1. The Comfort Book
A collection of notes Haig made to himself during dark times — lists, quotes, observations on existence.
2. Reasons to Stay Alive
Haig's memoir about his depression and anxiety breakdown at 24 and how he survived.
3. A Man Called Ove
A curmudgeonly widower in a Swedish suburb who has decided to die — until his neighbors keep needing him.
4. Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine
A peculiar office worker with a rigid routine slowly opens to human connection. Dark history, bright future.
5. The House in the Cerulean Sea
A caseworker for magical children ends up at a house that might be either the end of the world or a family.
6. Anxious People
A bank robbery, an apartment showing, and a hostage situation that reveals the hidden lives of strangers.
7. The Alchemist
A shepherd boy follows his dream across the desert in this spare philosophical fable about destiny.
8. Life of Pi
A boy survives 227 days in the Pacific with a Bengal tiger. A story about stories and how we survive.
9. All the Light We Cannot See
A blind French girl and a German soldier whose lives converge in occupied France. Pulitzer Prize winner.
Frequently Asked Questions
What should I read after The Midnight Library?
A Man Called Ove is the most tonally similar — Backman and Haig are doing the same work of making you feel the value of imperfect life. Reasons to Stay Alive gives you the autobiographical source material.
Are there fantasy books like The Midnight Library?
The House in the Cerulean Sea is the closest — cozy, hopeful fantasy with high emotional stakes. Piranesi by Susanna Clarke uses a similar high-concept alternate reality structure.
Is The Midnight Library good for people who don't usually read fiction?
Yes — it has enough plot to carry non-fiction readers, and the philosophical questions are direct enough that you don't need to engage with literary fiction conventions.
Any books like The Midnight Library about mental health specifically?
Reasons to Stay Alive by Matt Haig, All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven, and Anxious People by Backman all engage directly with mental health themes.