The Night Bookmobile

by Audrey Niffenegger

First serialised in the Guardian, The Night Bookmobile tells the story of a young woman who one night encounters a mysterious disappearing mobile library that happens to stock every book she has ever read. Seeing her history and her most intimate self in this library, she embarks on a search for the bookmobile. Over time, her search turns into an obsession as she longs to be reunited with her own collection and her memories.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Fiction, Fantasy, Books About Books, Comics, Adult, Graphic Novels Comics

40 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 2008

About the author

Audrey Niffenegger (born June 13, 1963 in South Haven, Michigan) is a writer and artist. She is also a professor in the MFA Creative Writing Program at Columbia College Chicago.

Niffenegger's debut novel, The Time Traveler's Wife (2003), was a national bestseller. The Time Traveler's Wife is an unconventional love story that centers on a man with a strange genetic disorder that causes him to unpredictably time-travel and his wife, an artist, who has to cope with his constant absence.

Her Fearful Symmetry (2009), Niffenegger's second novel, is set in London's Highgate Cemetery where, during research for the book, Niffenegger acted as a tour guide.

Niffenegger has also published graphic and illustrated novels including: The Adventuress (2006), The Three Incestuous Sisters (2005), The Night Bookmobile (2009), and Raven Girl (2013). Raven Girl was adapted into a ballet by Resident Choreographer Wayne McGregor and the Royal Opera House Ballet (London) in 2013.

A mid-career retrospective entitled "Awake in the Dream World: The Art of Audrey Niffenegger," was presented by the National Museum of Women in the Arts (Washington D.C.) in 2013. An accompanying exhibition catalogue examines several themes in Niffenegger's visual art including her explorations of life, mortality, and magic.

Reviews

[Bionic Jean · Rating 3 out of 5]

"What would you sacrifice to sit in that comfy chair with perfect light for an afternoon in eternity, reading the perfect book, forever?"

The Night Bookmobile is the first graphic novel of Audrey Niffenegger, who also wrote the bestseller, The Time Traveler's Wife (2003) and Her Fearful Symmetry (2009). The description "graphic novel" is possibly rather grand, as this is much more of a short story length. In fact it actually started life as a short story, which presumably allowed more opportunity for use of imaginative language and descriptions. Audrey Niffenegger then adapted her story into this piece which was serialised by "The Guardian" newspaper. The author says that is is the first installment of a larger work, to be called "The Library."

The story was directly inspired by H.G. Wells's short story, "The Door in the Wall" and also has its origins in dreams which the author had in her childhood. It contains echoes of many famous dream-like fantasy stories, and in this is quite a satisfying haunting tale.

The "feel" of this graphic novel is slightly surreal and off-kilter, but the Artwork unfortunately does little to enhance this effect. Niffenegger produced the whole work, but although her Artwork is competent, it does not have a "wow" factor. If on the other hand she had used her linguistic skills in a more versatile format than the fairly short bursts of a graphic novel, this story has the potential to feel quite magical.

The protagonist, Alexandra Jones, a lonely and troubled young woman, only really feels comfortable in her dark fantasy world. This is the cue for her fantasy world to turn real. And, of course, to not be as freely accessible as her heart would desire, so that she constantly yearns for it. What makes this story a new one is that the fantasy world is a travelling mobile library, which only exists at night, and only to her eyes. It has an enigmatic "guardian", Mr. Openshaw, who seems to know an awful lot about her already. And the books in it? Well, there's something unique about them too.

"I explored the farthest recesses of my collection. Each spine was an encapsulated memory, each book represented hours, days of pleasure, of immersion in words."

Of course she becomes obsessed with the fantasy world, which intrudes in her life, influencing her major decisions and becoming more real to her than the "real world". Is it symbolic? Does she learn lessons from it? Who knows. But the disturbing ending is most unexpected, and I am not sure it really works. Niffenegger says that The Night Bookmobile is,

A story about the claims that books place on their readers, the imbalance between our inner and outer lives, a cautionary tale about the seductions of the written word.

[Joanna · Rating 2 out of 5]

According to Neil Gaiman's blurb on the back, Niffenegger's "The Night Bookmobile" is "a love letter...to the things we have read, and to the readers that we are." He goes on to describe it as "a cautionary fantasia for anyone who has ever loved books." I consider this review as a cautionary tale for anyone tempted to take that description at its word.

A more accurate description would be that The Night Bookmobile is a sometimes charming, sometimes creepy short story written and illustrated by the woman who wrote "The Time Traveler's Wife." If this were not by Audrey Niffenegger, I doubt that it would have seen publication, much less garnered even a fraction of the critical attention that it has received.

The plot and the story are exceptionally brief, yet contain holes wide enough to drive a magical Winnebago through. The general idea seems to be that each reader in the world has a personalized Night Bookmobile, reading hours dusk till dawn, which contains every book we have ever read (as well as notes, signs, cereal boxes, etc). A nice idea, certainly. The main character, Alexandra, stumbles across her Night Bookmobile on the streets of Chicago one night, after a fight with her boyfriend. She becomes entranced and obsessed with finding it again, analogizing it to finding and then losing the perfect lover. She articulates her absorption and fascination with the words "I had seen myself, a portrait of myself as a reader." On her second visit, she waxes rhapsodic about "the same way that perfume captures the essence of a flower, these shelves of books were a distillation of my life." At this point, she expresses her desire to not leave the bookmobile, to stay on in the world of books that she has read over the course of her life. The librarian, Mr. Openshaw, declines her request but suggests that she could become a librarian out in the real world. She takes his suggestion, and eventually becomes a director of a branch of the Chicago Public Library system.

While her character is convincingly established as a person who prefers books to people and/or social interaction, one of the main things that I don't accept about her is the way that she is presented as an avid reader who nonetheless longs to spend all of her time in a magical bookmobile that contains only books she has already read. What avid reader, what true lover of books, would willingly resign themselves to only the collection of books that they have already finished? I am very big on rereading, but no attention or thought seems given to the idea that she would have to be willing to forgo the reading any new books. Ever. At all. It would mean resigning all unexpected plot twists, all page turning suspense, all the joy of discovering a new favorite, of savoring new characters and situations. Is she an avid reader, or is she just a not-very-forward-thinking stick?

And, although she frequently reminisces about reading Nancy Drew under the covers with a flashlight, or "A Distant Mirror" in a coffee shop while waiting for a blind date - she glosses right over the fact that staying in the bookmobile would cut off all these worldly experiences, including her frequent night walking rambles across the city. She would have to stay sequestered away in the crowded stacks of the Night Bookmobile reading a bunch of books that she has already read. This makes no sense. And it is not fantastical so much as it is depressing.

After her third visit to the bookmobile, for no reason in particular, she seems to decide that what she needs to do to get to work in the bookmobile is to kill herself. Which she then does, and then succeeds in getting her wish, in a manner of speaking. It turns out that only living people can be readers, so her whole collection of books is decommissioned and she will now have to be the personal librarian for a kid named Sarah, who has only just learned to read "Goodnight, Moon." There is also a giant scene of heaven as a library, which seems a little strange, considering out pseudo-heroine works in a library. Is heaven just a library without patrons? But without patrons, there would be no library. Lame.

Also, if (as explained by Mr. Openshaw) each Night Bookmobile has only one patron, why - in spite of her frequent searching for it - was Alexandra only able to find her Night Bookmobile once every nine years or so? What is it about the Night Bookmobile that makes it more compelling than say, your own personal bookshelves? I can see that it would be exciting to have it contain books that you'd forgotten reading, but if you forgot them, are they not - by nature - forgettable? And for all her raptures about all the books it contained - does she love every book she's ever read? Wouldn't it be kind of a drag to also see books that you hated, outdated text books, and cook books (where do you cook in the Night Bookmobile? Do they have a hot plate or something in the back?) along with all your beloved favorites? It's not like she lives in the world of Fahrenheit 451 where books have to be memorized or they could be lost - she has access to all these books all the time.

It could be that I am too grudging in my ability to engage in the willful suspension of disbelief for this story. But I feel like these flaws go to the heart of the character who is supposed to be at the heart of the story. If you don't believe in her, you don't believe in the story itself. And as a careful reader, and a thinking reader, I don't.

Niffenegger both wrote and illustrated the novel, and the pictures, like the text, are passable but not extraordinary. The layout was sometimes convoluted, to the point that it interrupted the narrative flow as I had to try and distinguish which panel, exactly, I was supposed to read next. And the drawings are so flat, so devoid of life or action or humor. I mean, really what this woman does is stand around in front of bookshelves, and sit around and read. Imagine looking at a bunch of pictures of someone sitting around reading. It's not very interesting, is it? The Bookmobile appears once outside of Wrigley Field, I think, just so the author gets to draw Wrigley Field. That's nice and all, I like Wrigley Field, but that is the general sense of how tangential the drawings are to the thrust of the story. A good graphic novel uses the illustrations to reveal something about the world of the story. It makes wry jokes or commentary, it highlights things that would otherwise be in the background. There is none of that here. And the Night Bookmobile is not drawn in a way that makes it seem welcoming or warm. Mostly it seems sort of crowded and claustrophobic. (Does the Night Bookmobile even have chairs to sit down in? They are never drawn in. Do you just stand and read, or crouch on the floor between the aisles? How uncomfortable.)

Unlike Alexandra, I did not become bewitched by the spell of the Night Bookmobile. In fact, I am actually eager to return it to the library.

[Sana · Rating 3 out of 5]

این کتاب توسط خانم لیلا کرد ترجمه شده.
از این نویسنده هم کتاب همسر مسافر زمان هم منتشر شده.
این کتاب بصورت مصور چاپ شده و خیلی برام جالب بود. تمام صفحاتش عکس کتاب‌ها و کلا حس و حال قشنگی داشت.
خانم کرد رو من خیلی دوست دارم و سلیقه ی خاصی در انتخاب کتاب‌هایی که ترجمه میکنه داره.

[Autumn · Rating 1 out of 5]

I definitely expected something better here. I have no idea what the author wants me to come away with here. It's like the protagonist loved rediscovering all the books, magazines, periodicals, etc. she had ever read, but then later felt she had wasted all of her time reading, and thought of everything she had "given up" for reading. I, however, didn't see that at all, since she got a career and joy out of her passion for books, and found joy in her ever-expanding library. Weird and confusing ending. It made no sense to me, especially when the Librarian told her something like the dead don't read, yet he himself is always seen with a newspaper. And I don't understand how the protagonist is satisfied and smiling at the end. It was disappointing and I didn't understand what kind of message was supposed to be here. Even after reading the afterword and her acknowledgements, I had no idea what the author wanted me to get from this. I didn't see it as a "cautionary tale" about the "seductions of the written word." I saw the story of an avid reader who stumbles across a book mobile one night, is inspired to read more and become a librarian, then, for some reason, falls apart. I don't understand why she sees the book mobile now or why it appears when it does (that's never explained), and I don't see the purpose for it. Does it want to show her all the wonderful books she's read and have her expand it, or . . . what? Because no one ever tells her NOT to read.

I did not see the point of this. Ugh. Good thing this was short and a library book, so I can return it.

[Hilary · Rating 3 out of 5]

A troubled young woman comes across a mobile library at night, strangely she finds all the books it contains are ones she has once read. I liked this story, it keeps you guessing what's going to happen. One thing I found troubling was that she really wanted to work for the mobile night library but was told she couldn't when she commits suicide she finds that she can now work there which made it seem that in this case suicide was almost a good or desirable idea I wondered if this was a responsible message. The illustrations aren't great but the general idea was interesting. A quick read and an enjoyable one.

[Bella · Rating 1 out of 5]

I picked this one up because it's about a library and I saw the nice blurb by Neil Gaiman on back. Unfortunately I didn't find it at all to be a story "perfectly told". The Night Bookmobile is the first of a larger work being titled The Library, as explained by the author in the "after words". Because of this I feel it's possible that my understanding of the story is in fact out of context until I read the completed book. But since it is published here as a single book, I also find it fair to review it based on itself alone.

About the length of a child's picture book, the story follows a woman named Alexandra from a random night in her early adult life when she comes across a mysterious and almost magical-seeming bookmobile. She becomes obsessed with it's existence, its strange librarian Mr. Openshaw, and with finding it again when she realizes its visits are inconsistent. However the story never really makes sense. We never find out why Alexandra gives up so much of her daily life to pursue this bookmobile, or share enough time with her to fully connect.

Even so, I could have accepted all of that vague plot and thought the book strange but intriguing had the ending not included her choice at the end to commit suicide just to become a night bookmobile librarian herself. The wtf moment of that was just too insane for me. It seemed like a weak attempt to be deep without sufficient storyline and as if it glorified books over life itself at that point. On the flip side I did like the idea of everyone's life being quietly documented through the books they've read, all by librarians on the other side so to speak. Exploring the concept of books as also having the ability to become a channel for checking out of present life and losing oneself in fantasy also made sense as the darker side of loneliness and using reading to live vicariously instead. But overall I still felt this book went dark without any logic or relatable context.

[Tanaz · Rating 5 out of 5]

کتابخانه ی سیار شبانه
داستانی که به صورت صوتی و با صدای فاطمه معتمد آریا 4 بار در یک روز گوش کردم
چقد این کتاب خوبه چقد این داستان شیرینه حتماً گیرش بیارید و گوش کنید من خیلی خیلی ازش خوشم اومد
اضافه‌ش می کنم به فیووریت‌هام

اینکه ماشینی باشه که توش کتابهایی که میخونی به اسمت ثبت بشه و یک کتابدار حواسش بهت باشه جالبه هر جور بخوام بگم از داستان اسپویل محسوب میشه پس ریویو رو خاتمه می دم

[ELNAZIOR ( Realm.Of.Ella) · Rating 2 out of 5]

ایده‌ی به این قشنگی و دلگرم کننده واقعا نباید تهش اون میشد...
به خاطر چرخش داستان اصلا پیشنهاد نمیکنم اصلا

[Nanette Bulebosh · Rating 5 out of 5]

What if there were a place that housed all the books you've ever read, from the picture books of your preschool years to the pile on your nightstand right now? What if that place were a mysterious bookmobile with rock music blaring loudly from its speakers and an enigmatic driver who knows more about you than you know yourself? What if that bookmobile only came around at night, and only every few years when you least expect it?

The narrator of this intriguing graphic novel, Alexandra, becomes obsessed with tracking down the bookmobile. She longs for it in a way she can't understand. She loses her boyfriend to this obsession. She changes careers (becoming a librarian, of course). And she continues to read at every opportunity. The bookmobile's collection responds accordingly, so that by the time she reaches middle age, the shelves are cramped full.

Alexandra's dramatic decision at the end is unsettling, but not surprising. She is now in a position to help other book lovers recapture those golden moments from their own reading memories.

The book was published in 2010, after being serialized in the London newspaper, The Guardian. It's one of several "visual books" Niffenegger has produced. She is most famous for the novels "The Time Traveler's Life" and "Her Fearful Symmetry," but clearly art is a passion. Among the courses she teaches at Columbia College in Chicago is a writing course that explores "text-image relationships."

"The Night Bookmobile" takes only ten minutes to read, but it manages to pack a punch. Niffenegger made me think about how books have influenced me throughout my life. Like looking at old photos or finding a long-lost item, paging through books I've already read enables me to re-discover what I loved about them. Reading them again also provides insight into the person I was when I first read them, as though I were stealing a glimpse of myself through a window.

As Alexandra puts it, "In the same way that perfume captures the essence of a flower, these shelves of books were a distillation of my life."

[Crystal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Always up for a good urban legend

[Mohadese · Rating 3 out of 5]

☆ سه ستاره طلایی ☆

سلام به اولین ریویو سال جدید!

خوندن "کتابخانه سیار شبانه" حدود یه ربع طول کشید، اما تمام مدت لبخند روی لبم داشتم و از خوندنش لذت بردم.
کتاب درمورد دختریه که نیمه‌شب با یه کتابخونه سیار مرموز مواجه می‌شه و وقتی واردش می‌شه می‌فهمه تک‌تک کتابای این کتابخونه در واقع کتاباییه که این دختر از کودکیش خونده!
اما این کتابخونه‌ی سیار با قوانین عجیبش و راه زندگی دختر قصه‌ی ما رو عوض می‌کنه...

× حقیقتا یه‌کم ریتم داستان تند بود،
ایده فوق‌العاده جذابی داشت اما سریع ازش رد شد و پرداختش کم بود برای همین دو ستاره ازش کم کردم اما به عنوان یه کتابخون خیلی حس خوبی داشتم موقع خوندنش. ✨️

~ کتاب در واقع کمیکه و من با ترجمه خانم لیلا کرد از نشر کوله‌پشتی خوندمش.

[Lacey Louwagie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Our library director urged everyone to read this book, so I read it during a slow time at the library. Although it's technically a graphic novel, the way the story is laid out is more like a picture book, with large chunks of expository text that are not integrated into the artwork. At first this was kind of a turn-off to me, and I didn't think the layout with it looked that great a lot of the time. But the story, about a woman who gets obsessed with finding a mysterious night bookmobile that contains every book she's ever read, is compelling to anyone for whom books have defined their life. She sacrifices her relationship and other things to this obsession, begging the bookmobile librarian to hire her. He refuses every time.

I'm not going to give away the ending, but I will say that this is another book in which the protagonist must choose between living her "real world" life and living in her head. The ending has an interesting twist, but I don't really like its message or the conclusion the author came to about which "world" she'd rather live in. But I realized that personally disagreeing with the outcome wasn't a reason to discount what is a well-written and thought-provoking story.

[Elizabeth A · Rating 3 out of 5]

From the after words: When I began writing The Night Bookmobile, it was a story about a woman's secret life as a reader. As I worked it also became a story about the claims that books place on their readers, the imbalance between our inner and outer lives, a cautionary tale of the seduction of the written word.

This graphic novel is a short story about a woman stumbling across a bookmobile, and how that encounter changes her life in unexpected ways. It starts out as one thing, then there is a twist that stopped me in my tracks. I liked the rather simple art style, and thought that it worked well for this fairy tale like yarn. Is this a happy story or not? You decide.

[Melanti · Rating 2 out of 5]

The premise reminded me, very vaguely, of something that Charles de Lint might have written. There's a definite charm to the idea - a roving bookmobile that shows up only when you're not expecting it and contains everything you've ever read - right down to the backs of cereal boxes! What avid reader wouldn't want to browse around a collection like that? I know I smile when I encounter an old favorite in a place I don't expect it to be.

But the premise was about all I truly enjoyed. The drawings were just okay; they looked like they were done by an advanced amateur - which, since they were done by the author, I guess is correct. I think the subject would have been better suited by something a lot glossier and darker, with flashes of bright light when the bookmobile shows up - something more like the Polar Express, perhaps.

As far as the protagonist, who in their right mind would want to spend eternity in a library that ONLY contained what they've already read? I love re-reading old favorites, but to never again read something new? That would take all of the joy out of it.

What I got out of the book is that you should read for yourself - for the sheer pleasure and joy of the books themselves - and not read to please or impress others.

The author's intended message is to beware of reading too much and living too little. Maybe I'm biased since I read constantly (I can't remember the last time I went anywhere without SOMETHING to read with me) but that's a premise I just can't wholly agree with. And while I usually like dark endings, this one seemed pointless for me, probably because I don't agree with the premise it was meant to support.

[Eva · Rating 5 out of 5]

This graphic novel is AWESOME! Of course, I both work in a library and am an avid reader, so I may be biased. [return]Niffenegger's main character, Alexandra runs across the title bookmobile during a late night/early morning walk. When she enters the bookmobile, its shelves are crammed with books she has read. The librarian, Mr. Openshaw, then tells her that it is "her" bookmobile, and it carries only what she has read. Very cool![return]She is ushered out of the bookmobile as dawn approaches. She spends time looking for the bookmobile and does not see it for another nine years. It has grown with her reading and this time she asks if she can stay. The answer is no, but it spurs her to become a "regular librarian." She continues working and reading and twelve years later, she is Director of her library. She also runs into the Night Bookmobile one last time. Her desire to work there has not changed. [return]The story is beautifully laid out, touching on the passion for books that many who work in the field have, the obsession of gaining our desires and the sacrifice that being a Reader is. [return]The pictures aren't great but they do add a lovely visual to the story. I recommend this to all Readers and ask you:[return]What's in your Night Bookmobile?

[Smitha Murthy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was such a chance find at a little library in Dublin. I rarely read graphic novels. Not for lack of interest, but because books in this genre are so hard to come by, and so expensive in India! I had read Niffenegger’s ‘The Time Traveler’s Wife’ many years ago when I read nothing but contemporary fiction. I hadn’t known that she had penned a graphic novel. Exquisite in color, ‘The Night Bookmobile’ is an ode to the booklover in all of us. Quaint and esoteric, this invites you into a rich world of color - the sort of color that reading imprints on our minds. We are the words we write. We are also the words we read. We are everything. We are nothing.

[Teresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the idea behind this book -- I'd love to have a library of every single thing I've ever read -- but it completely lost me three-fourths of the way through. I didn't care for the ending at all, nor was I sure what to make of it.

[Nilo0 · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5/5
اولین بار بود که کتاب مصور بزرگ‌سال خوندم و تجربه جدید و قشنگی بود.
با اینکه خیلی کوتاهه و در عرض یک ربع تموم می‌شه، تصاویر قشنگی داره و ایده کتابخانه سیار شبانه رو خیلی دوست داشتم طوری که علاقه‌مند شدم بیشتر و بیشتر کتاب بخونم و کتابخانه سیار شبانه‌م رو پرکتاب‌تر و پربارتر کنم.

[Ilana (illi69) · Rating 3 out of 5]

★★★½ | As she’s taking a walk right after having a big argument with her boyfriend in the early hours of the morning, a woman finds a winnebago blaring loud music on a deserted street. The driver invites her to view the library inside, where she discovers that all the books on the shelves were once read by her, at some point in her life. The Night Bookmobile is only open from dusk till dawn, and when the driver politely asks her to leave as the sunlight begins to make its first appearance, she asks if she can work there as a librarian, but is turned down. The experience inspires her to take courses to become a librarian and from then on she is constantly on the lookout for the mysterious Bookmobile, but she only spots it again many years later...

The story was interesting, and I applaud Niffenegger for stretching her creative range with her first graphic novel illustrated with her own drawings but I’m a harsh judge because I’m a frustrated artist with more talent than is good for me given how insecure I am and how little energy and time I have to do things once I’ve slept half the day away. I started sketching things by way of eventually working on my own graphic novel someday maybe 30 years ago and since then became an art director who worked with amazingly talented artists all over the world. All this to say that I don’t look at the artwork the way the average reader does because I’m influenced by my eye which always seeks out excellence. Something can be very simple, but it has to work somehow or it has to be quirky in a way that pleases the eye. When I looked at this book in 2011 her illustration skills were limited and though I found some images were surprisingly good, but the overall visuals effect didn’t overall impress me enough to earn a higher rating from this reader and former art director.

Now I’ve come to understand that oftentimes the drawing quality comes second to the story or ideas to most readers and publishers. Each artist and author finds their own niche basically. In any case I’m really enjoying finishing 2018 with an ever restocked pile of graphic novels and cartoon collections. There’s a good chance it’ll make me want to explore on my own eventually. Goodness knows I have a story or many of my own to tell and happy enough to play around with doodles and portraits if I could just muster up the energy and the drive! seems almost impossible to reach with the Black Dog living at my side full time...—May 2011 - Edited December 25, 2018

[Marianne · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Night Bookmobile is the third graphic novel by the best-selling author of The Time-Traveller’s Wife, Audrey Niffenegger. It is a short story which has been beautifully illustrated by Niffenegger and tells the story of Alexandra who, wandering the streets of Chicago after an argument with her boyfriend late one night, comes across the night bookmobile. When she accepts the librarian’s invitation to browse, she finds that, to her amazement, it contains every book she has ever read. When the bookmobile leaves at dawn, finding it again becomes an obsession for Alexandra. This is a haunting tale brought to life by Niffenegger’s evocative full-colour pen-and-ink work. Enchanting and beautiful.

Addit: this novel has had several incarnations. It started out as a short story published in Zoetrope All Story, then was serialised in cartoon form for the London Guardian’s Review, then became a hardback graphic novel, and now is the first chapter of a book-in-progress, The Library. Alexandra and the librarian, Mr Openshaw also appear in another short story, Requiem for a Bookshop, also a chapter of The Library.

[Merrill · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was really looking forward to reading this. I loved Niffenegger's earlier works (Time Traveler's Wife is one of only 3 books I've ever read more than once), so when I heard the concept for this graphic novel, I was ecstatic. But I have to admit I was flummoxed by the ending, and although I had been enjoying it up to that point, the strange turn of events at the end just ruined the entire experience for me.

This book has been described in various forums as a cautionary tale about what happens when reading becomes an obsession that eclipses all else. I've known for a while that I have a bit of that obsession within me. My to-read list grows exponentially by the day. I'm a librarian who set a personal goal of reading one book a week in 2010. I am never without a book close at hand, in case I can steal a few minutes here and there to read a couple of pages. So, I could really relate to the main character in the story.

I thought she dealt with her love of reading in a very sensible way, and I would NOT categorize it as an obsession at all. She went to library school and advanced through the ranks to become a library director. Voila! She has reached the pinnacle of her career surrounded by the books and library she loves! Next page, she commits suicide so she can be with her books for all eternity. Whaaatttt?

I didn't classify her lifetime of reading as an "obsession" at all. Am I blind to it? Perhaps. My husband read it too and said the obsession was pretty clear. (Subtle hint? Perhaps.) Nonetheless, her suicide made absolutely no sense to me and I wish Niffenegger had just ended the book a few pages earlier. The idea of a bookmobile containing all the titles you've personally read in your lifetime is such a beautiful concept, and I hated to see it all ruined by senseless tragedy in the end. But judge for youself.

Five stars up to the point where she kills herself. One star thereafter. Average: 3 stars.

[Harris · Rating 3 out of 5]

This, I feel, is a fundamentally sad work. While a beautiful story that appeals to most of my gut interests; libraries, books, a hidden fantastic side to reality, it reaches conclusions that I find questionable at best. I am not sure exactly what the message is here. However, the way Niffenegger explores this battle between the idealized world of literature and the inner mind and the disappointments of everyday life, is still very compelling to me. In particular, I enjoyed the grounding of the work in the city of Chicago, which grants the story a dose of realism to its whimsical melancholy (I admit I Google Street viewed the intersection of Ravenswood and Belle Plaine after reading to see what it was like).

The graphic novel follows the story of Alexandra, a lonely Chicagoan who pines away after coming across the mysterious Night Bookmobile and its intriguing librarian, Mr. Openshaw, which contains a complete catalog of everything Alexandra has ever read. For someone like Alexandra (or I), this would be a treasure trove of self-reflection, illustrating much of what made you who you are. Returning to the bookmobile periodically over the years, the desire to recapture her reading past causes the introspective and obsessed Lexy to focus her energies on becoming a librarian, a director of a prominent library in fact, in the “real” world. However, even this does not sate her obsession and she sacrifices much, too much, to follow it.

As someone who, in the past, has also considered the possibility of a literal “heaven as a type of library,” this is a seductive idea, but what good are the reflections and thoughtfulness of books without everyday life to counterbalance them? In any case, the story is definitely thought provoking.

[Kris Springer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very quick read. Surreal is best word to describe; found it enjoyable & haunting because of the subject matter--life of reading--and becoming consumed by it, which we can. In Niffenegger's "After Words" section, she wrote, "When I began writing The Night Bookmobile, it was a story about a woman's secret life as a reader. As I worked it also became a story about the claims that books place on their readers, the imbalance between our inner and outer lives, a cautionary tale of the seductions of the written word. It became a vision of the afterlife as a library, of heaven as a funky old camper filled with everything you've ever read. What is this heaven? What is it we desire from the hours, weeks, lifetimes we devote to books? What would you sacrifice to sit in that comfy chair with perfect light for an afternoon in eternity, reading the perfect book, forever?"

This made me think--what are we giving up now to read--and will we ever know whether the trade (sunlight for reading time, for ex.) is a good one? I usually choose the book but sometimes I don't think it's the wisest choice.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was loving it, then it got morbid (which really isn't all that surprising for Audrey Niffenegger). But I still really liked it.

[Ashley Owens · Rating 1 out of 5]

...... what the hell did I just read?

[Narges · Rating 1 out of 5]

1.5 stars
من این کتاب رو فقط بخاطر اسم مترجمش خریدم، خانم لیلا کرد که سلیقه‌ی ایشون توی انتخاب کتاب رو بسیار می‌پسندم؛ اما آخرای داستان یکم عجیب بود و از واقعیت دور بود. درسته که توی کل ماجرا یه فضای سورئال حاکم بود اما من زیاد خوشم نیومد.
کتاب به صورت کمیک بوک بود و حجم بسیار کمی داشت. انقدری که به نیم ساعت تموم میشه.

[Heather Stewart · Rating 2 out of 5]

**THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS**


This book was a MAJOR disappointment for me. I honestly can't believe an author would write such a book - Where a person can be so obsessed with books that she kills herself. To back up, I LOVE Niffenegger's The Time Traveler's Wife - It is one of my all-time favorite books and I highly recommend it. I also enjoyed, but not nearly as much her other novel, The Fearful Symmetry. HOWEVER, I can't believe she wrote The Night Bookmobile AND the book had so much promise at the beginning.

It is the first half of the book that I even gave it 2 stars, It had such good promise. I was LOVING the premise of the story - A mysterious bookmobile that only shows up sporadically and when you least expect it from dusk to dawn. This book houses all the materials that the patron has very read, including personal diaries. It was mysterious, fun and she wanted to work at the bookmobile. It was so inspiration and really felt like my own story - she ends up going to library school and being a real librarian, but still seeks the mysterious night bookmobile.

THEN the story crashes - she becomes so obsessed she kills herself (she does end a relationship early in book because of obsession, but I was able to forgive that) - THEN, AND only THEN is she able to be the librarian for the Night Bookmobile - see only the decreased can run the bookmobile and they are assigned there own patrons.
On top of all this, the graphics are horrible and poorly drawn. The second time she sees the night bookmobile the story states it's in a McDonald's parking lot in Chicago (the fact that it took place in Chicago was kind of cool); however the picture showed it in front of Wrigley Stadium and NO McDee's any where to be found.

SO....morals of story - DON'T BECOME SO OBSESSED WITH BOOKS THAT YOU KILL YOURSELF

- BOOK OBSESSION CAN OVERCOME YOUR LIFE AND YOU WILL HAVE NOTHING BUT YOUR BOOKS

- ACHIEVING ONES GOAL OF BECOMING A LIBRARIAN ISN'T GOOD ENOUGH - YOU MUST BE THE ULTIMATE LIBRARIAN

- BOOK LOVERS CAN NOT HOLD RELATIONSHIPS OR JOBS BECAUSE OF THEIR OBSESSION - LET'S TALK ABOUT CRAZY BOOK LADY

Sorry, Niffenegger - I'm not buying it !!

[Iman Narimani · Rating 3 out of 5]

همه چیز تمیز و نم دار بود؛ چون حدود ساعت سه، وقتی من و ریچارد داشتیم دعوا می کردیم، باران باریده بود و کماکان می بارید. من برای همین داشتم توی خنکی شب قدم میزدم که کتابخانه سیار شبانه را دیدم... وقتی داشتم از کنارش رد می شدم در باز شد و داخل ماشین را دیدم. پشت فرمان ماشین یک پیرمرد سفیدپوست نشسته بود که چای می نوشید و روزنامه می خواند. لابد به پیرمرد زل زده بودم، چون از بالای عینک ذره بینی اش نگاهم کرد و گفت: می خواهی مجموعه را ببینی؟
پرسیدم: چه مجموعه ای؟
جواب داد: کتاب.
و کارتی دستم داد. نوشته بود #کتابخانه_سیار_شبانه، کتابدار: روبرت اپن شاو، ساعت کار از غروب تا سپیده.
پرسیدم کتابخانه سیار شبانه؟
جواب داد: درخدمتم.
روی جلد بعضی از کتاب ها شماره خورده بود ولی روی بعضی هایشان شماره ای نداشت. کتابها براساس فهرست موضوعی مرتب نشده بودند و به نظر می رسید سیستم شماره گذاری بعضی هایشان فرق داشته باشد؛ در واقع انگار کتاب ها از کتابخانه های مختلفی آمده باشند. مشکوک شدم که نکند آقای اپن شاو راه می افتد و کتاب ها را از کتابخانه ها می دزدد تا اینجا توی کاروانش جمعشان کند. کمی که جلوتر رفتم متوجه چیز عجیبی شدم. همه کتاب های اینجا به نظرم آشنا می آمدند. در واقع من تمام آن کتاب ها را خوانده بودم. منظورم این است که من با اینکه خوره کتاب خواندنم، هرگز جایی نبوده ام که همه کتاب هایش را خوانده باشم حتی توی خانه خودم! اما اینجا همه چیز را خوانده بودم. بعد دفتر خاطراتم را دیدم. دفتر را برداشتم و باز کردم... روی دستخط تمیز و مرتب من با روان نویس بنفشم، مهر کتابخانه خورده بود! رفتم پیش آقای اپن شاو. این مال من است، دفتر خاطراتم را نشان آقای اپن شاو دادم. لبخند ملایمی زد و گفت: همه شان مال تو هستند. اینها همه کتاب هاییست که تا حالا خوانده ای...

آنچه خواندید بخش ابتدایی داستان کوتاه کتابخانه سیار شبانه بود.
مدتی پیش در سایت کتابخانه ملی جستجو می کردم تا کتاب های با موضوع کتابخانه یا کتابفروشی را پیدا کنم که این کتاب را با ترجمه خانم #لیلا_کرد دیدم. برایم عجیب بود که خانم کرد در صفحه شخصیشان هیچ وقت از این کتاب عکسی منتشر نکرده و حرفی نزده بودند. وقتی از خودشان سوال کردم متوجه شدم که ترجمه ایشان توسط ارشاد با اصلاحات زیادی مواجه شده و ایشان هم قید ترجمه آن را زده بودند. با این حال گفتند که این داستان با ترجمه خانم #بهناز_شیر_محمدی و با صدای #فاطمه_معتمد_آریا در مجموعه #داستان_همراه به صورت صوتی موجود است. این مجموعه را می توانید از #طاقچه بشنوید.

[Drew Constance · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoughts:

I miss the good old days of reading picture books and after recently throwing away the old censor that told me I am too old to read them, I decided that I was going to enjoy a book for being a book and forget about these thoughts or challenges that ask me to read one over 100 pages or it doesn’t count as reading a book. When I popped into the library yesterday with my partner I came upon a treasure of a picture book. Now called graphic novels or stories that are written for adults, The Night Book Mobile is a serial that ran in the newspapers transformed into a book that can be enjoyed in its entirety and enjoy it I did.

The story itself has dark undertones that make the book definitely for an adult audience, but the concept is one that can be loved and understood by anyone who loves books. I am an addict and proud so when reading about Alexandra and her journey through reading and through finding the Night Bookmobile I had that sort of excited and almost thrilling high as I devoured the story and its beautiful pictures in less than half an hour. I mean, who wouldn’t love to escape to a place where all the books you have ever read in your life are all in one place? Who wouldn’t love to sit there, sipping tea and travel down memory lane, from the picture books to the intense thrillers to even your own journals written as a child through to adulthood? Count me in.

But there was a catch, and that catch had me feeling anguish for Alexander and I was seriously in a panic; which to me is what makes the ending of this book and her reality even more sensational to read. The artwork was simplistic, not overdone but still enjoyable. Not the greatest, but I still loved looking at it and I would certainly recommend this book to all avid book readers as it would be the perfect gift and the perfect addition to any Night Bookmobile of anyone’s imagination. However with an ending like that, even though I did enjoy it I have to say it might have cost it a star.

I am giving this one:
★★★★
Free mugs of tea from Dusk till Dawn

[christa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Audrey Niffenegger has a good thing going on with her lobes. In her graphic novel "The Night Bookmobile" -- which walks like a children's book, but certainly doesn't talk like one, Alexandra goes out for a walk in the streets of Chicago in the middle of the night. She has recently fought with her boyfriend Richard, a ponytailed lover with no time for make believe. She finds a bookmobile blasting Bob Marley and gives the driver a little peek as she walks past.

Robert Openshaw greets her, invites her inside. So many books and she's read all of them. Paul Auster and Betty Crocker and, gasp, her own diary from childhood. Openshaw hustles her out the door when the sun comes up.

Back home with Richard, she is distracted. He doesn't believe her story. He breaks the fourth wall with a snarky look at the reader and says "See what I have to deal with here?" She continues to spend her nights searching for the bookmobile -- to the point where Richard thinks she is carrying on with another dude. She doesn't quite dispute that. This magical camper and its rock and roll soundtrack get her full attention.

She returns to the bookmobile a couple more times, more aisles and more books with each visit, always reluctant to leave and damn-near clawing at Openshaw's pant leg and begging for a job that he can't give her.

Like "The Time Traveler's Wife" and "Her Fearful Symmetry," Niffenegger has again blurred the lines between natural and supernatural. Her authorial "what ifs" aren't subject to gravity, which is a pleasure to read. Art-wise, she is more grounded in realism. No dreamy swirls or puffs or anything else to suggest that this is fantastical.

This book is a totally treat and undoubtedly has readers considering their own night bookmobiles: The Judy Blume and Christopher Pike. "Veganomicon" and issues of Sassy magazine. A barely cracked copy of Joyce Carol Oates' "A Widow's Story," the complete works of Chuck Palahniuk, Japanese crime fiction and even this book.