The Plight of the Emotional Control Freak: The Book of Doors by Gareth Brown

If there’s a lesson to be had in reading Gareth Brown’s “The Book of Doors,” it’s probably this: emotional control freaks are … hmm.

I picked this book up a little while back, intrigued by the concept and the Lee Child blurb on the cover. And it checks the box for making sure I include some fantasy/sci-fi in the mix for the year. For as much as I tend to think I don’t really like fantasy and sci-fi, I kinda actually do. I think that I got the notion that it takes more energy to read — that I have to pay closer attention. And that’s not necessarily the case. (I mean, c’mon — where is that 13-year-old me that scarfed down Piers Anthony novels?)

The premise is pretty straightforward — a youngish introvert named Cassie works in a bookstore in NYC, befriends an older man that comes in regularly to read, and is saddened by his unexpected but understandable death one evening. Having seemed to pass from a heart attack, she discovers he has left her a book filled with little more than sketches and gibberish.

By sheer luck, she discovers the book is actually a portal through time and space — the Book of Doors. It goes without saying this book is priceless, and highly sought after by people who could use it for nefarious reasons. And it’s just one of a series of tomes that control everything from matter to memories to feelings and physicality.

It’s up to Cassie to protect herself, her friend Izzy and the friends she meets along the way as she battles the forces of evil that want control of not just the Book of Doors, but all of the magical books that make up what Cassie would likely say is “everything and everywhere.” I’ll leave the details of the adventure up to anyone that chooses to pick it up, except to say this — it doesn’t feel like owning that much emotional and physical control over your life and it’s direction is really all that desirable in the end.

Instead, I think a great book club question would be to consider which door you would want to travel to and through? Would it be somewhere in the past? (Maybe a peek back at a moment from my childhood? Or just a simple night grilling out in the backyard when the kids were really young?) A favorite place you’ve been to? (Hello, Paris.) Or, maybe one could consider which of the magical books they’d like to own. I like the concept of the Book of Joy, but my anti-social tendencies kinda also think the Book of Shadows would be like a warm blanket on a cold winter’s night.

I do know one thing — I think too much information is not really a good thing, and that energy spent on trying to remain as tightly wound as Cassie is probably energy wasted. Here’s to being a little less informed and a little more relaxed.