Time Travel Books (not sci fi)

Anonymous
Somehow over the last few years I have read or listened to multiple books involving some form of time travel (not sci fi, but as a plot device). Some have been great, some have been fine, and some have been bad. I'm curious if people have ones they like or don't like that I haven't gone through.

Oona Out of Order - a woman's birthday is on New Year's Eve and when the clock strikes midnight every year she ends up at a different year in her life. She learns about things that happened in the past and grapples with how to live earlier years with the knowledge she has gained in later ones. 4.75/5. I could have read a book about every year of her life. I liked some years better than others but overall it was really engaging and also thought-provoking.

In Five Years - a woman wakes up five years in the future and spends a day there before going back to her current life. She doesn't understand how her life has turned out that way and she can't figure out what to do with the knowledge she has. 4/5. I really liked some parts of this book (and actually cried at one), but it was uneven. I'd still read it again knowing what I know now because it was enough of a page turner to keep me interested the whole time.

Maybe Next Time - woman has a bad day and her husband dies at the end of it (that's in the book description, I am not giving anything away), she wakes up and she's back in the same day again and again. 2.5/5. Too repetitive, not particularly clever, I didn't like any of the characters.

Cassandra in Reverse - woman has a bad day (loses her job, boyfriend breaks up with her), then closes her eyes and she's back in the same day and discovers she can go back in time at will (but only so far). 4/5. At the beginning the character seemed a bit like Eleanor Oliphant (whom I did not like) but she's not as dislikeable and I thought the end of the book was great.

Wrong Place Wrong Time - woman's son kills someone, she begins to wake up earlier and earlier and tries to unravel the mystery of why her son did it. 4.5/5. Tight plot, interesting twists, definitely a page turner.

What Alice Forgot - a woman wakes up 10 years later and her life isn't anything like what she thought it was going to be. 4.75/5. Liane Moriarty is hit or miss for me, but this was my favorite book she ever did.

Similar to time travel but not really:

The Book of Two Ways - a woman's life diverges at a point in time (think Sliding Doors), and she goes down both paths. 4.5/5. I loved the characters and really bought into the two lives even though at first it seemed ridiculous that one person's life could be so divergent based on one event.

The Midnight Library - a woman considers killing herself, she ends up in a library that shows her all the possible paths her life could have taken. 4.5/5. I know many people hated this book but I really enjoyed it.
Anonymous
The one book I've read that employed this as a plot device was The Time Traveler's Wife, which I *really* disliked. The time traveling idea was neat, but the plot was muddled and confusing, the characters weren't remotely likeable, and there was way too much sex. I'm no prude and I love a good sex scene in a novel, but yeesh... this was way over the top.

That said, I thought the idea of time-traveling in itself could work well in the hands of a skilled author (other than sci-fi). Maybe I'll try some of the books you listed above.
Anonymous
Michael Crichton's Timeline.
Anonymous
Outlander? Definitely not sci fi, but time travel is a key part of the series.
Anonymous
Susannah Kearsley does some time travel stuff ...I can't remember exactly which books but I generally like what I've read of hers.
Anonymous
Thanks for this list! I recently listened to Wrong Place Wrong Time and will add a couple of these to my Libby list.
Anonymous
Thanks for the recommendations. I like time travel books too. A recent favorite was "This Time Tomorrow" by Emma Straub
https://www.amazon.com/Emma-Straub-Novel-This-Tomorrow-ebook/dp/B0B69K62M6/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1701713329&sr=8-1
Anonymous
Kelley Armstrong has two time travel series that are so much fun.

A Stitch in Time
https://www.goodreads.com/series/296580-a-stitch-in-time

A Rip Through Time
https://www.goodreads.com/series/332862-a-rip-through-time
Anonymous
Middle Falls Series - Shawn Inmon (take on reliving lives in a small Northwest town - each book is a different character). Easy fun reads on kindle unlimited.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:Thanks for the recommendations. I like time travel books too. A recent favorite was "This Time Tomorrow" by Emma Straub
https://www.amazon.com/Emma-Straub-Novel-This-Tomorrow-ebook/dp/B0B69K62M6/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1701713329&sr=8-1


I have heard such great things about that book but I lost my dad recently and I just can't bring myself to read it yet because I think it'll crack me. Hopefully one day.
Anonymous
What the Wind Knows
Anonymous
The Secret Life of Addie LaRue.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:The Secret Life of Addie LaRue.


I wanted to like this but could not.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:The Secret Life of Addie LaRue.


I loved this, but you have to be ok with magical realism.
Anonymous
I’ve read almost every book on this thread and I’ll check out the ones I haven’t read yet.

I’m not a real sci-fi fan, but got hooked on time travel with Jack Finnney’s Time and Again when I was in college. I have a new book on hold on Libby called The Good Part in which a 26-year-old makes a wish to get to the more settled part of her life and is suddenly 49-something.
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