Books and flowers and rabbits

 Hello fellow bookworms! I hope life has been good and you have lots of good reading material on hand.  Mornings I've been outside fiddling with the flowers, inside reading during the hottest part of the day and have had a couple of surprisingly pleasant evenings on the back porch.

It's not usually cool enough to sit out but we did have two nights.  Doug had his bourbon and I had my fizzy water.  Loki enjoyed some treats and stared out into the yard. He was asleep by the time this rabbit visited.

Let's talk books.  Recently I finished the Midnight Train by Matt Haig.

You can't change the past but you can witness it unfold on The Midnight Train.   The catch is, if you're on the Midnight Train you have just died.  You look on as a spectator at both the wonderful moments and the painful ones.

Our main character is Wilber Budd and after he dies he has this experience. The long dead Mrs. Bagsdale is his guide, a bookshop owner he liked and respected in his youth. She is with him on this journey as the train makes stops during the key moments in Wilber's life. 

Wilber's father died in WW II and he grew up poor, watching his Mam counting coins to see what groceries she could afford. It imprinted a sense of financial insecurity that stuck with him.  

As a young boy he was very well read, lots of classic books reminding me of Noel in Crooked Heart and V for Victory.  Wilber would haunt Bagsdale's Bookstore and read, standing there wanting to buy the book but having no money.   He strived to do all he could to afford good things in life, but it came at a dear expense with relationships.

There is tragedy, moments of celebration and of course regret he has for the-road-not-taken.  His dead self would like to alter things and he continually asks Mrs. Bagsdale if he may interact, change the path of his life.  

Way into the book towards the end the character Nora Seed pops up.  She has a small part and was the main character in The Midnight Library.  I was delighted to see her for those fleeting moments.  If you are a fan of Matt Haig's you'll enjoy this book.  I think I enjoyed The Midnight Library more but I liked this book. 

I suppose the theme is take a look at your life as it is and while you can't change the past, you can  be mindful of your choices here and now. 

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Currently reading Hotline by Dimirti Nasrallah, one of the books on my kindle I'd planned to get to.  Actually I am almost done so I will be starting my list for the next goal, the library holds list. That can be summer reading.

I just got in these three, one is an interlibrary Loan so I need to be mindful of that due date.

What is on your reading list currently?  Any challenges for the summer?  Wishing you all the best.

Sharing this post with Joy for British Isles Friday as British author Matt Haig book set this book primarily in London.  

How to Stop Time by Matt Haig

Tom Hazard is  very old man; he is 429 years old.  He has only aged one year for each fifteen years in passing. Tom looks for meaning in life as he can never have a lasting relationship or let his guard down.  

As it turns out there are others in the world with the same condition and eventually they are discovered by a covert society called Albatross.  The society protects them, allowing them to live in a normal setting for eight years before getting an assignment, then relocating with a new identity. One thing that keeps Tom motivated to live (as he could kill himself to end this existence) is a desire to find his daughter Marion. She apparently inherited his genetic disposition and may be somewhere in the world trying to hide her identity. 

In his long life Tom has met F. Scott Fitzgerald, Captain Cook and Shakespeare among other historical figures. The book is divided by time periods and places.  Recently I read Benedict Cumberbatch has acquired film rights to star in the production.  For what it's worth, I prefered The Midnight Library to this book but I never considered abandoning the book.

Matt Haig was born in Sheffield England. His website may be found HERE. 

Sharing with Joy's Book Blog for British Isles Friday and Marg the Intrepid Reader for the 2022 Historical Fiction challenge.

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

Page one: 
 " Between life and death there is a library," she said. "And within that library, the shelves go on forever. Every book provides the chance to try another life you could have lived. To see how things would have been if you'd made other choices....Would you have done anything different, if you had a chance to undo your regrets?"

Nora Seed is an extremely intelligent young woman but she is very depressed.  Life didn't turn out as she thought  and she decides to end her life.  She "wakes up" in a library at midnight and the librarian from her childhood school is there.  The librarian was always kind to her and becomes her guide assisting with choices.

There is a book of regrets she has Nora read through and the more she reads, the more upset she becomes.  Now she has a chance to drop in on a life she regrets losing.  Perhaps that will be the perfect life for Nora.  You don't go back in time but join the life you would have if you'd taken that path.  

Nora wishes she'd married Dan and pursued his dream of opening a pub in the English countryside. She visits many lives she could have had because each choice we make in life would take us on a different path.  She can become the olympic swimmer, a married woman with children, a successful musician, a dog walker and it goes on and on.

It's not the type of book I had thought it would be and yet I was loving every single chapter.  This is a marvelous book and reminds you the grass isn't always greener.  No life choice is perfect and you aren't guaranteed of smooth sailing with zero heart ache.

It turned out well, loved the ending chapters and I can recommend this book as a very enjoyable read.  It's emotional and uplifting.

Sharing with Joy's Book Blog for British Isles Friday. as it's set in England. Author Matt Haig is an English novelist.

Note: Netgalley provided me with a bookclub kit for this book.  Alas, I wasn't able to view the kit/verbage as it was "faded" - can't think of another way to describe it.  Couldn't see it.