Possibilities open up when the clock strikes ‘Midnight’

treated Nora like a mistake, in need of correction.”

Nora’s return to Bedford included taking care of her ill mother and working at the record/music store, String Theory. Did you hear those two clues go kerplop?

Labyrinth and String Theory?

A maze and parallel universe?

SUNNY SOLOMON BOOKIN’ WITH SUNNY

“The Midnight Library” begins, “Nineteen years before she decided to die …” Now that’s an opening hard to ignore.

Some time passes by chapter two, “Twenty-seven hours before she decided to die …” The reader now knows that Nora Seed has not changed her mind. Matt Haig’s book covers those 27 hours.

Nora Seed is a mid-30s college graduate living in the small town where she grew up. In high school, she was a star swimmer with an Olympics’ future, an excellent student, and a musician who sang and played along with her brother’s band, appropriately called Labyrinth. She also loved nature and philosophy. By all appearances, the world should have been her oyster. But appearances can be deceiving.

After graduating from Cambridge with a degree in philosophy, Nora returns home to quiet, dull Bedfordshire (yes, we are in England). She doesn’t become the Olympic swimmer her father had dreamed of, or Labyrinth’s singer or the scientist her school librarian, dear Mrs. Elm, had suggested. The only person she never disappointed was her mother, “who

The library is not your neighborhood library with extremely long hours, although it is a library of sorts. It is where Nora Seed finds herself after following through on her decision to die. Her watch tells her it is midnight as she steps through the library door. It closes, then disappears upon her entry.

Along with endless bookshelves, thousands of books, all shades of green, all sizes, all with no writing on their spines, is the librarian, a now aged Mrs. Elm. Nora’s watch reads 00:00.

Time has stopped.

Nora is not quite dead – not quite alive. The first book opened is “A Book of Regrets,” Nora’s regrets. It is large and heavy. Mrs. Elm explains that each of the other books contains a story of her life with no regrets. She can choose to step into her life as an Olympic swimmer, an Arctic anthropologist, a musician, a singer, a wife, a mother. Anything. Could Thoreau’s words, “Live the life you’ve imagined” be this simple? But what if that life is no more fulfilling and free of regret than her life in Bedford, which is also one of the green books? This is a novel of discernment. The alternate lives are real. They do not require escape by choosing suicide, only by discovering that such a life is not what Nora thought it would be, thus returning her to the Midnight Library. Will she decide, that indeed, it is time to leave her life of regrets, to take leave of the Midnight Library, where, outside, time and her death will resume?

Sunny Solomon is a freelance writer and head of the Clayton Book Club. Visit bookinwithsunny.com for her latest recommendations or just to ‘talk books.’

When we take language away from music, we sometimes subconsciously strengthen our focus – both as musicians and listeners – to better evoke or interpret what’s being expressed.

“I think instrumental music should be more intriguing than music with vocals,” says Greg Fogg of local rock band My Evergreen Soul. “In general, music behind vocals needs to be simple. You wouldn’t want to listen to just the music that would (otherwise) be behind the vocals. It would probably be repetitive and maybe boring. That’s why it’s fun on a purely instrumental song to go wild and add all these extra changes and riffs into the song, because you don’t have to worry about it competing with the vocals.”

Putting aside all thoughts on human instinct, the subconscious mind and nuances of communicative expressions, I simply often enjoy listening to music without someone singing at me. It’s just that simple … and that complicated.

A Spotify playlist of local instrumental music can be found at TheBeatofDiablo.com.

Contact Dave Hughes at MrDaveHughes@gmail.com.

POOL, DARTS, LIVE MUSIC and GOOD FOOD

Mon - Sat 11 am to 1:30 am

Sun 10 am to 1:30am (during football season)

February/March Line-Up

Fri, Feb 17 . . . . House DJ

Sat, Feb 18 . . . . Journey Unauthorized, Rock the Nation & Phantom Power

Sun,Feb 19

Spring Fling Indie Band

Fri, Feb 24 . . . . House DJ

Sat, Feb 25 Grupo Sabor Tropical Latin Band

Sun, Feb 26 Universe Indie Band

Regular Weekly Schedule

Sunday - Corn Toss Open Tournament 1:30 p.m. ($10 to play).

Indie Rock Bands at 7pm (no cover)

Monday - Open Mic Night hosted by Joey Nunez and Vince Lay (no cover)

Sign-up by 8:30

Tuesday - Country Line Dancing with DJ Delta Dave (no cover) 8pm

7pm

IndieSundays

Fri, Mar 3 . . . . . Crayzed

Sat, Mar 4 Joey Nunez' 40th B-day bash with Local Anthology & The Concordians plus more!

Fri, Mar 10 . . . . House DJ

Sat, Mar 11 Live Latin Salsa Band TBD

Sun, Mar 12 Pacific Bloom Indie Band

Fri, Mar 17 . . . . St. Patrick's Day and Vinnie's Bar 21st Birthday

Sat, Mar 18 . . . . Metal Tribute Night

Fri, Mar 24 . . . . House DJ

Sat,Mar 25 . . . . PTK band

Wednesday - Karaoke With DJ SolRok (no cover) 8pm start time

Thursday - Salsa & Bachata Dance lessons from 7-9 p.m. with instructor Lorans Latin Dance Academy from 9 p.m. on is open dancing with Latin DJ Tonee Salsa/Bachata/Merengue/ Reggaeton ($10 cover after 9pm)

Saturday - Aces Cracked Poker League (free to play) 1pm

Downtown Concord, 2045 Mt. Diablo St. between Salvio and Pacheco Ample free parking is available in the Salvio Street garage.

925-685-9515 www.vinniesbar.com