I was surprised by how engaging I found this story, which felt like a combination of the old TV show “Quantum Leap” plus a heaping dose of suicide prevention self help TED talk. I felt like I saw a lot of the story coming, but that didn’t change my enjoyment of reading it. Personally I didn’t love all the focus on classical philosophers (Nora was a philosophy major in college, and the repeated references felt like the dozens of books that appear to be by English majors who write books about English majors just for other previous English majors to read – enough with the naval gazing already!). On the other hand, the framework of life reflected in the metaphor of books in a library completely worked for me. It was a quick read, and while thoroughly about a depressed main character who attempts suicide, ultimately it is a book about hope.

Enjoyable submitted by bcartm01 on June 17, 2022, 11:30pm I liked the idea of this book. It was wash to read and entertaining. It did get a little repetitive close to the end but overall I give it 3-4 stars. :)

Repetitive and pedantic submitted by sns101 on June 20, 2022, 9:55am I never found the appeal of this book. The premise was interesting (a library where you could pick and live out every strand of your parallel lives), but it never moved it past that “what if” thought exercise to become a engaging plot with meaningful consequences and believable characters. Instead, the novel stayed on a loop track where the protagonist did the same thing over and over again, trying on other alternate lives, and then [SPOILER ALERT] came to a predictable, saccharine realization about the value of her own life. It was repetitive and slightly pedantic, and I found myself indifferent to the main character because the outcome was so obviously pre-ordained. In a book about the possibility of different lives in the multi-verse, nothing really came to life here. 3/5 stars.

Great, but not amazing submitted by Bethybeth07 on June 25, 2022, 9:19pm I had high hopes for this one, as it was all the buzz in the book club. I actually had to try reading it twice. The first time I just could not get into it. The storyline picks up and it is worth the read, but not as amazing as I had expected

Lives with no regrets submitted by A2AE on June 30, 2022, 11:04am I really enjoyed the idea of dappling in different lives with different choices to see what would happen when one addresses major life regrets. I found the different leaps into alternative timelines/lives to be engaging and page-turning. Lots of parallels to Everything, Everywhere, All at Once, too.

Quick breezy read submitted by audreyhalversen on July 13, 2022, 1:12am It's not the most original novel, but it still manages to be reasonably interesting and thoughtful. Calming read you can get through in a day or two.

Meh submitted by hjzechar on July 15, 2022, 3:52pm I think this is a book I would have liked at 21, but at 41 it did not land for me. I think the writing is good and the structure and concept are decent as well. But for a book about someone who attempts suicide, the representation of mental illness is at best superficial and at worst dangerously inaccurate. This is enough to give one pause before reading, but just as a story the ending is bland and predictable.

Choices.... submitted by pamhockey25 on August 6, 2022, 2:14pm Fun concept about choices...I enjoyed the way the author presented the midnight library. Do you have regrets? Wonder what could have happened if you made a different decision? The midnight library gives you the opportunity to see "what could have been" as you are suspended between life and death.

Definitely about hope submitted by onpaper24 on August 14, 2022, 9:18pm I liked the book and indeed agree it was a nice take on having hope

A book about HOPE and POSSIBILITY submitted by younhee on August 16, 2022, 6:01am “It’s not what you look at that matters. It’s what you see.” It’s an ultimate book about hope and possibility. Depending on our perspective, the messiness of our days can be viewed differently. Nora, who comes back to the root life, faces her original problems again and has a chance to live in a whole new different way.

Good book club book submitted by leah karr on August 20, 2022, 1:31pm Our book club read this and most people enjoyed it. A few had trouble getting into it, but overall we had good discussion and enjoyed the book!

not my favorite submitted by svenetianer on August 28, 2022, 11:59pm Not a huge Matt Haig fan. Thought a lot of this book was cliched. Had trouble getting into it. Moral was nice, but would not necessarily recommend.

surprised the AADL reviews are so low! submitted by laurat on June 9, 2023, 10:49am I genuinely enjoyed this book. Most of the bestseller-types that have been recommended lately feel so fluffy to me, but this had depth and felt hopeful and thought-provoking. Clever concept, great read.

The Midnight Library submitted by leighsprauer on July 14, 2023, 12:40pm The Midnight Library? More like the Meh-dnight Library. (My daughter said this is not hilarious at all, but here I am laughing, so I don't know what to tell you.) The premise of The Midnight Library is that after death (or maybe only after suicide? I wasn't quite sure, and I don't care enough to go back and see if or what it says about that) we are given the choice to try again in a new, parallel universe life, in which we've made different decisions at some point in the past. If we're not fully satisfied with this alternate life, we can go back to the Library and choose again. So for example, the protagonist, Nora, first chooses to live a life in which she has gotten married to her former fiance instead of leaving him at the altar. Although parts of this life are happy, ultimately it doesn't quite turn out like she expected, and so she's able to return to the Library to choose a new life. Not inconsequentially, she is able to erase a regret in her Big Book of Regrets (or whatever it's called) because she learned that she should not regret her decision to leave this man. Without spoiling the end, I'll say that it ends exactly like you expect it to end.
I debated whether to give this a 2 or a 3. I mean, it's fine. I think. The writing is serviceable, the story does make you think a bit - what, if anything, should we regret? how much agency do we really have? what is the purpose of this life? - and it moves along fairly quickly. But it's pretty bland, philosophically. I suppose we're supposed to learn to love and thrive in the life we have, because all alternative lives have their share of joy and suffering. And I guess that's good. It presupposes that there is no God or purpose to life outside our own wishes, so in that sense there's not much substance to it. If I could summarize this philosophy it would be Be Best.
I mean, it's fine. Read it if you want. Maybe it will motivate you. But definitely don't regret not reading it.

enjoyable but not earth shattering concept submitted by gw on July 26, 2023, 12:37am I enjoyed reading this even though I don't get psyched about philosophers like the main character. It's a thought provoking concept and the story avoids tying up the ends too perfectly, but as others noted it is overall a little YA-level and seems to make light of attempted suicide and depression.

Good, easy read submitted by cjdzieman on July 26, 2023, 8:23am This book got me back into reading after years of being out of it. It’s was short and easy to read and although it may have seemed predictable to some, it did get me thinking about the choices I’ve made in my own life and the what ifs of the others I did not choose.

Hmm submitted by booksandhibernation on February 26, 2024, 1:48pm Is this representative of what is becoming an international bestseller now? If so, I reckon it might be because simplistic books like this pull non-readers in. Nice concept, but read like a middle-grade book rather than adult fiction.