The Comfort Book by Matt Haig

Title: The Comfort Book

Author: Matt Haig

Publisher: Penguin Life 2021

Genre: Nonfiction

Pages: 272

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Unread Shelf Project; Winter TBR Pile

THE COMFORT BOOK is Haig’s life raft: it’s a collection of notes, lists, and stories written over a span of several years that originally served as gentle reminders to Haig’s future self that things are not always as dark as they may seem. Incorporating a diverse array of sources from across the world, history, science, and his own experiences, Haig offers warmth and reassurance, reminding us to slow down and appreciate the beauty and unpredictability of existence.

I was given this book at our bookish retreat book exchange. I didn’t quite know that I needed this little book of pieces of comfort, and yet this was exactly what I needed this winter. Pandemic fatigue and worry has done a number on my mental health and I definitely needed a bit of comfort. This little book is filled with Haig’s collection of words to comfort and lift up. Not a book to read straight through, but one to pick up and read a few pages when you need a little pick-me-up.

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

Title: The Midnight Library

Author: Matt Haig

Publisher: Viking 2020

Genre: Fiction

Pages: 299

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Currently Reading - Someone Wants Me to Read

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.

Such buzz about this book! I have heard so many people talk about how deeply affecting it was and how they were tears by the end of the book. And I did not have that reaction. Overall, I think this is a very decent It’s a Wonderful Life-esque book. I was interested to see how different choices would shape the different lives of Nora. I was hoping that at least one would result in her being together with Ash. And I felt that the ending was very fitting. it was an enjoyable book. But it did nothing for me emotionally. It might be because I have read so many of these types of books or it could be that the writing just didn’t speak to me. Either way, I didn’t shed a single tear while reading this one, but I did come away feeling that it was a worthwhile read.

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Radleys by Matt Haig

Title: The Radleys

Author: Matt Haig

Publisher: Free Press 2011

Genre: Vampires

Pages: 400

Rating:  5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Vampires; Mount TBR

Just about everyone knows a family like the Radleys. Many of us grew up next door to one. They are a modern family, averagely content, averagely dysfunctional, living in a staid and quiet suburban English town. Peter is an overworked doctor whose wife, Helen, has become increasingly remote and uncommunicative. Rowan, their teenage son, is being bullied at school, and their anemic daughter, Clara, has recently become a vegan. They are typical, that is, save for one devastating exception: Peter and Helen are vampires and have—for seventeen years—been abstaining by choice from a life of chasing blood in the hope that their children could live normal lives.

Such a moody vampire story.  In many ways, it is a coming of age story.  It just happens that the people involved are vampires.  I loved seeing the story from the vampire perspective.  What would happen if you were a vampire, but didn't know it?  What happened when you found out?  How would you react?  I especially loved Rowan.  In many ways, he's the traditional romantic style vampire, but doesn't know it.  This book is a refreshing change form the Twilight style vampire story.  BTW the author questions at the back reveal that Matt Haig sees Robert Downey Jr. as Matt Radley.  Delicious choice!  I would love to see this book turned into a movie.