Travel back in time with the best time travel books. Find engrossing thrillers, time travel romance, and mind-bending sci-fi. The Uncorked Librarian craves armchair travel via books that, like magic carpets, fly readers across time
30 Best Time Travel Books | The Uncorked Librarian Skip to Content Search Magnifying Glass Search for: Close Search × Books≺ For Travelers By Genre By Decade By Season New Books Movies Reading Challenge Asheville Subscribe 30 Best Time Travel Books Posted on Last updated: November 25, 2022 This post may contain affiliate links that earn us a commission at no extra cost to you. Travel back in time with the best time travel books. Find engrossing thrillers, time travel romance, and mind-bending sci-fi. The Uncorked Librarian craves armchair travel via books that, like magic carpets, fly readers across time and space. What could be better than showcasing some of the best books about time travel? Plus, we know that our readers crave historical fiction, and books with time travel tend to go back into the past. Most already know about The Time Traveler’s Wife, A Christmas Carol, and The Time Machine. In recent years, though, we’ve seen more and more time travel novels hitting the shelves. For holiday and romance time travel, grab In A Holidaze. Haig’s The Midnight Library was one of the best books we read in 2020 (note there are trigger warnings, though). Recursion re-kindled our love for science fiction, and Ruby Red transported us to 18th-century London. Displacement offers a poignant commentary about generational trauma and racism. Below, find time travel in books of all genres and for adults and teens – history, romance, classics, sci-fi, YA, and thrilling fiction. Choose from bestselling titles that will not only transport you across time periods Doctor Who-style but also some of the best time travel novels that will tesser you into new dimensions and around the world. What are your favorite novels about time travel? Let us know in the comments, and get ready to travel in the blink of an eye. Let’s get started! If you love to travel, head over to all of our books across the world reading lists. Travel around the world with the best time travel books. Grab the best books about time travel here: 1. Book of the Month: Get the month’s hottest new and upcoming titles from Book of the Month. You might snag an early release or debut author. Along with selecting a book a month, find terrific add-ons, both trendy and lesser-known titles.2. Audible Plus: From Amazon, listen to Amazon Originals, podcasts, and audiobooks. They add new titles every week.3. Amazon Prime: Don’t miss Amazon First Reads – early access to Kindle books. Get fast delivery as well as movies, music, Originals, shows, and more. Best Time Travel Books In Five Years by Rebecca Serle Would your life change if you had one seemingly real dream or premonition? What if some key facts were missing but you had no idea? Can we change the future? One of the best books about time travel and friendship, don’t miss In Five Years. In fact, we read this New York City-based novel in half a day. Have the tissue box ready, though. The premise: Dannie nails an important job interview and is hoping to get engaged. Of course, this is all a part of her perfect 5-year plan. Dannie has arranged every minute of her life ever since her brother died in a drunk driving accident. On the night of Dannie’s scheduled engagement, she falls asleep only to ‘see’ herself 5 years into the future in the arms of another man. Did she just time travel or could this be a dream? When Dannie arrives back in 2020, her life goes back to normal. …That is until she meets the man from her “dream…” You are expecting In Five Years to be a time travel romance but it turns out to be a different type of love… Explore more of the best books with strong friendships. Recursion by Blake Crouch Recursion is one of our all-time favorite time travel books to gift to dads who love sci-fi. Can you tell what we gave our dad for Christmas one year? In Recursion, no one actually physically time travels – well, sort of. Instead, memories become the time-traveling reality. Detective Barry Sutton is investigating False Memory Syndrome. Neuroscientist Helena Smith might have the answers he needs. The disease drives people crazy – and to their deaths – by causing them to remember entire lives that aren’t theirs. Or are they!? All goes to heck when the government gets its hands on this mind-blowing technology. Can Barry and Helena stop this endless loop? Recursion is also a 2019 Goodreads Best Book for science fiction. Before the coffee gets cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi | Translated by Geoffrey Trousselot One of the most debated time travel books among our readers and favorite bookstagrammers, Before the coffee gets cold takes place at a cafe in Tokyo, Japan. You’ll either love this translated time travel novel or will find it a bit too repetitive. We think the story has a drop of humor with a beautiful message. We most definitely shed a tear or two. Along with coffee, this 140-year-old, back-alley cafe lets visitors travel back in time. Four visitors at the cafe are hoping to time travel to see someone for the last (or first) time. The way each patron views the cafe says a lot about them. The details are everything in Before the coffee gets cold. True to the title, their trip can only last as long as it takes for the coffee to grow cold. If they don’t finish their coffee before this point, there are ghostly consequences. The novel questions who you would see one last time and what issues you would confront. Along with the many rules of time travel, these visitors are warned that the present will not change. Would you still travel back knowing this? Can something, anything, still change – even within you? If you enjoy translated literature and wish to travel to Asia with a good book, head over to our books set in Japan reading list. Or, if you wish to time travel with a great Japanese movie, be sure to watch The Girl Who Lept Through Time. Read even more Japanese fantasy novels here. In A Holidaze by Christina Lauren If you are looking for a sweet and sexy holiday rom-com set in Utah, don’t miss In A Holidaze by Christina Lauren. For novels about time travel, this one is sure to put you in the holiday spirit if you enjoy movies like Holidates or Groundhog’s Day. We also recommend In A Holidaze if you are looking for Christmas family gathering books – a big request we see here at TUL. Mae leaves her family and friend’s Christmas vacation home after drunkenly making out with an old childhood friend. Blame the spiked eggnog. Unfortunately, Mae’s secretly in love with her best friend’s brother, Andrew. On the ride to the airport, Mae wishes for happiness just as a truck hits her parent’s car. Mae lands in a time-travel loop where her dreams start coming true. Is it too good to last? What happens when she isn’t happy once again? Is she trapped? This time travel novel is also perfect if you are looking for something light to read and prefer happy endings. P.S. Did you know that Christina Lauren is a pen name for a writing duo, Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings? Christina Lauren also wrote The Unhoneymooners, which was also hilariously enjoyable and set on an island. This Is How You Lose The War by Max Gladstone and Amal El-Mohtar A Goodreads runner-up for one of the best science fiction novels of 2019 – and one of the shortest time travel books on this list – This Is How You Lose The Time War follows two warring time-traveling agents falling in love through a letter exchange. Red and Blue have nothing in common except that they travel across time and space and are alone. Their growing and forbidden love is punishable by death and their agencies might be onto them. In a somewhat beautiful yet bizarre story, we watch as Red and Blue slowly fall for each other and confess their love. They engage in playful banter and nicknames. Every shade of red and blue remind them of each other. The first half of the novel is a bit abstract. You might even wonder what the heck you’ve gotten yourself into. However, once you get your feet planted firmly on the ground of the plot, the story picks up and starts making more sense. We can’t promise you’ll love or even understand This Is How You Lose The Time War – we aren’t sure what to think either. However, this is truly one of the most unique sci-fi and LGBTQ+ time travel romances on this reading list – written by two authors. Also, maybe crack out the dictionary… Explore even more of the best LGBTQ+ fantasy books. The Midnight Library by Matt Haig If you are looking for the most thought-provoking and mind-blowingly inspiring take on time travel in books, Haig’s The Midnight Library is it. This is one of the best books on this list that will make you think more deeply. This story will be triggering for some with both a pet death (early on) and suicide ideation. We almost put down the novel at the beginning because of the heaviness, but we promise, it’s worth it. Imagine if you could see your other possible lives and fix your regrets. Would that path be better? Would these changes make you happier? Set in Bedford, England and at a library, Nora answers these questions as she intentionally overdoses on pills. Caught in the Midnight Library – between life and death – Nora explores books filled with the ways her life could have turned out. Nora tries on her alternative lives, pursuing different dreams, marrying different people, and realizing that some parts of her root life were not as they seemed on the surface. Find hope and simplicity in an authentic time travel novel. Haig addresses mental health through a new lens that is both beautiful and poignant. We also named The Midnight Library one of the best books of 2020. One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston From bestselling author, Casey McQuiston of Red, White, & Royal Blue – one of our favorite LGBTQ+ books for new adults – don’t miss the most-talked-about book of 2021, One Last Stop. Twenty-three-year-old August is quite the cynic and living in New York City. Up until now, August has jumped schools and towns as often as you change a pair of socks. August has also never been in a serious relationship and wants to find “her person.” August’s life suddenly changes, though, when she meets a beautiful and mysterious woman on the train. Jane looks a little …out of date… and for good reason; she’s from the 1970s and trapped in the train’s energy. August wants nothing more than to help Jane leave the train, but does that mean leaving her too? A feel-good, older coming-of-age story, laugh out loud and be utterly dazzled as you follow love across time and space. You’ll cozy (and drink) up in the parties and community surrounding August. One Last Stop was named one of the best LGBTQ+ time travel books of 2021 (and romances); put your name on the library holds list ASAP… Read even more books set on trains. Displacement by Kiku Hughes For historical YA graphic novels, Displacement is one of the must-read books about time travel that will teach young readers about generational trauma, racism, politics, and war. Follow Kiku, who is displaced in time, back to the period of U.S. Japanese incarceration [internment] camps – essentially glorified prisons – during WW2. Kiku begins learning more about her deceased grandmother’s history, which is beginning to mirror present-day times under the “leadership” of President Donald Trump. How can Kiku help stop the past from repeating itself, and more so, how can we? In a simplistic but poignant style of storytelling, Hughes’s powerful YA WW2 book is accessible for young readers and is one of the shorter and quicker books with time travel on this list. Find even more LGBT+ graphic novels to read. The Two Lives of Lydia Bird Jose Silver Some of the best time travel books are those with alternate realities. While not all of us here at TUL loved The Two Lives of Lydia Bird, many of our readers did. Maybe the hype did us in. There are content warnings, including prescription pill addiction. Set in England, Lydia and Freddie are planning their marriage when the unthinkable happens. Freddie dies in a car accident on the way to Lydia’s birthday dinner. In a matter of seconds, Lydia’s world falls apart, and she isn’t sure how she will survive. When Lydia starts taking magical pink sleeping pills, though, she enters an alternate universe where Freddie is alive and well. Caught between her dream world and real life, Lydia must decide if she will give in to her addiction – living in a temporary fantasy world – or give it up completely. We will admit that the repetitive and predictable plot drags on; the pacing feels off. However, The Two Lives Of Lydia Bird offers emotional growth and poignant commentary about healing after loss. Lydia’s pill addiction is a relevant topic, and as Lydia soon learns via her dreams, no love is perfect. Maybe her future was destined to be different anyway, which is reminiscent of Matt Haig’s The Midnight Library. Here And Now And Then by Mike Chen One of the bestselling novels about time travel, Here And Now And Then follows the everyday life of IT worker, Kin Stewart. Stewart has two lives since he is a displaced time-traveling agent stuck in San Francisco in the 1990s. He has a family that knows nothing about his past. When a rescue team arrives to take him back, Stewart has to decide what he is willing to risk for his new family. Read even more books set in San Francisco, California (and more!). The End of Eternity by Issac Asimov The End of Eternity is said to be one of Asimov’s science fiction masterpieces. Harlan is a member of the elite future known as an Eternal. He lives and works in Eternity, which like any good time travel novel, is located separately from time and space. Harlan makes small changes in the timeline in order to better history. Of course, altering the course of the world is dangerous and comes with repercussions, especially when Harlan falls in love. This is one of the most spellbinding books about time travel – although some criticize the story for its loopholes. The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton We have a plethora of Agatha Christie fans amongst our Uncorked Readers, and Turton’s The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evenlyn Hardcastle is inspired by Christie. This is also one of the best time travel books and mysteries if you enjoy Downton Abbey and Groundhog’s Day. An award-winning historical thriller, Evelyn Hardcastle will die every day until Aiden Bishop can name the killer. Similar to Levithan’s Every Day, each day, Aiden wakes up in a different body from the guests of the Blackheath Manor. Can he identify the killer and break the cycle? Join The Uncorked Reading Challenge Today Travel around the world with the Uncorked Reading Challenge. Get the best book and movie recs straight to your inbox. Sign Up Now. The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes Known for being one of the best books with time travel for thriller lovers, The Shining Girls is also one of the spookiest novels on this reading list. Kirby Mazrachi is the last shining girl – a girl with a future and so much potential. Harper Curtis is a killer from the past meant to kill Mazrachi. However, Kirby is not about to easily go out without a fight. The First Fifteen Lives Of Harry August by Claire North If you are looking for funny time travel books and like Groundhog’s Day, check out The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August. No matter what August does or says, when he lands on his deathbed, he always returns back to his childhood, again and again. On the verge of his 11th death, though, a girl changes the course of his life. All Our Wrongs Today by Elan Mastai A debut novel, All Our Wrongs Today is both a humorous and entertaining book about time travel that speaks to how we become who we are. In 2016, technology has basically perfected the world for Tom Barren. However, we all know that perfection doesn’t equate to happiness. Barren has lost his girlfriend, and he just happens to own a time machine… Now, Barren has to decide if he wants to keep his new, manipulated future or if he just wants to go back home to his depressing but normal life. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon If you follow TUL elsewhere, you know that we haven’t really gotten into the Outlander or GOT craze. Blasphemy, we know. However, many of our book list contributors love the Outlander series. It’s definitely considered one of the best time travel books, series, and TV shows of all time in pop culture. A New York Times bestseller and one of the top 10 most loved books according to The Great America Read, get ready to enter Scotland in 1743. Claire, a former British combat nurse, walks through an ancient circle standing stone and is transported into a world of love, death, and war. Outlander also appears on our North Carolina reading list. Read even more cult-classic books from the ’90s. A Knight In Shining Armor by Jude Deveraux For time travel romance lovers and a feminist tale set abroad, try A Knight In Shining Armor. A Knight In Shining Armor is a classic and more retro time travel novel: Dougless Montgomery is weeping on top of a tombstone when Nicholas Stafford, the Earl Thornwyck, appears. Although this armor-clad hunk allegedly died in 1564, he stands before her about to embark on a journey to clear his name. Convicted of treason, Montgomery vows to help her soon-to-be lover find his accuser and set the record straight. The Night Mark by Tiffany Reisz Set in South Carolina, if you love lighthouses and beach vibes, you’ll enjoy this time travel romance, The Night Mark. After Faye’s husband dies, she cannot move on and recover. Accepting a photographer job in SC, Faye becomes obsessed with the local lighthouse’s myth, The Lady of the Light. Back in 1921, the lighthouse keeper’s daughter mysteriously drown. Faye is drawn into a love story that isn’t hers. 11/22/63: A Novel by Stephen King Written by bestselling author, Stephen King, 11/22/63 is one of the best award-winning time travel books for historical fiction lovers. Set in 1963 when President Kennedy is shot, 11/22/63 begs the question: what if you could go back in time and change history? Enter Jake Epping in Lisbon Falls, Maine. Epping asks his students to write about a time that altered the course of their lives. Inspired by one of those haunting essays, Epping enlists to prevent Kennedy’s assassination. How is this time travel possible? With the discovery of a time portal in a local diner’s storeroom… 11/22/63 is one of the most thrilling and realistic books about time travel, according to critics and readers. Kindred by Octavia E. Butler If you are looking for historical fiction novels about time travel that address slavery and racism, be sure to check out Butler’s Kindred. This is also one of the best books published in the 1970s. One minute Dana is celebrating her birthday in modern-day California, and the next, she finds herself in the antebellum south. Dana is expected to save the plantation owner’s son from drowning. Each time Dana finds herself back in this time period and the slave quarters, her stays grow longer and longer as well as more dangerous. P.S. If you love Dana in Kindred, don’t miss our leading ladies in historical fiction reading list. What The Wind Knows by Amy Harmon A bestseller and Goodreads top choice book, if you love historical Irish fiction, What The Wind Knows will transport you to Ireland in the 1920s. Anne Gallagher heads to Ireland to spread her grandfather’s ashes. Devastated, her grief pulls her into another time. Ireland is on the verge of entering a war, and Anne embraces a case of mistaken identity. She finds herself pulled into Ireland’s fight for Independence at the risk of losing her future life. What The Wind Knows is one of the best books with time travel according to our Uncorked Readers, too. Travel to Ireland with this reading list too! The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger The Time Traveler’s Wife is one the best time travel books for romance seekers – and not just because the st… truncated (10,269 more characters in archive)