Review: The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

5 stars for The Midnight Library by Matt Haig.

I am not usually keen to read books with title that contains the word "library" or "book". Past experiences have taught me to steer clear of such titles because somehow, these books just fail to keep me going. Well, that is until this book. I am so glad to have given this book a go.

This is one book the more I read, the more I like it. It is a story about living that is inspirational in its own right. It explores the theme of loneliness, grief, depression, love, regrets and the reason to exist.

The main thing about this book that makes it so interesting and mind-boggling is that it deals with the concept of multiverse, the idea that there are many parallel universes that exist, each one different from the other. The breathtaking part of it all is how the many worlds interpretation of quantum physics links up with the Midnight Library to create a library of possibilities, the notion that books are portals to all the lives we can be living.

Reading this book makes me feel as if I have lived many different lives, all variations of what can have been of the main character, Nora Seed. Indeed, every decision taken leads to a variation of sorts. To bring this point further, it means doing one thing differently is the same as doing everything differently. To quote "Every life contains many millions of decisions. Some big, some small. But every time one decision is taken over another, the outcomes differ. An irreversible variation occurs, which in turn leads to further variations."

Upon concluding the book, I cannot help but think of this question: How will you feel knowing that your life, the different variation of it, has the power to shape the life of others in more ways than one?

Review: The Murder on the Links (Hercule Poirot #2) by Agatha Christie

3 stars for The Murder on the Links (Hercule Poirot book 2) by Agatha Christie.

Reading this book makes me think I have been too harsh in my earlier rating given to book 1 The Mysterious Affair at Styles. I definitely prefer that book to this one and if this book 2 warrants a 3-star rating, then I need to up my rating for the Styles story. That is exactly what I did, and in fact, before I have even finished reading this book, I went to revise my review rating from 3 stars to 4.

This book 2 of the Hercule Poirot series is once again narrated in first person and by the same Captain Hastings. His friend, Poirot, is hired by a rich man who is in need of the services of a detective and Hastings is involved because he is somehow embroiled in everything in which Poirot is concerned.

The mystery is a particularly perplexing and baffling one in which there is a deep riddle for Poirot to solve amidst a man's love affairs, business transactions, friendships, and enmities that he may have incurred. In reading the story, it feels as if the author tries too hard to please the reader by making it unnecessarily complicated. Yes, it is too complicated for my liking.

Regardless of my above grievance, there are still aspects of the story which I do enjoy. And one such is the entertaining side of the writing where Poirot is portrayed as not just the detective who knows the mind of man, he is also funny in his behaviour and choice of words.

This is still a series I will like to explore more of in the future.