Best Time Travel Books
Time travel books are such a fun genre to read. Whether you love time travel romance books, contemporary fiction or are drawn to multiple lives, we have the best time travel books in one place.
I find it so interesting that the idea of time travel finds its way into so many different genres of books. Who would think that historical fiction would go with time travel and yet, just have a look at the phenomenon of Outlander.
I am not sure if that spark was the beginning of this amazing sub-genre of books but, I love each one on this list. If you are looking for books like The Time Traveler’s Wife, you will find some great options on this list.
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Contemporary Fiction Time Travel Books
Oona Out of Order
Author: Margarita Montimore
Year: 2020
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
More info: April 2020 GMA Book Club Pick
Spice Rating:💋
Age Range:16+
Plot
I absolutely loved this story about Oona who at the stroke of midnight on her 19th birthday, finds herself in her 51-year-old body. She is greeted by a stranger who is waiting for her in her home and tells her that every year, she will jump to another point in her life- she will live her life out of order.
This is an emotional, well-written story that will not only keep you quickly turning pages but also make you think about the small things in life that we take for granted.
Why Jackie loves it
This is such a unique book that left me wanting more with every turn of the page. Because this book is a nonlinear narrative, you never know what is going to happen or what age Oona will be.
Find this book in: New Year’s Eve Books / Best Time Travel Books / Nonlinear Narrative Novels / Feel-Good Books / Books Set in the 80s / GMA Book Club List 2020
In Five Years by Rebecca Serle
Author: Rebecca Serle
Year: 2020
Genre: Fiction
More info: March 2020 GMA Book Club Pick
Spice Rating:💋💋
Age Range: 18+
Plot
Dannie is an ambitious lawyer with a plan. She has her life planned out until she falls asleep and spends one hour in the future. Nothing is familiar- not her house, the ring on her finger, or the man by her side. When she wakes, she cannot get the images out of her head.
Trigger Warnings
Cancer, Grief
Why Jackie loves it
What a refreshing contemporary fiction book about the power of love and friendship. I sat down and read this book in one sitting easily. It is captivating from the first sentence and had me until the last page. I loved this time travel book, it was unexpected, unconventional, and a delight to read. It would also be a great one for book clubs! There is lots to discuss in this one.
Find this book in: Friendship Books / Contemporary Fiction Novels / Time Travel Books / GMA Book Club List 2020
The Time Traveler’s Wife
Year: 2003
Genre: Time Travel Fiction
More info: 2009 Movie starring Eric Bana and Rachel McAdams
Spice Rating:💋
Age Range:16+
Plot
Clare and Henry have an unusual love story. They’ve known each other since Clare was six and Henry was thirty-six but were married when Clare was twenty-three and Henry was thirty-one. Henry is an adventurous librarian who inadvertently travels through time.
He never knows where he will turn up and when he will disappear. He knows that he will travel suddenly and without warning. Will Clare and Henry be able to determine what causes the time jumps or is Henry destined to spend the rest of his life wondering and worrying?
Trigger Warnings
Sudden Death
Why Kirsten loves it
I adore how this story explores very real challenges that any couple faces. With the added time travel element, it becomes an unforgettable pick from our list of romance books.
Why Jackie loves it
The way Clare and Henry fight for their love shows a deep connection between the two that is unmatched.
Find this book in: Best Time Travel Books / Time Travel Romance Books / Books Like A Discovery of Witches / Best Romance Novels of All Time / Nonlinear Narrative Novels / Books About Librarians
The Midnight Library
Author: Matt Haig
Year: 2020
Genre: Time Travel Fiction
More info: October 2020 GMA Book Club Pick
Spice Rating:💋
Age Range: 18+
Plot
The story is about a library with books filled with the infinite possibilities of the lives not lived. Have you ever wondered about a choice, or a path not taken?
When Nora finds herself in the library she is forced to face the choices that she made in her life- relationships, education, profession… The books in the library are endless, each an alternate reality of the endless life choices. Nora has to decide what kind of life she wants to live.
Trigger Warnings
Suicide
Why Jackie loves it
I loved Matt Haig’s last book and was so excited to read this one. This is a magical time travel book and I loved every minute of getting to know Nora’s paths untravelled. Matt Haig is a master of magical realism.
Find this book in: Time Travel Books / Books About Books / Time Loop Books / Magical Realism / Best Books of 2020 / Adult Fantasy Novels / Books About Libraries / Ultimate Beach Reads 2021
Plot
Annie Beyers is happily married with a daughter named Hannah and lives in her beloved yellow house. When she gets into a car accident on the way to the pediatrician, she wakes up in the hospital, and everything has changed. Her husband is estranged, and they tell her that Hannah never existed.
This well-written, gripping story asks the question “what-if?”
Trigger Warnings
Mental illness, Infertility
Why Jackie loves it
I absolutely love this book and wish that I never had to put it down. It grabbed me from the first page until the last. This book will leave you smiling and is a perfect feel-good read. There is the perfect amount of magic and reality to appeal to everyone.
Historical Fiction Time Travel Books
Outlander
Author: Diana Gabaldon
Year: 1991
Genre: Historical Fantasy
More info: Outlander Series Book 1 of 9
Spice Rating:💋💋💋
Age Range: 18+
Plot
This epic story begins in 1945 when Claire Randall and her husband take a second honeymoon to the Scottish Highlands to celebrate being reunited after the war. When Claire touches one of the standing stones, she is transported to 1743.
This is when the real story begins. In order to stay safe as an English woman in Scotland, Clare must depend on Jamie Frasier for protection. Soon Clare finds herself living in a world she has only read about in history books and torn between two men that she loves. In addition to being a brilliant fiction that is rich in historical details, it is an epic love story as well. For me, this is magical realism at its finest.
Trigger Warnings
Rape, sexual assault, sexual violence
Why Kirsten loves it
How do I love Outlander? I cannot count the ways. There is a reason this is one of my favorite books of all time. I am a huge reader of historical fiction and this one checks all the boxes for me. The characters are rich, the plot is complex without being overly complicated and the epic love story make it almost perfect in my eyes.
Why Jackie loves it
Even though I am not a huge historical fiction connoisseur, I could not put this book down. Even at 640 pages, I did not want it to end and immediately picked up the next book in the series. I love the touch of magical realism that transported Clare back in time 200 years and Gabaldon’s story telling made the characters jump off the page.
Find this book in: Best Romance Novels of All Time / Ultimate List of Historical Fiction/ Books Like A Discovery of Witches / Adult Fantasy Romance Books / Magical Realism Books / Best Adult Fantasy Novels
The Librarian
Author: Christy Sloat
Year: 2017
Genre: Fantasy Romance
More info: The Librarian Chronicles #1
Spice Rating:💋
Age Range: 18+
Plot
When Emme’s grandmother dies, she agrees to take over Gram’s library despite plans to head to college abroad. When she opens a book from Gra’s special collection, she finds herself face to face with Jack Ridgewell in 1892 England. Emme is part of an elite group of women who can travel to the past through books.
Why Jackie loves it
This is reminded me of Outlander! This brings a whole new meaning to Book Boyfriend. You’ll love this fantasy book about books.
Find this book in: Books About Librarians / Books like Outlander / Books About Books
Plot
A perfect summer read about a neurosurgeon who is transported back to Siena in the time of the plague. The narrative makes me feel like I am in Italy. After the death of her brother, Beatrice travels to Italy where she uncovers the work of Gabriele Accorsi. She is shocked when she sees a painting of herself and the next thing she knows, she has been transported back in time to 1347. Described as Outlander meets Girl with a Pearl Earring, at its heart, it is a love story.
Trigger Warnings
Plague
Why Jackie loves it
I could not put it down and finished it as a perfect start to the summer reading season. This is the perfect time travel romance book for fans of Outlander!
Find this book in: Time Travel Books / Books Set in Italy / Historical Fantasy Books
The Jane Austen Project
Author: Kathleen Flynn
Year: 2017
Genre: Historical Fiction
Spice Rating:💋💋
Age Range: 16+
Plot
As part of a group of workers from the future, Liam and Rachel are sent back in time to diagnose Jane’s illness, and help her complete her next book.
Why Kirsten loves it
I love the grittier side of this novel. It doesn’t romanticize the time period, very similar to the way Diana Gabaldon shows the harsh realities of life in the Highlands or onboard a ship at sea.
Find this book in: Best Time Travel Books / Books Like Outlander / Fiction Books About Writers
Little Shop of Found Things
Author: Paula Brackston
Year: 2018
Genre: Historical Fantasy
More info: Found Things #1
Age Range: 16+
Plot
Xanthe and her Mother are starting a new life in their newly acquired antique shop. Xanthe has always had the ability to touch objects and have them “sing” their story to her. When she touches an old chatelaine, she feels more connected to this object than anything else she has ever touched.
When she finds herself inextricably transported to 1605, she must find a way to get herself home and help someone from the past. When she meets Samuel, an architect, she wonders if she will have the strength to leave.
Why Jackie loves it
Little Shop of Found Things was totally what I thought it would be and I was so pleasantly surprised. Part historical fiction and part fantasy, this book is perfect for fans of Outlander.
Kindred
Author: Octavia Butler
Year: 1979
Genre: Historical Speculative Fiction
More info: National Bestseller
Age Range: 18+
Plot
Dana is a black women in the 1970’s when she is abruptly transported to the antebellum South. She saves Rufus, the white son of the plantation owner, and then is transported back home again. Dana keeps finding herself transported back in time to save Rufus over and over while she finds herself in an increasing amount of danger.
Trigger Warnings
Slavery, Racism, Rape
Why Jackie loves it
This is an amazing, fast-paced read. It showcases Butler’s incredible talent as a writer.
Time Travel Sci-Fi Books
The Ministry of Time: A Novel
Author: Kailiane Bradley
Year: 2024
Genre: Sci-Fi
More info: May 2024 Good Morning America Book Club Pick
Spice Rating:💋
Age Range: 18+
Plot
In the not-so-distant future, a civil servant begins working with a new government ministry that gathers “expats” from across history to try to establish a time travel program. Her job is a “bridge” to help the expats adapt to the new time they are living in. She is supposed to help Commander Graham Gore, known as 1847. In history, he died in an Arctic expedition. In the history books, the commander died on Sir John Franklin’s doomed 1845 expedition to the Arctic.
Initially, all the expats are a little disoriented. The commander is especially concerned about an unmarried woman who wears pants. Over the next year, as the expats adapt, the real reasoning of the program becomes clear.
Jackie’s Thoughts
The premise of this book was right up my alley. I usually love GMA book picks, so I was surprised that this book didn’t resonate with me. The plot moved a little slowly through the middle and I had a hard time picking it back up.
Find this book in: GMA Book Club List 2024
Plot
In an alternate reality, there is a flu ravaging the population. In exchange for a cure, loved ones agree to travel into the future for the price of the vaccine.
Trigger Warnings
Rape
Why Jackie loves it
As soon as I saw the description of this book, I knew I needed to read it. This book was more dystopian than I thought it would be but, I felt compelled to keep reading. I thought it was going to a romance but it is filled with heartbreak, pain, and tragedy.
Dark Matter
Author: Blake Crouch
Year: 2016
Genre: Sci-fi Thriller
More info: New York Times Bestseller
Spice Rating:💋💋
Age Range: 18+
Plot
In this mind-bending sci-fi novel, Jason Dessen, is kidnapped and knocked unconscious and when he wakes up he’s in another life – one in which he is a genius that can travel through different times and lives. Now, Jason must fight to get back to the ordinary life he had, jumping through time to get back to the people he loves.
Trigger Warnings
Violence
Why Kirsten loves it
This is sci-fi for non-sci-fi fans. Also, it sort of reminded me of a wrinkle in time. Imagine being able to find the different versions of yourself in parallel universes. The science part of the story was easily explained to me and the story was absolutely captivating!
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