Explore thought-provoking The Midnight Library book club questions here. This popular philosophical novel by Matt Haig, which is about the meaning of life, has so many readers talking.
You’ll foster life-affirming discussion and get free printable book club questions and a bingo card to prepare for your in-person book club. Get started below.
The Midnight Library Book Club Questions
These The Midnight Library book club questions help you deeply explore the major themes of life and death that have made the novel so famous and ripe for discussion with legions of readers.
Describe Nora at the beginning of The Midnight Library.
What does the library symbolize in The Midnight Library?
What emotions does The Midnight Library evoke?
How did Nora’s thoughts affect her real life?
Discuss the theme of regret in The Midnight Library.
Is possibility a good or bad thing in The Midnight Library?
Discuss the use of magical realism in The Midnight Library.
Discuss how the bittersweet nature of life is presented in The Midnight Library.
Life was described as a “beautiful messy struggle.” Do you agree with this oxymoron?
How, if at all, is your life a “beautiful messy struggle”?
How are the elements presented in The Midnight Library and why (i.e., earth, air, water, fire)?
Discuss the symbolism in the characters’ names.
What were your thoughts on Nora’s alternate realities?
What did Nora learn in The Midnight Library?
How does Nora’s perspective change over the course of the story?
How does the novel present the concept of time?
What role does kindness play in The Midnight Library?
How does the possibility of death affect Nora?
What, and who, made the biggest impact in Nora’s life to date?
Discuss the “books” in your own “midnight library.”
Would you like to visit your own “midnight library” or leave it unknown?
The books in The Midnight Library are described as potential escapes, as opposed to the feeling of being trapped. Do you agree or disagree?
How would you personally answer the question posed in this quote: “Would you have done anything different, if you had the chance to undo your regrets?”
Discuss the role of libraries in your life.
Discuss whether you agree or disagree with this quote: “But you will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life.”
Discuss whether you agree or disagree with this quote: “The only way to learn is to live.”
How does The Midnight Library characterize the future?
It was said to “[n]ever underestimate the big importance of small things.” What small things had big importance in your life?
What is the point of life, according to The Midnight Library?
What lesson(s) did The Midnight Library impart upon you?
Printable Reading Guides
Download printable book club discussion questions and a bingo game below to prepare for your in-person book club.
Discussion Questions
Card for Bingo Game
To facilitate discussion, you can have book club members cross off each square on their card when they discuss that word.
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Why The Midnight Library Is A Good Book Club Book
My Rating: ★★★★☆
The Midnight Library is a #1 New York Times bestseller, the winner of the Goodreads Choice Award for Fiction, a Good Morning America Book Club pick, and one of Independent (London) Ten Best Books of the Year.
The Midnight Library is a good book club book because it explores thought-provoking themes that are ripe for discussion, including regret, hope, and the meaning of life.
In The Midnight Library, thirty-five-year-old Nora Seed experiences a pileup of sad life events that leave her feeling unneeded.
She attempts to overdose but wakes up at midnight in a massive library. The librarian explains:
“between life and death there is a library… Every book provides a chance to choose another life you could have lived.”
Nora may choose from books to see the alternative lives she may have lived. From “The Book of Regrets,” she can pick a personal regret and match it to the alternate life to see how things may have been different.
Living various alternative lives forces Nora to grapple with the state of her real life.
The main message of The Midnight Library is that life’s value is determined by our experiences, not “what could have been.” It urges readers to be content in the present and understand that life’s imperfections contribute to its beauty.
It’s one of those books I am still thinking about years later. Not only is it beautifully written with lyrical prose and fantastical elements, but it also makes you feel deeply about the meaning of life.
WHAT TO READ NEXT
- If you loved these The Midnight Library book club questions and want a similar book club book to read next, check out my book club questions for The Measure.
