Contemporary fiction · Book club
The Midnight Library book club questions
Here are 12 book club questions for The Midnight Library by Matt Haig, ordered to open easily and end somewhere worth arguing about. Copy them, print them, or bring them up one at a time.
The 12 questions
- 1.
Nora's regrets are specific — the Olympic swimming career, the fiancé she left, her brother's band. Looking at them one by one, do you think the novel is right that she was wrong to regret them?
- 2.
The Midnight Library posits that we can never know whether our unlived lives would have been better. Is that a comforting argument or a deflating one, depending on who you are?
- 3.
Haig was public about writing this novel in the context of his own experience with depression. Does knowing that change how you read it?
- 4.
The philosophy in the novel — Thoreau on living deliberately, quantum many-worlds, Neoplatonism — is worn lightly. Did you feel it enriched the story or was it decorative?
- 5.
Every parallel life Nora enters has its own form of loss. Is the novel making an argument that all lives are equally good, or a more specific argument that Nora's particular life was good?
- 6.
Mrs. Elm is more symbol than character. Does that function suit her role in the story, or did you find her thinness a problem?
- 7.
The novel ends with a clear resolution. Is that resolution earned by the journey Nora takes, or does it feel like the book offering comfort rather than truth?
- 8.
Which of Nora's unlived lives did you find most compelling, and what does that tell you about your own regrets?
- 9.
The Midnight Library was enormously successful during the pandemic. What do you think it gave readers in that specific moment that other books didn't?
- 10.
Haig's prose is accessible rather than literary. Is that a choice suited to the material, or does it limit what the novel can do?
- 11.
The book has been compared to It's a Wonderful Life. Is that a useful comparison? What does the novel do differently, and does the difference matter?
- 12.
If you've experienced depression, does the novel's depiction feel accurate to you? If not, does the inaccuracy matter for whether it works as fiction?
How to run the discussion
- Pick six to eight, not all of them. An hour of real discussion covers fewer questions than anyone expects, and racing the list is what makes a book club feel like homework.
- Open with what people noticed, not what they concluded. Asking for a verdict first hardens opinions before anyone has heard each other.
- Let the disagreement run. The questions below that split a room are the ones worth the time; the ones everyone answers the same way can be skipped.
- Ask the quiet person a specific question. A direct, narrow question is far easier to answer than an open invitation to contribute.
Themes worth steering toward
If the conversation stalls, these are the threads that usually restart it.
Common questions
What are good book club questions for The Midnight Library?
Here are 12 book club questions for The Midnight Library by Matt Haig, ordered to open easily and end somewhere worth arguing about. The strongest openers ask what each reader noticed rather than what they concluded, and the discussion usually turns on regret and possibility, depression and the will to live, identity and choice.
How long should a book club discussion of The Midnight Library last?
Most groups run 60 to 90 minutes of actual discussion. That is roughly six to eight questions, not all of them, so pick the ones that suit your group rather than working down the list in order.
What are the main themes in The Midnight Library?
Regret and possibility, Depression and the will to live, Identity and choice, Parallel lives, Acceptance. Those are the threads most likely to divide a room, which makes them the useful places to steer a discussion that has gone quiet.
Picking the next one? See books like The Midnight Library or questions for other book club picks.
