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Random House Books for Young Readers

The Midnight Library: A GMA Book Club Pick: A Novel (The Midnight World)

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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. Read more

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Penguin Books


Publication date ‏ : ‎ May 9, 2023


Language ‏ : ‎ English


Print length ‏ : ‎ 304 pages


ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0525559493


ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 98


Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds


Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5 x 0.75 x 7.73 inches


Book 1 of 2 ‏ : ‎ The Midnight World


Best Sellers Rank: #178 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #1 in Time Travel Fiction #3 in Science Fiction Crime & Mystery #16 in Literary Fiction (Books)


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Top Amazon Reviews

    • A Thought-Provoking Journey Through Life’s “What Ifs”!!
Format: Paperback
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig was a beautiful and thought-provoking read. The story explores the idea that every choice we make could lead to a completely different life, and it really made me stop and reflect on my own “what if” moments. Watching Nora step into different versions of her life was both fascinating and emotional. What I loved most was how the book blends deep philosophical ideas with a very human story about regret, purpose, and learning to appreciate the life you have. It gently reminds us that perfection doesn’t exist and that every life comes with its own struggles and meaning. This is the kind of book that stays on your mind even after you finish the last page. If you enjoy stories that make you reflect on choices, possibilities, and the beauty of ordinary life, this one is definitely worth reading. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on March 16, 2026 by Amazon Customer
    • A beautiful exploration of life's possibilities
Format: Paperback
The Midnight Library is a beautifully written and deeply thought-provoking novel that explores the concept of life's infinite possibilities. The story follows Nora Seed, who finds herself in a mysterious library between life and death, where each book represents a different version of her life based on the choices she could have made. This fascinating premise allows readers to explore the universal "what if" moments we all experience. What I appreciated most about this book is how it blends profound philosophical ideas about regret, purpose, and self-acceptance with a genuinely human and relatable story. The writing is beautiful and accessible, making complex themes easy to engage with while still maintaining emotional depth. One of the book's greatest strengths is its message that no life is perfect - even the lives that seem ideal come with their own unique struggles and challenges. It's a gentle but powerful reminder to appreciate the life we have rather than constantly wondering about the roads not taken. The audiobook narration by Carey Mulligan adds another layer of beauty to the experience. This is the kind of book that stays with you long after you finish it, making you reflect on your own choices and the beauty of ordinary life. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on April 16, 2026 by Charlie Price
    • Full of philosophical aphorisms & lots of Easter eggs & ideas about happiness and choices and life
Format: Hardcover
So many options can be pursued when evaluating a book. Did the author create believable and consistent characters? Did the author manufacture vivid scenes and detailed locations? Did the author include Easter eggs for the reader to find, anagrams of names (like in the Series of Unfortunate Events) or a play on words or an alliteration or metaphors or similes or puns? Did the author include references to real world events or people or places that the reader can connect to? Did the author explore a familiar concept in a new way? Did the author give the characters words to say that connect with the reader and their view of life? Did the author overuse actual dialogue or internal monologue to explain the story instead of relying upon actual action. There are so many options for the reviewer, just as there are so many options for the main character in this book. Nora Seed finds herself in a library at the stroke of midnight, with lots of books around her and a librarian from her childhood, Mrs. Elm. Each book represents a different version of Nora’s life, a life of joys and sorrows, people and places, events and tragedies that spawned from a single choice, a decision, or in the case of this girl so full of regrets, something that didn’t happen because she didn’t make that choice. Of course, there is the root life, the life that Nora remembers living, a life full of disappointments and settling, that led to her attempted suicide and her visits to the Midnight Library. A moment in between, where she isn’t alive and in her body yet she isn’t dead (with the finality that means for self and others). And there are all of those other lives that she now gets to explore, lives where she doesn’t remember any of that Nora’s life, but finds herself plopped there with a kid yet no memory of this child, or as a wife with no memory of sleeping with her husband, or as a glaciologist with no memory of what such a scientist knows, or as a pop star with no memory of the words to popular songs, or as a pub owner with no memory of what to do when closing. Lives, but without the memories that led her there. An interesting thread running throughout the book is that of Hugo, another slider who explores his own lives. Hugo and Nora meet up several times, though find that the other isn’t what they want and each chooses to go back to their own terminal, hers a library and his a video store. I expected them to meet up at the end, as they had such a powerful connection through their sliding, both aware of themselves and of others, but no. it wasn’t to be. I’m not disappointed, just wondering if such a possibility exists, and if I will get this chance one day. And I wonder how Hugo arrived at this point, if his was also a suicide, and if it only happened to suicides or lives so filled with regrets. A question I still have is about the character of Mrs. Elm (for Nora) or the uncle (for Hugo) and the place where these shamans or guides or facilitators resided. Both sliders found themselves in an in-between place with a familiar character as the trusted one, not someone who used them but someone who in real life helped them find their own way. A good person. An older person who helped at a pivotal time in their life. I find it cool that the author (Matt Haig) crafted a god-like character, not one who superimposes her/his will on you but one who is limited in what they can do by the physics of the world (a library or a video store) they are trapped in. Not all-powerful. Not desiring worship. Not governed by human impulses (power and sex). But a personal god whose sole interest was in the needs and wants of a single person, a much better concept (to me) than the invented gods of the modern world that seem interested in humanity as a whole (and worship and knee-bending and blind obedience and all of that stupidity). If we could wipe away all of the old gods and create a new god for each person today, this would be the kind of god I would like to think about. Though there is that question about universality, and whether everything we think and feel isn’t just arising from our own experiences, including all of this god-talk. I enjoyed finding things in this book. Like the title, on page 31. And the name of the band, a variation of the Kurt Vonnegut classic, Slaughterhouse Five. And the name of the music shop that sounds like the idea behind all of the lived lives in this book, String Theory. And the references to Bedford and Pottersville, connecting readers to the classic movie, “It’s a Wonderful Life”. And life-fright being similar to stage-fright. And the role of chess in the book, from its beginning to its end, something that used to be a major part of my own life as an educator. And glitches in the library that stemmed from Nora thinking differently about death than she did in her root life. And I had to look up “grasshopper suicide”, because the character told me to, and how many forms of life there are (almost nine million), and Frank Ocean (“Moon River” was awesome). Another interesting concept is that of time. Time doesn’t pass for Nora in the real world as she pulls out numerous books from the library shelves, some exploring for a few minutes, others for hours or days or months. Yet the clock never moves past 12:00 in slide after slide, life after life, universe after universe, until her thinking changes in such a way that she no longer regrets the choices she made in her root life. And then the clock starts ticking and Mrs. Elm warns her that she must do just one thing in order to survive, pick that one book, and, wait, I don’t want to spoil it for you, but it gets to 00:03:48. If you want to know what happens to Nora, then read this book. It is really good and worth your time. And if you are the philosophical type (as I am), then keep a notepad and pen nearby so that you can write down the interesting thoughts and ideas that flow from the mind of Nora Seed, the questions she ponders, the truths she shares with the world. And I will end on a final thought, one found on page 137, about life and what it is: “…acres of disappointment and monotony and hurts and rivalries but with flashes of wonder and beauty.” Something to think about. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on February 19, 2021 by imaloserdude

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