Matt Haig’s The Midnight Library is a case of the right book coming to me at the right time; it might be my favorite read this year. Although there are content warnings for death, grief, addiction, depression/anxiety, and suicide, this somehow manages to be an endearing, funny, inspiring, philosophical, and ultimately redeeming book.
A synopsis:
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?
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.
There are so many parts of this book that I highlighted, but this stands out as a favorite:
‘You need to realise something if you are ever to succeed at chess,’ she said, as if Nora had nothing bigger to think about. ‘And the thing you need to realise is this: the game is never over until it is over. It isn’t over if there is a single pawn still on the board. If one side is down to a pawn and a king, and the other side has every player, there is still a game. And even if you were a pawn – maybe we all are – then you should remember that a pawn is the most magical piece of all. It might look small and ordinary but it isn’t. Because a pawn is never just a pawn. 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.’
While reading The Midnight Library, I continually had two thoughts: I need to buy my own copy (this was borrowed from the library), and when can I read this again? HIGHLY recommend.
BOOK:30 