The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

 

Even though this book had a pretty predictable ending, it didn't disappoint. Focused on self-worth and how to eliminate the values people put on you, this was a great story of how overcoming the weight of others is entirely possible if you're willing to look around.

Nora Seed has kinda died. As long as the clock in a very strange library stays at midnight though, there's still hope. With books only about herself, Nora has the special opportunity to experience her other lives, maybe even find a better one. Each book contains the path she'd have taken if she'd made one choice differently. Some lead to good things, some to crazy adventures, and others to more unhappiness than she had in her real life (and that was a lot.)

As she travels, regrets begin to disappear. She realizes that some choices, while still painful, were better than the alternative. All the while, she hovers between life and death in her special midnight library.

Eventually she'll have to decide where she wants to plant her feet. Will she pick a new life, go back to the old one, or die. It's actually a very tough decision to for Nora to make, which speaks to the complexities of regret.

I liked Nora even with all her "issues," even though she gives up at times. She's open to learning about herself, to taking a crazy journey, to really seeing her world. Haig tells a very specific story that has universal appeal with an interesting, nuanced set of characters. We meet the kind old lady/librarian, a demanding father, a troubled sibling, the "bad" boyfriend, and more. They all come into play in Nora's lives and add so much depth.

It's apparent to the reader, even as Nora struggles to learn, where this whole path will lead. I enjoyed that the writing style allowed us to be a few steps ahead of Nora throughout. I'd get excited every time she made a breakthrough, or had an important experience. I wasn't on the journey with her, but was definitely sitting in her cheering section.

A super-fast read -- because it's good and straightforward -- this book immediately engages you on an emotional level. I can see why it's topping all the book lists right now, and I highly recommend it.

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow

This is a good, fantastical adventure story. An epic journey of discovery. However, it begins a little muddled. You're not sure what's going to push the story forward fast enough to know what to pay attention to right away. It detracts from the 'aha' moments later. 

The author seems to love the genre so much, she over-inserts classic elements. You feel at times like you're in another book, if only for a few pages. This makes it hard to emphatically say whether I think this is a good book.

January Scaller is a girl that doesn't belong. She lives in a world she knows she doesn't quite fit into, but what choice does she have? Apparently, she has a lot. Weak spaces in the fabric of worlds create doors. If you can find them, you can move through them to somewhere new, somewhere that fits.

It's the beginning of the 20th Century when we first meet a young January. She's living as the ward of Mr. Locke, the head of an archaeological organization that obtains rare artifacts from around the world. January's father works for Locke retrieving these items. He's not really around for January, which makes it hard since she lost her mom as a baby. When her father disappears and is presumed dead, January begins to question everything. Once, January had discovered a door to a world smelling of salt and the sea. Maybe this is the solution to the mystery of her missing father, and what Locke is really up to.

At the same time all this happens, January comes into possession of a special book. It's a story of love, pain, and sadness. It's about misplacement and an almost endless search. It's her parents' story, and January decides she can find them again if only she can get to the right door. 

That's the heart of this book, what I feel is the main narrative line. A girl, coming into her own, heads out on a great search. But, that's hardly all that happens. It's practically impossible to summarize since so much leans into the general action. From multiple villains, magical abilities, daring escapes, death, love, and heartbreak, the story is stuffed with so much more than it needed. It takes too long for January to develop a sense of urgency, and she misses the obvious time and time again. The arc is awkward.

What I did like about the book is the magic it imbued to words. This is a book where words have true value and power. When believed in, they can literally change the world and bring people back to each other. It would have been easy for the author to use words as witchcraft, with characters speaking magic spells, but that's not what happens. It's more organic and feels more powerful.

Overall, this is a fun adventure to read over the summer. It will pick up momentum as it goes, so stick with it.

Judgement Day: The Science of Discworld IV by Terry Pratchett

Rounding out this series of books, the fourth volume in Pratchett's set combines yet another humorous and crazy Discworld tale with real science and thought-provoking analyses of our world. This time there's even a trial, of sorts, as the ownership of Roundworld (aka our universe) comes under dispute.

More philosophical in nature than the other volumes, this is a book about thought and perception. It looks at a lot of science, but also delves into how the human ways of thinking have shaped our beliefs. From religion to how we interpret scientific facts, there's always the nagging feeling that certain questions simply don't have a "right" answer. 

Conviction is closely explored as well as the book asks if things are a certain way because we've created specific rules to defend our point. Does G-d exist because we've got a book that says so or did we write the book to support a belief that something specific made our world? It's a valid question even as I have my own convictions. I realize that most people disagree about some topic or at some level, so how do you prove what you can only theorize about? You can't. Even with science, if it's just theoretical, you can craft any equation to support an opinion and label it as fact. That is, until someone else comes along with a different formula and completely changes the game.

It's a fascinating way to approach just about anything.

While all this heavy thinking is going on, we get a good dose of silly on Discworld. Pratchett takes these serious questions about proof and thought and belief and converts them into an argument about the ownership of Roundworld. Even though the professors of Unseen University know Roundworld is their creation, because they were there when the world began, a religious group is laying claim to the universe because it proves their belief that the world is round. Discworld is actually flat, and it's a known and verified fact, but that doesn't stop this group from daring to think differently.

Does believing in something give you ownership over it? That's an interesting question, and in the end the ultimate decider for whether Roundworld returns to its spot on an academic wizard's shelf or becomes a tangible symbol of an entire religion. It's also something to think about in relation to our own universe, which we can never actually understand since we can't see the big picture. What else is really out there? Can we even predict it? The conversation could continue infinitely, unlike the decision about Roundworld. That gets an exciting conclusion, one that even involves a decent chase.

Before reading this book, make sure you hit the series from the start. The books do reference each other.

• The Science of Discworld (Volume I)
• The Globe: The Science of Discworld (Volume II)
• Darwin's Watch: The Science of Discworld (Volume III)