time travel young adult books

40 Best Time Travel Books To Read Right Now (2024)

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Travel back in time with the best time travel books, including engrossing thrillers, romance, contemporary lit, and mind-bending sci-fi.

Table of Contents

Best Time Travel Books

Books about time travel promise to not only transport you across time periods and space – Doctor Who-style – but also tesser you into new dimensions and around the world. Most readers already know about classics like The Time Traveler’s Wife , A Christmas Carol , and The Time Machine .

For romance time travel, grab In A Holidaze or One Last Stop . For contemporary and new time travel books, Haig’s The Midnight Library and Serle’s In Five Years captivated our hearts and minds.

Recursion re-kindled our love for science fiction, and Ruby Red transported us to 18th-century London. Books like Displacement promise intuitive and raw commentary about generational trauma and racism in graphic novel form.

Below, find the best time travel novels across genres for adults and teens, including history, romance, classics, sci-fi, YA, and thrilling fiction. Get ready to travel in the blink of an eye, and be sure to let us know your favorites in the comments. Let’s get started!

Contemporary & Literary Fiction

If you enjoy contemporary and literary fiction filled with strong main characters, these are some of the best books in the time travel genre. Uncover new releases as well as books on the bestseller lists. Of course, we’ll share a few lesser-known gems too.

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 skip In Five Years . In fact, we read this New York City-based novel in half a day. Have the tissue box ready.

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 have a vision of 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.

We were expecting In Five Years to be a time travel romance story; however, this is a different type of love and one of the best books about strong friendships .

Read In Five Years : Amazon | Goodreads

Before the coffee gets cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

Translated by Geoffrey Trousselot | We just love Japanese literature . One of the most debated time travel books among our readers – you’ll either love it or hate it – Before the coffee gets cold takes place at a cafe in Tokyo, Japan.

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 and repetition are everything.

True to the title, visits may only last as long as it takes for the coffee to grow cold. If they don’t finish their coffee in time, there are ghostly consequences.

Before the coffee gets cold asks, who would you want to 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?

The story has a drop of humor with a beautiful message. We shed a tear or two. Discover even more terrific and thought-provoking Japanese fantasy novels here .

Read Before the coffee gets cold : Amazon | Goodreads

If you are looking for the most inspiring take on time travel in books, Haig’s The Midnight Library is it. This is one of those profound stories that make you think more deeply . TWs for pet death (early on) and suicide ideation.

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

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 – a purgatory of sorts – Nora explores books filled with the ways her life could have turned out. She tries on these 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 one of the most authentic and heaviest time travel novels on this list. Haig addresses mental health through a new lens that is both beautiful and moving.

With a team full of avid readers and librarians, discover our top selections featuring more books about books .

Read The Midnight Library : Amazon | Goodreads

The Two Lives of Lydia Bird by Josie Silver

Some of the best time travel books are those with alternate realities, including The Two Lives of Lydia Bird . There are content warnings for prescription pill addiction and more.

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. She isn’t sure how she will survive. When Lydia starts taking magical pink sleeping pills, 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.

While the repetitive and predictable plot drags a bit – slightly hurting the pacing – the overall story shows emotional growth and the nature of healing after loss. 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 .

Read The Two Lives of Lydia Bird Jose Silver : Amazon | Goodreads

The First Fifteen Lives Of Harry August by Claire North

If you are looking for more suspenseful books about time travel and like Groundhog Day , check out The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August. However, this is not just one day on repeat; instead, this is a lifetime.

Harry August is repeatedly reborn into the same life, retaining his memories each time. No matter what Harry does or says, when he lands on his deathbed, he always returns back to his childhood, again and again. On the verge of his eleventh death, though, a girl changes the course of his life. He must use his accumulated wisdom to prevent catastrophe.

Read The First Fifteen Lives Of Harry August : Amazon | Goodreads

An Ocean of Minutes by Thea Lim

When it comes to time travel books, An Ocean of Minutes is one of the most original takes about time travel’s effects on alternate history.

Polly and Frank are deeply in love in 1981 when a pandemic devastates the planet. By the end of 1981, time travel (invented in this alternate reality in 1993) has been made available.

Because of this invention, individuals can sign on to work for the TimeRaiser corporation in order to escape or save their loved ones in the present. Due to a flaw in the technology, though, they can only transport people for 12 years. This prevents them from stopping the pandemic by just 6 months.

When Frank gets ill, Polly signs up, both agreeing they will meet back up in 1993. Now alone in the future, Polly has to learn to navigate a world she has less than zero preparation for. In this world, she is a time refugee, bonded to TimeRaiser without a physical cent to her name.

Lim uses the time travel mechanic to cleverly explore the subject of immigration, forcing the reader to follow Polly blindly into a world they should know, but don’t. This is what makes An Ocean of Minutes one of the most unique time travel novels on this reading list.

Read An Ocean of Minutes : Amazon | Goodreads

Time Travel In Science Fiction

For fantasy and sci-fi lovers, take a quantum leap into fictional worlds, quantum physics, possible futures, black holes, and endless possibilities. See if you can tell the difference between the real world and new dimensions.

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.

Read Recursion : Amazon | Goodreads

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 novels 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 reminds them of each other.

The first half of the novel is a bit abstract. You might 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 we do. However, this is truly one of the most unique sci-fi and LGBTQ+ time travel romance books on this reading list – written by two authors. Also, maybe crack out the dictionary…

Explore even more of the best LGBTQ+ fantasy books to read next.

Read This Is How You Lose The War : Amazon | Goodreads

All Our Wrong Todays by Elan Mastai

A debut novel, All Our Wrong Todays is both a humorous and entertaining time travel book that speaks to how we become who we are.

In 2016, technology 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.

Read All Our Wrong Todays : Amazon | Goodreads

Here And Now And Then by Mike Chen

Imagine getting trapped in time and starting over. That’s exactly what happens to IT worker, Kin Stewart, in one of the bestselling science fiction time travel books, Here And Now And Then .

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; or, should we say future. When a rescue team arrives to take him back, Stewart has to decide what he is willing to risk for his new family.

Here And Now And Then is a time travel book filled with emotional depth surrounding themes of bonds, identity, and sacrifice. Find even more books set in San Francisco, California (and more!).

Read Here And Now And Then : Amazon | Goodreads

How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe by Charles Yu

How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe is one of the most unusual books about time travel out there.

Our protagonist Charles Yu lives in a world where time travel exists and is readily available to the average person. And yes, he is named after the author, and yes, it is as meta as it sounds; and yes, this is just the beginning of this speculative fiction time travel book.

Charles Yu’s day job is spent repairing time machines for Time Warner Time. But in his free time, he tries to help the people who use time travel to do so safely and to counsel them if things have gone wrong.

It’s no surprise that Charles’ entire life revolves around time travel since his father invented the technology many years ago. And then he disappeared. In fact, Charles is also trying to find out just what happened to his dad, and where – or when – he’s gone.

How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe won’t be for everyone, but it’s one of the best time travel books if you want delightfully meta, fantastically non-linear, and very very weird.

Read How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe : Amazon | Goodreads

The Vanished Birds by Simon Jimenez

For beautiful, lyrical time travel novels about found family and love, The Vanished Birds is a must-read.

Nia Imani exists outside of time and space. She travels in and out of the world through a pocket of time with her space crew. They emerge to trade or sell goods every eight months. But eight months for them is 15 years for everyone else.

She has lived this way for hundreds of years. Though she has her crew, and there are people she shares connections with sporadically throughout their lives, she is lonely. And although she barely ages, she watches friends and lovers grow old and die.

One such person is Kaeda, who meets Nia for the first time when he is 7. The next time he sees her, he has aged 15 years, while she is only months older. She continues to come every 15 years of his life, always looking the same.

Then one day a mysterious, mute boy falls from the sky into Nia’s life. His name is Ahro, and there’s something extra special about him. Something that could revolutionize space travel forever. And now there might be people after Ahro who won’t love him the way Nia does.

If you love a character-driven book with exquisite prose – and a few time warps – this is one of the best time travel books for you.

Read The Vanished Birds : Amazon | Goodreads

Night Watch by Terry Pratchett

Night Watch is one of the most fun and thrilling books about time travel. It’s also a bit ridiculous and very very British.

Why can’t policing just be simple? All Sam Vimes wanted to do was capture and arrest a dangerous murderer. But thanks to those damned wizards and their experiments, he and the killer have both been accidentally thrown back in time thirty years.

And to top it off, the man who would have become a mentor to young Sam Vimes in the past has been killed in the process! How’s Vimes going to get this all sorted out?

The City Watch he’s spent years improving is just a bunch of semi-competent volunteers at this point. He’s got no money, no clothes, and no friends. But at least he’s making enemies fast. Can he catch the killer, stop history from not repeating itself, and get home to his family? Oh, and the city’s about to dissolve into civil war. Typical.

Night Watch is perfect if you prefer your time travel books to be fantasy-based.

P.S. There may be mild spoilers for previous books in the Discworld series, but this can be read as a standalone. And if you only ever read one Discworld novel, this is one of the best there is – and so far the only one of the Discworld books with time travel!

Read Night Watch : Amazon | Goodreads

The Future of Another Timeline by Annalee Newitz

The Future of Another Timeline is one of the few time travel books to explore history through a feminist lens.

In 1992, Beth – a high school senior – and her friends Heather, Lizzy, and Soojin attend a riot grrl concert with Heather’s boyfriend Scott. But afterward, one of Scott’s not-so-funny sexist jokes gets out of hand and Lizzy accidentally kills him. Now they’re on the run, and the bodies just keep piling up.

Meanwhile, in 2022, Tess is part of a group of women and non-binary people working together to change history. They have the use of five time devices which only allow them to travel backward and back to the present day – but never forwards.

Beth and Tess come from two wildly different times (1992, and 2022, respectively). But, while Beth is busy making history, Tess is quite literally trying to change it. However, both of them want the same thing: a better world. When their worlds collide, will they be able to save each other – and the world?

The Future of Another Timeline is a time travel fiction celebration of feminism and queerness with lots of sci-fi and punk rock thrown in. This is one of the best time travel novels for those who enjoy stellar women making history .

Read The Future of Another Timeline : Amazon | Goodreads

The Kingdoms by Natasha Pulley

The Kingdoms is wildly imaginative and sure to enchant fans of time travel books, alternative history stories, and tales about parallel universes.

In 1898 Joe Tournier steps off a train and suddenly can’t remember anything that comes before that moment. The world he now finds himself in is as foreign to him as it is to us: an alternate history/reality where the UK lost the Battle of Trafalgar and is now a French colony.

In this world, the British are kept as slaves. Napoleon is a popular name for pets, and tartan is outlawed. Since Joe arrives on a train from Glasgow speaking English and wearing tartan, there is some speculation he might be from The Saints, a terrorist group based in Edinburgh fighting for freedom.

But all Joe remembers is the fading image of a woman and the name Madeline. Although he is identified by his owner and brought “home,” Joe is determined to find this Madeline. And his resolve is only strengthened when he receives a postcard signed ‘– M’ and dated 90 years in the past.

Discover even more books about Scottish culture, history, and everyday life.

Read The Kingdoms : Amazon | Goodreads

The Light Brigade by Kameron Hurley

The Light Brigade is one of the best time travel stories for anyone who loves character-driven tales or books about war and conflict.

As war wages on Mars, the military has devised the perfect soldier to fight on the frontlines: being made of light. The Light Brigade, as they’re called back home, is made up of soldiers who have undergone a procedure that breaks them down into atoms capable of traveling at the speed of light. They are the perfect soldiers, but broken people.

The book follows one such soldier, Dietz, an eager new recruit who is experiencing battle out of sync with everyone else. Because of this, she – and we – see a different reality of the war than the one presented by the Corporate Corps. As Dietz becomes more and more unstuck in time, she becomes more and more unsure of her own sanity and the role she is playing in this war.

Read The Light Brigade : Amazon | Goodreads

The Umbrella Academy by Gerard Way

You Look Like Death Volume 1 | Now a popular (and excellent) Netflix TV show, The Umbrella Academy is one of the best time travel books of all time.

One day, forty-seven children are suddenly and inexplicably born to women who were not previously pregnant. Eccentric millionaire Reginald Hargreeves goes around the world buying as many of the surviving children as he possibly can. He is able to get seven.

These children, it turns out, all have superpowers (except, it seems, for the unremarkable Number Seven aka Vanya). They become the crime-fighting group: The Umbrella Academy.

Fast forward several years, and Number Five, whose special power is that he can travel in time a few seconds or minutes per go, has mysteriously appeared after Hargreeves dies. And now he brings warning of an apocalypse – one which he insists none of his siblings will survive.

The Umbrella Academy series currently has three volumes, all packed with tales of time travel, parallel worlds, family drama, and lots of epic battles. We’ve absolutely loved this time travel book series so far; we can’t wait to see what Gerard Way does with future installments.

Discover even more great books with music, musicians, and bands.

Read The Umbrella Academy : Amazon | Goodreads

Historical Fiction

Travel back in time to witness wars and history. See what happens if you try to rewrite the future. Many of these historical fiction books with time travel promise to teach you more.

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.

Similar to Levithan’s Every Day , each day, Aiden wakes up in a different body from the guests of the Blackheath Manor. Trapped in a time loop, Aiden must solve Evelyn Hardcastle’s murder to escape. In the process, he navigates the tangled web of secrets, lies, and interconnected lives of the guests. Can he identify the killer and break the cycle?

The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle is an award-winning historical thriller and one of the best time travel novels if you enjoy Downton Abbey and Groundhog’s Day . Discover even more great books set at hotels, mansions, and more.

Read The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle : Amazon | Goodreads

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

Travel back in time to Scotland in one of the most well-known time travel book series (and now TV series) of all time. Outlander is a part of 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 Randall, a former British combat nurse, walks through an ancient circle of stones and is transported into a world of love, death, and war. This is a place of political intrigue, clan conflicts, and romantic entanglements. Claire must navigate the unfamiliar landscape while grappling with her feelings for the dashing Jamie Fraser.

Encounter even more cult-classic books from the ’90s like A Game Of Thrones , which is perfect for fantasy map lovers .

Read Outlander : Amazon | Goodreads

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 both critics and readers.

Read 11/22/63 : Amazon | Goodreads

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. The next, she finds herself in the Antebellum South on a Pre-Civil War Maryland plantation. Dana is expected to save the plantation owner’s son from drowning. Each time Dana finds herself back in this time period as well as the slave quarters, her stays grow longer and longer as well as more dangerous.

Examine the haunting legacy and trauma of slavery across time. For younger readers, there is also a graphic novel adaptation . Discover more books that will transport you to the South .

Read Kindred : Amazon | Goodreads

What The Wind Knows by Amy Harmon

A bestseller and Goodreads top choice book, if you devour 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. She also falls for another main character and doctor, Thomas Smith.

What The Wind Knows is one of the best time travel novels that both romance and fantasy readers can appreciate. Witness connections that transcend time.

Read What The Wind Knows : Amazon | Goodreads

The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes

Known for being one of the best time travel books for thriller lovers, The Shining Girls also has the reputation as the spookiest novel on this reading list.

Kirby Mazrachi is the last shining girl – a girl with a future and so much potential. Harper Curtis is a murderer from the past meant to kill Mazrachi. However, Kirby is not about to easily go out without a fight, leading her on one violent quantum leap through multiple decades.

As Kirby races against time to track down a serial killer and unravel the mysteries of the House, encounter themes of resilience, fate, and the shining spirit that can transcend even the darkest forces.

Read The Shining Girls : Amazon | Goodreads

Time Travel Romance Books

We love a good time-travel romance novel, but we also understand how hard it can be to hold onto love when time is so unstable. From queer love stories set on trains to holiday celebrations, fall in love across time with these books.

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 (from 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 is one of the all-time best LGBTQ+ time travel books – and perfect if you enjoy books that take place on trains .

Read One Last Stop : Amazon | Goodreads

The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

The Time Traveler’s Wife is one the top time travel romance novels – and not just because the story features a librarian . We are so biased.

Henry and Clare have loved each other pretty much forever. Unfortunately, Henry has Chrono-Displacement Disorder, sporadically misplacing him in time. Of course, this time-traveling dilemma makes Clare’s and Henry’s marriage and future together pretty darn interesting.

Grab some Kleenex as they attempt to live normal lives and survive impending devastation. The Time Traveler’s Wife has also been made into a romantic movie classic . Watch even more fantasy movies with romance .

Read The Time Traveler’s Wife : Amazon | Goodreads

In A Holidaze by Christina Lauren

If you are looking for a sweet and sexy holiday rom-com set in Utah, grab In A Holidaze by Christina Lauren.

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?

For holiday books about time travel, this one is sure to put you in the Christmas spirit if you enjoy movies like Holidates  or  Groundhog’s Day . It’s light with a happy ending – typical of this author duo. We also recommend In A Holidaze if you are looking for Christmas family gathering books – a big request we see here at TUL.

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 .

Read In A Holidaze : Amazon | Goodreads

A Knight In Shining Armor by Jude Deveraux

For cozy time travel romance books and a feminist tale set abroad, try A Knight In Shining Armor .

Dougless Montgomery is weeping on top of a tombstone when Nicholas Stafford, Earl of 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.

Read A Knight In Shining Armor : Amazon | Goodreads

The Night Mark by Tiffany Reisz

Set in South Carolina, if you love lighthouses and beach vibes, you’ll find something enjoyable in the 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 drowned. Faye is drawn into a love story that isn’t hers and becomes entangled in a passionate and forbidden love affair.

Read The Night Mark : Amazon | Goodreads

The Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston

Anyone who likes their time travel books to have a magical love story should pick up The Seven Year Slip for their next read. It’s one of our favorite magical realism novels .

When Clementine’s aunt dies, she inherits her fancy New York apartment on the Upper East Side. Although Clementine would really rather have her aunt back and can’t imagine living in her home, she eventually forces herself to move in and inhabit her aunt’s space.

And not long after, she wakes up to discover a strange man in her living room… except it’s not her living room, it’s her aunt’s… from seven years ago. Clementine’s aunt always said her apartment held a touch of magic; sometimes it created time slips that brought two people together when they were at a crossroads.

But what happens when you start to fall for someone stuck seven years in the past? Clementine knows there’s no future together, but she also can’t let go of this link to her aunt.

Like her previous speculative fiction romance, The Dead Romantics , Ashely Poston’s unique time travel tale is full of heartache and grief. However, it will also make you swoon. Basically, this one is a must if you are a fan of time travel romance books.

Read The Seven Year Slip : Amazon | Goodreads

Classic Books

No time travel reading list would be complete without the classics. Below, uncover just a few great time travel novels that started it all.

The End of Eternity by Issac Asimov

The End of Eternity is said to be one of Asimov’s science fiction masterpieces. This is also one of the most spellbinding books about time travel – although some criticize the story for its loopholes.

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.

Read The End of Eternity : Amazon | Goodreads

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

It goes without saying that Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol is one of the most famous and best time travel books for classic lovers – and a literary canon-worthy Christmas novel.

Ebenezer Scrooge is a greedy, lonely, and cruel man who truly has no Christmas spirit. Haunted by the ghosts of the past, present, and future, Scrooge must find the ultimate redemption before it’s too late. Does he have a heart?

Find even more classic and contemporary ghost books , including a few unique takes on ghosts.

Read A Christmas Carol : Amazon | Goodreads

Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut

Slaughterhouse-Five is a somewhat bizarre time travel book about finding meaning in our sometimes fractured and broken lives. It’s also one of the most popular books published in the ’60s .

Similar to The Time Traveler’s Wife, Billy Pilgrim is “unstuck” in time in Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five. Drafted into World War II, Pilgrim serves as a Chaplain’s assistant until he is captured by the Germans. He survives the bombing at Dresden and ultimately becomes a married optometrist. Things get a little wild…

Suffering from PTSD, Billy claims that he is kidnapped by aliens in a different dimension. Like most time travel novels, the story is out of order and Billy travels to different parts of his life.

Aliens come in all shapes and sizes; have more alien encounters with this reading list .

Read Slaughterhouse-Five : Amazon | Goodreads

A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur’s Court by Mark Twain

First published in 1889, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court is one of the most popular classic and satirical time travel novels that’s set close to our childhood home. Having grown up in CT close to the old Colt factory, this story makes us smile.

Hank Morgan supervises the gun factory and is knocked unconscious. Upon waking, he finds himself in Britain about to be executed by the Knights of King Arthur’s Round Table in Camelot.

Morgan uses his future knowledge to his advantage, making him a powerful and revered wizard, which unfortunately doesn’t quite save him as he hopes. Not to mention that Morgan tries to introduce modern-day conveniences and luxuries to a time period that isn’t quite ready for them.

Read A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur’s Court : Amazon | Goodreads

The Time Machine by H.G. Wells

The Time Machine is one of the best frontrunner time travel books of all time. Published in 1895, the Time Traveler recalls his exhausting time travel adventures to incredulous believers. He even disappears in front of them.

Blended with fantasy and science fiction over the course of 800,000 years, the Time Traveler battles “bad guys.” He also loses his time machine, debatably falls in love, and meets the underground dwelling Morlocks.

Read The Time Machine : Amazon | Goodreads

Young Adults Books

For young adults and teens – plus adults who appreciate YA – read the best middle-grade and high school time travel books. We’ve included more time travel graphic novels and manga here too.

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 mirrors the horrid actions under former President Donald Trump. How can Kiku help stop the past from repeating itself, and more so, how can we?

In a simplistic but powerful style of storytelling, Hughes’s emotional YA WW2 book is accessible to young readers. Displacement is also one of the shorter and quicker books with time travel on this list. Find even more LGBT+ graphic novels to read – one of our favorite genres.

Read Displacement : Amazon | Goodreads

The Girl From Everywhere by Heidi Heilig

Changing the past can be pretty tempting. We’ve even seen that The Flash cannot resist. However, altering the course of history can be dangerous…

The first of two YA time travel books, Nix is the daughter of a time traveler. Her dad can sail anywhere on his ship, The Temptation. Her dad has his own temptation, though: to travel back to Honolulu in 1868, the year before her mom dies in childbirth. Nix’s father threatens to possibly erase her life and destroy a relationship with her only friend.

Discover even more great books about maps. Or, travel via armchair with these ship books.

Read The Girl From Everywhere : Amazon | Goodreads

Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier

Translated by Anthea Bell | If you are looking for time travel in books and enjoy YA historical fiction, try Ruby Red , which is the first in the Ruby Red Trilogy.

Gwyneth Shepherd quickly learns that she can easily time travel, unlike her cousin who has been preparing her entire life for the feat. Gwyneth wants to know why such a secret was kept from her. There are so many lies. Gwyneth time travels with the handsome Gideon back and forth between modern-day and 18th-century London to uncover secrets from the past.

Back in our MLIS and library days, Ruby Red was one of our favorite YA time travel books to recommend since so few knew about the series. Just a small warning that this enemies-to-lovers trope is a tad sexist, though. Find books like Ruby Red on our books with red (and more colors) in the title reading list .

Read Ruby Red : Amazon | Goodreads

Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

A little creepier for young adult time travel novels, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children is all about time loops. We’ve only read the first in this eerie series that mixes manipulated vintage photography with a suspenseful and chilling story.

Jacob discovers a decaying orphanage on a mysterious island off the coast of Wales. Known as Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, the building isn’t exactly abandoned… Jacob runs into peculiar children who might be more than just ghosts.

If you are looking for Kurt Vonnegut-esque time travel books for teenagers, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children is for you. Find even more great adult and YA haunted house books to add to your reading list .

Read Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children : Amazon | Goodreads

A Wrinkle In Time by Madeleine L’Engle

One of the most well-known books about time travel for families – made even more popular by Oprah and Mindy Kaling, A Wrinkle In Time , is the first book in The Time Quintet .

Although a time travel book series for elementary and middle-grade students – and also a 1963 Newbery Medal winner – adults will love the lessons and whimsical sci-fi quality of A Wrinkle In Time.

Meg Murray and her brother, Charles Wallace, go on an adventure in time to find and rescue their father. Their dad disappeared while working for the government on a mysterious tesseract project.

Watch this thrilling time travel adventure mixed with a coming-of-age story and a little girl power, too.

Read A Wrinkle in Time : Amazon | Goodreads

Orange by Ichigo Takano

Translated by Lasse Christian Christiansen and Amber Tamosaitis | This YA sci-fi romance manga is one of the most endearing time travel books you’ll ever read.

On the first day of 11th grade, Naho oversleeps for the first time ever. She also receives a letter that claims to be sent from herself 10 years in the future. The letter tells her both of the two big things that will happen to her that day as proof of sender: she will be late, and there will be a new kid in class named Naruse Kakeru from Tokyo who will sit next to her.

Naho is unsure if she trusts the letter, or whether or not she should heed its warnings – especially since it talks about past regrets and trying to undo them.

Orange is an adorable, but heartbreaking time travel manga that teaches us the meaning of friendship, love, regret, and so much more. If you’re looking for the best books about time travel for teens, Orange is the perfect option (and adults will love it too).

Read Orange : Amazon | Goodreads

If you devour the time travel genre, don’t miss these great movies…

If you enjoy books that take you back in time, you might also appreciate these top movies with time loops . Would you be able to fix past mistakes, fall in love, and you know, maybe not die this time? Find out if these protagonists succeed.

Travel Back In Time With These Reading Lists:

• Best ’90s Books
• Iconic ’80s Books
• Best WWII Historical Fiction

Christine Frascarelli

Dagney McKinney

45 Comments

Hi, nice list but just FYI you have one of the novels named incorrectly: it should be All Our Wrong Todays, not All Our Wrongs Today.

Thanks for letting us know! Every year, this list grows, and sometimes we miss a few mistakes.

The Things Are Bad Series by Paul L Giles is the funniest, most insightful time travel books I’ve ever read. It has everything!

Thanks so much for the review and rec!

Dream Daughter by Diane Chamberlain is an engrossing time travel book that I enjoyed immensely.

Our readers and contributors are big Diane Chamberlain fans. Thanks!

A huge time travel fan. A great list. Another time travel book recommendation: Oona Out of Order by Margarita Montemore. Wonderful story.

Thank you so much for the kind words and recommendation! We’ll have to check it out.

Great list, thanks. I also love seeing all the recommendations in the comments. I would add the Chronos Files series to your list. And, of course, the film ABOUT TIME, which is fantastic!

Thanks so much for the recommendations. We appreciate it!

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Your Connection to Teen Collections

Booklist: Time Travel Reads for Teens

Time travel has been a popular subject of fiction since The Time Machine by H.G. Wells was published in 1895. Over a century later, it still captures the imagination of many readers. The mix of philosophy and theoretical physics allows for endless combinations to explore parallel universes, to go back and forward in time, and is an especially great backdrop for both adventure and star-crossed love.

There is no shortage of time travel stories in young adult fiction. With so many great time travel novels coming out this year, it’s a great time to some time bending novels to your “to read” list. You won’t even need to build a time machine to read most of these right now!

If you like your time travel with a time-crossed romance

Until We Meet Again by Renee Collins

Cassandra’s summer takes a strange turn when she meets a stranger who claims her family’s beach house belongs to him and that the year is 1925. As Cassandra tries to solve the mystery of Lawrence’s appearance she will also have to try to find a way to change history if the two hope to have any kind of future together.

Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier

Gwyneth Shepherd’s cousin has been preparing to time travel for her entire life. Until both girls find out that it’s Gwyneth, not Charlotte, who carries the rare time travel gene.

The Love That Split the World by Emily Henry

Something strange is happening in Natalie’s hometown. Little things at first like her front door being green instead of red. Then a strange apparition Natalie calls “Grandmother” appears and tells he she has three months to save a boy she hasn’t met yet.

Return Once More by Trisha Leigh

Kaia is an apprentice with The Historians–a group of time travelers who observe and record history. Kaia doesn’t see the harm in catching a glimpse of her long-dead soulmate in Ancient Egypt but that one search sets off a series of events that will leave Kaia scrambling to save her future.

Timeless by Alexandra Monir

After her parents’ death Michele is sent across the country to live with her grandparents in New York and finds a diary that transports her to 1910 where she meets a blue-eyed stranger who has haunted her dreams for as long as she can remember.

Into the Dim by Janet B. Taylor

Hope will have to learn how to conquer her fears before she can try to work with a group of time travelers to save her mother who is trapped in 12th Century England.

If you you want high stakes adventures across time

Passenger by Alexandra Bracken

Traveling across centuries and around the world, Etta and Nicholas will have to trust each other as they hunt down a long-lost artifact and uncover a truth that could threaten their natural times and everything in between.

A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray

Determined to get revenge for her father’s murder and the theft of his universe-crossing device, Marguerite embarks on a multi-universal hunt for Paul. The closer Marguerite gets to Paul, the more she begins to wonder if he really is the villain she thought.

The Glass Sentence by S. E. Grove

Nearly a century ago the Great Disruption remade the world and threw all of the continents into different Ages. When her renowned mapmaker uncle is kidnapped, Sophia Tims will have to travel across Ages to rescue him.

The Girl From Everywhere by Heidi Heilig

Nix Song has spent all of her sixteen years watching her father, Slate, use historical and mythical maps to travel to distant lands and times most people can only imagine. Slate’s quest to return to a time and place where Nix’s mother is still alive has driven him to desperate acts before. When the promise of another map surfaces, Nix will have to decide how far she is willing to go to help Slate this time.

Erasing Time by C. J. Hill

Twins Taylor and Sheridan wake up 400 years in the future to find a world they barely recognize and a totalitarian government that will stop at nothing to find out their secrets.

Wildwing by Emily Whitman

An elevator transports Addy from her dreary life in 1913 London to a castle in 1240 where she is mistaken for royalty.

If you’re looking for some time travelers who have to save the day

Loop by Karen Akins

Bree Bennis lives in the twenty-third century where, because of a special gene mutation, she can travel anywhere in time. After her solo midterm to the twenty-first century goes spectacularly wrong, Bree knows she’s in big trouble. Failing to complete her mission is one thing. Accidentally revealing herself to a boy and sort of taking him hostage? That could get Bree expelled. Or worse.

The Here and Now by Ann Brashares

Prenna came to New York when she was twelve after immigrating from a disastrous future. In order to try and change that future, Prenna and her community have to follow certain rules: Never reveal where they’re from, never interfere, never get involved with someone outside of the community. The only problem is Prenna might be in love with a boy from the present.

Tempest by Julie Cross

Jackson can travel through time. It’s never been a problem until his girlfriend Holly is fatally shot and Jackson accidentally travels back two years and can’t return to his present to try and save her.

Longbow Girl by Linda Davies

Merry Owen will have to use her archery skills to save her family’s land when she travels to the year 1537 and solve their current financial problems in the present.

Hourglass by Myra McEntire

For the past four years Emerson Cole has seen strange apparitions from the past that seem to be hallucinations. Instead, Emerson learns that she can manipulate time and, with help from the mysterious Michael, she might even be able to prevent a murder that happened six months ago.

All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill

Em and Marina stand on opposite sides in a race to protect time and keep a time machine from ever being built. Only one of them can come out alive.

If you want a book about accidental time travel:

Waterfall by Lisa Tawn Bergren

While fighting off boredom at yet another of their parent’s archaeological sites, sisters Gabi and Lia touch the wrong handprint in an ancient tomb and find themselves transported to 14th Century Italy.

The 57 Lives of Alex Wayfare by M.G. Buehrlen

Alex Wayfare is used to getting in trouble because of her visions of the past. Turns out Alex is a Descender able to travel through time by accessing her past lives–all 56 of them.

Shadows Fall Away by Kit Forbes

Mark’s stay with his eccentric, Jack the Ripper obsessed, aunt is cut short when he is struck by lightning and wakes up in 1888. When his knowledge of the Ripper murders single him out as a suspect, Mark decides to try to solve the murders himself to clear his name and return to his own time.

My Super Sweet Sixteenth Century by Rachel Harris

Cat Crawford definitely doesn’t want an elaborate party for her sixteenth birthday. Instead she welcomes her father and stepmother’s offer of a trip to Italy. The only problem comes when an unusual tent transports her to Renaissance Firenze.

Proof of Forever by Lexa Hillyer

After a photo booth camera sends them back in time, four estranged friends will have to relive their summer from two years ago if they want to get back to their present.

Time Between Us by Tamara Ireland Stone

Anna’s world is turned upside down when Bennett–a time traveler–shows up in her perfectly ordered life in 1995 Evanston, Illinois.

If you want a novel about parallel lives/worlds

The Future of Us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler

In 1996 best friends Josh and Emma use a free AOL CD to go online for the first time where they get a glimpse of their Facebook pages–and their lives–fifteen years in the future.

Tandem by Anna Jarzab

Thrust into a life that isn’t her own, Sasha has to play the part of a princess in a world that shouldn’t exist if she ever wants a chance to return to her own world.

Planesrunner by Ian McDonald

Everett Singh will have to use the Infundibulum–a map of parallel earths–to travel across worlds to try and rescue his kidnapped scientist father.

Now That You’re Here by Amy K. Nichols

Thrown together by the most unlikely of circumstances, Danny and Eevee will have to work together to get Danny back home to his own universe before time runs out.

Just Like Fate by Cat Patrick and Suzanne Young

Caroline can stay at her grandmother’s side in the hospital waiting for the worse. Or she can go to a party and try to forget for a little while. One decision might bring closure and one might bring something unexpected. But only one is the right choice.

Pivot Point by Kasie West

At a crossroad that will change everything, Addie will have to user her psychic ability to live both outcomes for every decision she makes to decide what she is willing to live through and who she is willing to lose.

If you want to test out your own time machine, you can check out these books later this year

Future Shock by Elizabeth Briggs

Everything goes wrong when Elena and her team look into their own fates on a routine data gathering mission in the future. With only 24 hours left to get back to the present can Elena save her team and the future?

Two Summers by Aimee Friedman

What happens if Summer Everett picks up her phone and stays home all summer? What if she doesn’t answer and ends up on her planned trip to France? In both summers there will be first love and self-discovery. But how will a shocking family secret play out in each parallel world?

It Wasn’t Always Like This by Joy Preble

Emma and Charlie haven’t aged for a hundred years. Seventeen forever, the two should have a perfect romance. But dangerous forces have kept the two apart until a series of murders suggest that Emma might have the chance to find the threat–and her lost love–at last.

The Square Root of Summer by Harrier Reuter Hapgood

Gottie H. Oppenheimer begins traveling back to key moments in her past through wormholes opening around her small seaside town. She returns to moments of first love and regret while she struggles with the loss of her grandfather in the present. When two boys from her past return, Gottie will have to confront her past–and her future–head on.

— Emma Carbone, currently reading The Winner’s Kiss by Marie Rutkoski

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2 thoughts on “Booklist: Time Travel Reads for Teens”

Omg all of these look AMAZING!! and have been on my radar and haven’t picked them up yet and I don’t know why. Most of these sound super intriguing.

Jumana @ Books by Jay

This is a great collection with awesome headings/organization. Thank you!

Comments are closed.

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List: young adult time travel books

Posted | 19 comments

Its been a while since Ive put together a reading list, but since my young adult dystopian list is still going strong, I thought that one on time travel might be in order.

As always, its by no means exhaustive, so feel free to add your own recommendations!

The Puzzle Ring 'by Kate Forsyth ( see our review )

Blurb:' Hannah Rose was not quite 13 years old when she discovered her family was cursed. . . .'The arrival of a mysterious letter changes Hannah's life forever. One day she is an ordinary teenage girl. The next day she discovers she is heir to a castle in the Scottish highlands'a castle that was cursed more than four hundred and forty years ago.'The curse has haunted her family for generations, culminating in the disappearance of Hannah's father the day after she was born. A prophecy tells of a Red Rose who will save a Black Rose, solve the puzzle ring, and break the curse. Red-haired Hannah is determined to be the one.'Yet, to break the curse, she must go back in time to the last tumultuous days of Mary, Queen of Scots . . . a time when witches were burnt and queens were betrayed and the dark forces of wild magic still stalked the land. . . .

______________

The Locket of Dreams 'by Belinda Murrell

Blurb:' When Sophie falls asleep wearing a locket that belonged to her grandmothers great grandmother, she magically travels back to 1858 to learn the truth about the mysterious Charlotte Mackenzie.'Charlotte and her sister, Nell, live a wonderful life on a misty Scottish island. Then disaster strikes and it seems the girls will lose everything they love. Why were the sisters sent to live with strangers? Did their uncle steal their inheritance? And what happened to the priceless sapphire-the Star of Serendib?'Sophie shares in the girls adventures as they outwit greedy relatives, escape murderous bushrangers, and fight storm and fire. But how will her travels in time affect Sophies own life?

_____________

The House of Arden 'by Edith Nesbit

Blurb:' The famous Arden family treasure has been missing for generations, and the last members of the Arden line, Edred, Elfrida, and their Aunt Edith, have nothing to their names but the crumbling castle they live in. Just before his tenth birthday, Edred inherits the title of Lord Arden; he also learns that the missing fortune will be his if'and only if'he can find it before the turns ten. With no time to lose, Edred and Elfrida secure the help of a magical talking creature, the temperamental Mouldiwarp, who leads them on a treasure hunt through the ages. Together, brother and sister visit some of the most thrilling periods of history and test their wits against real witches, highwaymen, and renegades. They find plenty of adventure, but will they find the treasure before Edred's birthday?

________________

The Time Traveling Fashionista 'by Bianca Turetsky

What if a beautiful vintage dress could take you back in time?' Louise Lambert has always dreamed of movie starlets and exquisite gowns and longs for the day when she can fill the closet of her normal suburban home with stylish treasures. But when she receives a mysterious invitation to a vintage fashion sale in the mail, her once painfully average life is magically transformed into a time-travel adventure. 'Suddenly onboard a luxurious cruise ship a hundred years ago, Louise relishes the glamorous life of this opulent era and slips into a life of secrets, drama, and decadence. . . .

_______________

The Storm Begins by Damian Dibben

Blurb:' Imagine if you lost your parents not just in place, but in time. Jake Djones mum and dad have gone missing and they could be anywhere in the world at any time in history. Because the Djones family have an astonishing secret, which for years theyve managed to keep even from each other. They belong to the History Keepers: a secret society which travels through the centuries to prevent evil enemies from meddling with History itself. In the quest to find his parents, Jake is whisked from 21st Century London to 19th century France, the headquarters of the mysterious History Keepers, where he discovers the truth about his familys disappearance and the diabolical Prince Zeldts plan to destroy the world as we know it

Toms Midnight Garden 'by Philippa Pearce

Blurb:' When Tom is sent to his aunts house for the summer he resigns himself to weeks of boredom. Lying awake one night he listens to the grandfather clock in the hall strike every hour. Eleven Twelve Thirteen. Thirteen! Tom rushes down the stairs and opens the back door. There, awaiting him, is a beautiful garden. A garden that shouldnt exist. And there are children in the garden too are they ghosts? Or is it Tom who is really the ghost

Tanglewreck 'by Jeanette Winterson

Blurb: Something frightening is happening with time. One moment, a time tornado rages through the streets of London, and those caught up in its path vanish without a trace. The next moment a woolly mammoth is seen lumbering along the banks of the River Thames. At the center of these bizarre time warps is a house called Tanglewreck, which is home to eleven-year-old Silver, her bony and bad-tempered aunt, Mrs Rokabye, and a mysterious clock known as the Timekeeper. Silver doesnt understand exactly what the Timekeeper does, but when two sinister figures come looking for it, she knows instinctively that she must guard it with her life.

The Gauntlet 'by Ronald Welch

Blurb:' When Peter finds the gauntlet on a Welsh hillside, he is transported to the fourteenth century, to a world of castles, and battles, he is accepted as the eldest son of Sir Roger de Blois. Peter learns how to live as the son of a Norman lord and finally, he has to escape alone from their castle to bring help. But one day he will have to return.

Black Powder 'by Staton Rabin

Blurb:' When his science teacher invents a century-hopping time machine, Langston knows exactly what he must do: go back in time to stop the invention of gunpowderwhich will prevent the invention of gunswhich will stop Neely from getting killed.'Hijacking the time machine, Langston leaves a holographic twin of himself at home and bounces back to Oxford, England, in 1278, where hes in a race against time to stop the scientific wizard Professor Roger Bacon from sharing his new invention the Western worlds first form of gunpowder. When Dr. Bacon is kidnapped by his archenemy, its up to Langston and his new friend, Niles, to try to rescue him and destroy the formula for gunpowder. But is changing history really saving the world? Or is it just standing in the way of progress? Can Langston accomplish his mission and bring Neely back to life before he gets stuck in the thirteenth century forever? No matter how you look at it, its going to be one heck of a ride through the dangerous hairpin turns of history and back to the future again!

Rewind 'by Jan Page

Blurb:' What if you could press the rewind button on your life?'Time is a funny thing. Some people believe it only moves in one direction' forward.'But others think time moves forward and backward simultaneously. Of course, no one really knows the answer.'No one, that is, until Liam is killed by a falling speaker at a Battle of the Bands contest. Suddenly Liam travels back in time and soon finds himself in the middle of his teenaged parents' band rehearsal, and an unseen observer of a love triangle between bandmates.'Would his mother be happier ending up with the drummer instead of his father? Would that choice save the drummer from a fatal accident that is about to end his life? And if Liam helps them along, will he be canceling out his own existence? If only he can figure out how to use time to his own advantage.

_________________

Backtracked 'by Pedro de Alcantara

Tommy Latrella is haunted by the ghost of his 'perfect' older brother, who died on 9/11. Unable to live up to Jimmy's memory, Tommy spends countless hours riding the subway and 'tagging' the stations with graffiti. But when Tommy plays a dangerous prank in the Times Square station, the subway turns on him, and Tommy is hurtled back in time.'As Tommy travels, he experiences the hardships faced by the New Yorkers that preceded him, and gains perspective on his own comfortable life. But will he ever be able to get back to 2006? Tommy is desperate to mend his ways and get back home, but the trains may have other plans for him. . . .

Prada and Prejudice 'by Mandy Hubbard

To impress the popular girls on a high school trip to London, klutzy Callie buys real Prada heels. But trying them on, she trips, conks her head, and wakes up in the year 1815! There Callie meets Emily, who takes her in, mistaking her for a long-lost friend. As she spends time with Emilys family, Callie warms to them, particularly to Emilys cousin Alex, a hottie and a duke, if a tad arrogant.'But can Callie save Emily from a dire engagement, and win Alexs heart, before her time in the past is up?

Once a Witch 'by Carolyn MacCullough

Blurb:' Tamsin Greene comes from a long line of witches, and she was supposed to be one of the most Talented among them. But Tamsins magic never showed up. Now seventeen, Tamsin attends boarding school in Manhattan, far from her family. But when a handsome young professor mistakes her for her very Talented sister, Tamsin agrees to find a lost family heirloom for him. The search'and the stranger'will prove to be more sinister than they first appeared, ultimately sending Tamsin on a treasure hunt through time that will unlock the secret of her true identity, unearth the sins of her family, and unleash a power so vengeful that it could destroy them all. This is a'spellbinding display of storytelling that will exhilarate, enthrall, and thoroughly enchant.

Travel to Tomorrow by Angela Larson

Blurb:' Sock hops. Soda fountains. Slumber parties. Life in 1955 is simple for tomboy Beverly, moody Maxine, high-spirited Judy, studious Mary, and artistic Ann. But after a class assignment to predict life in the future, they wake up the next morning in a future they could never have imagined, having time-traveled into a parallel universe over fifty years into the future. With only each other to trust, they must work together and find their way home to 1955, but the more they discover about the future, will they even want to go back?

The Night They Stormed Eureka 'by Jackie French

Blurb:' Its 1854, and the Ballarat goldfields are a place of dreams and rebellion as Sam, a homeless teenager, is called back to the past to join the Puddlehams, who run the best little cook shop on the diggings. The Puddlehams dream of buying a hotel with velvet seats, while others dream of freedom from the British crown, away from the rule of wealthy landowners and corrupt officials. Once again Jackie French takes a fresh look at the history we thought we knew and recreates an event entrenched in our national heritage.

____________

Tempest by Julie Cross

Blurb:' The year is 2009.' Nineteen-year-old Jackson Meyer is a normal guy' he's in college, has a girlfriend' and he can travel back through time. But it's not like the movies ' nothing changes in the present after his jumps, there's no space-time continuum issues or broken flux capacitors ' it's just harmless fun.'That is' until the day strangers burst in on Jackson and his girlfriend, Holly, and during a struggle with Jackson, Holly is fatally shot. In his panic, Jackson jumps back two years to 2007, but this is not like his previous time jumps. Now he's stuck in 2007 and can't get back to the future.'Desperate to somehow return to 2009 to save Holly but unable to return to his rightful year, Jackson settles into 2007 and learns what he can about his abilities.'But it's not long before the people who shot Holly in 2009 come looking for Jackson in the past, and these 'Enemies of Time' will stop at nothing to recruit this powerful young time-traveler.' Recruit' or kill him.

Blurb:' For seventeen-year-old Emerson Cole, life is about seeing what isn't there: swooning Southern Belles; soldiers long forgotten; a haunting jazz trio that vanishes in an instant. Plagued by phantoms since her parents' death, she just wants the apparitions to stop so she can be normal. She's tried everything, but the visions keep coming back.'So when her well-meaning brother brings in a consultant from a secretive organization called the Hourglass, Emerson's willing to try one last cure. But meeting Michael Weaver may not only change her future, it may change her past.'Who is this dark, mysterious, sympathetic guy, barely older than Emerson herself, who seems to believe every crazy word she says? Why does an electric charge seem to run through the room whenever he's around? And why is he so insistent that he needs her help to prevent a death that never should have happened?

Playing Beatie Bow 'by Ruth Park

Blurb:' Abigail Kirk finds herself transported back to the late nineteenth century and becomes embroiled in the family life of the Bows. The Bows will not let her return home believing that she is the stranger who will preserve the family gift. _____________

City of Masks 'by Mary Hoffman

Blurb:' Lucien is seriously ill, but his life is transformed when an old Italian notebook gives him the power to become a stravagante, a time traveller with access to 16th century Italy. He wakes up in Bellezza (Venice) during carnival time and meets Arianna, a girl his own age who is disguised as a boy in the hope of being selected as one of the Duchessas mandoliers. Arianna gives Lucien her boys clothing and he is selected as a mandolier himself, becoming a friend of fellow-stravagante Rodolfo, the Duchessas lover, and saving the Duchessas life when she is threatened by an assassin hired by the powerful di Chimici family. For state occasions the Duchessa uses her maid Giuliana as a body-double but Guiliana commits the fatal mistake of revealing the secret to her fiance Enrico and a sequence of devastating consequences unravels. Meanwhile Lucien has met the original stravagante, the Elizabethan alchemist William Dethridge, and he begins to understand that he may be called to follow in his footsteps.

Yanked 'by David Brin

Blurb:' It is the year 2565, and an endangered semi-utopia yanks teens from the late 20th century to solve their problems. These teens were the heroes of the Troubled Times (in the early 21st century), and only they have the grit to stand up to the problems of 2565. In Yanked!, the first book in the Out of Time series, Jason and Sharon are yanked into the 26th century to battle the Panurish, a group of grotesque humanoids with third, sky-scanning eyes. But facing an army of the Panurish might be a little more than even Jason and Sharon bargained for.

Timeless by Alexandra Monir'

Blurb:' When tragedy strikes Michele Windsor's world, she is forced to uproot her life and move across the country to New York City, to live with the wealthy, aristocratic grandparents she's never met. In their old Fifth Avenue mansion filled with a century's worth of family secrets, Michele discovers a diary that hurtles her back in time to the year 1910. There, in the midst of the glamorous Gilded Age, Michele meets the young man with striking blue eyes who has haunted her dreams all her life ' a man she always wished was real, but never imagined could actually exist. And she finds herself falling for him, into an otherworldly, time-crossed romance.'Michele is soon leading a double life, struggling to balance her contemporary high school world with her escapes into the past. But when she stumbles upon a terrible discovery, she is propelled on a race through history to save the boy she loves ' a quest that will determine the fate of both of their lives.

A Wish After Midnight 'by Zetta Elliot

Blurb:' Genna is a fifteen-year-old girl who wants out of her tough Brooklyn neighborhood. But she gets more than she bargained for when a wish gone awry transports her back in time. Facing the perilous realities of Civil War'era Brooklyn, Genna must use all her wits to survive. In the tradition of Octavia Butler's' Kindred 'and Madeleine L'Engle's' A Wrinkle in Time ,' A Wish After Midnight 'is the affecting and inspiring tale of a fearless young woman's fight to hold on to her individuality and her humanity in two different worlds.

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Wildwing 'by Emily Whitman

Blurb:' When Addy is swept back in time, she couldnt be happier to leave her miser-able life behind. Now shes mistaken for Lady Matilda, the pampered ward of the king. If Addy can play her part, shell have glorious gowns, jewels, and something shes always longed for'the respect and admiration of others. But then she meets Will, the falconers son with sky blue eyes, who unsettles all her plans.'From shipwrecks to castle dungeons, from betrothals to hidden conspiracies, Addy finds herself in a world where shes not the only one with a dangerous secret. When she discovers the truth, Addy must take matters into her own hands. The stakes? Her chance at true love . . . and the life shes meant to live.

Sign of the Raven 'by Julie Hearn

Blurb:' Something odd is going on in the basement of an old house in London. An inexplicable gap has formed, a gap in time that links the present to the past. And twelve-year-old Tom, who discovers the gap while on a visit to his grandmother, is torn between both worlds. Lured by a mysterious voice, Tom leaps into the early eighteenth century, to a time when circus freaks like the Bendy Man and the Gorilla Woman appeared at Bartholomew Fair. The voice he hears belongs to Astra, a tiny changeling child, whose limbs are no bigger than a mans thumb. She has called him into the past, because she is convinced that Tom is the only one who can help her and her friends from danger. Doctors are paying a high price for unusual bodies to dissect, and Astra and her friends are prime subjects.'But Tom is dealing with difficulties of his own. His mum has cancer and is constantly fighting with his gran. And then he discovers a dark secret in his familys pasta secret that pulls the strands of time together and might just close the gap forever.

Blurb:' Hannah thinks that tonight?s Passover Seder will be the same as always. Little does she know that this year she will be mysteriously transported into the past where only she knows the horrors that await.

Stuck in the 70s 'by DL Garfinkle

Blurb:' One night in 1978, Tyler Gray wakes up to find a beautiful girl named Shay lying in his bathtub. For inexperienced, nerdy Tyler, this is not a common occurrence, but it?s even stranger because Shay insists that she?s from 2006. Of course Tyler doesn?t believe her, but once she proves it, they strike a deal: Tyler will try to help get Shay back to 2006 if Shay helps him become more popular. But the more time Shay spends in 1978, the more she likes it. And while she helps Tyler with the popular crowd, she also wreaks havoc by going out with his worst enemy, making over his sister and helping his mother get a job as a cafeteria worker?at his school! Can Tyler get Shay home before his life is completely turned upside down?

Blurb:' Gwyneth Shepherds sophisticated, beautiful cousin Charlotte has been prepared her entire life for traveling through time. But unexpectedly, it is Gwyneth, who in the middle of class takes a sudden spin to a different era!'Gwyneth must now unearth the mystery of why her mother would lie about her birth date to ward off suspicion about her ability, brush up on her history, and work with Gideonthe time traveler from a similarly gifted family that passes the gene through its male line, and whose presence becomes, in time, less insufferable and more essential. Together, Gwyneth and Gideon journey through time to discover who, in the 18th century and in contemporary London, they can trust.

Blurb:' Bobby Pendragon is a seemingly normal fourteen-year-old boy. He has a family, a home, and even Marley, his beloved dog. But there is something very special about Bobby.'He is going to save the world.'And not just Earth as we know it. Bobby is slowly starting to realize that life in the cosmos isnt quite what he thought it was. And before he can object, he is swept off to an alternate dimension known as Denduron, a territory inhabited by strange beings, ruled by a magical tyrant, and plagued by dangerous revolution.'If Bobby wants to see his family again, hes going to have to accept his role as savior, and accept it wholeheartedly. Because, as he is about to discover, Denduron is only the beginning.

A Wish After Midnight by Zetta Elliot

Blurb:' Fifteen-year old Genna Colon believes wishes can come true. Frustrated by the drug dealers in her building, her familys cramped apartment, and her inability to compete with the cute girls at school, Genna finds comfort in her dreams of a better future. Almost every day she visits the garden and tosses coins into the fountain, wishing for a different life, a different home, and a different body. Little does she know that her wish will soon be granted: when Genna flees into the garden late one night, she makes a fateful wish and finds herself instantly transported back in time to Civil War-era Brooklyn.

Blurb:' Ethan lives a secret life as a Guardian of the Named. Under the guidance of Arkarian, his mentor, and with the help of Isabel, his unlikely but highly capable apprentice, Ethan has become a valued member of this other-worldly corps. As the only defense against the evil Order of Chaos, the Named travel through time to prevent the Order from altering history and thereby gaining power in the present and the future. As the threat from the Order intensifies, secrets of the past are revealed and villains and heroes are exposed. This gripping fantasy is set in modern times, but is infused with intrigue from the past, super-natural characters and surprising plot twists. See also:

Dark Mirror by M.J. Putney

Blurb:' Lady Victoria Mansfield, youngest daughter of the earl and countess of Fairmount, is destined for a charmed life.'Soon she will be presented during the London season , 'where she can choose a mate worthy of her status.'Yet Tory has a shameful secret'a secret so powerful that, if exposed, it' could strip her of her position and disgrace ' her family forever.'Tory's blood is tainted . . . by magic.'When a shocking ' accident forces Tory to demonstrate her despised ' skill, the secret she's fought so hard to hide is revealed ' for all to see.'She is immediately exiled to Lackland Abbey, a reform school for young men and women in her position. There she will learn to suppress her deplorable talents and maybe, if she's one of the lucky ones, be able to return to society.'But Tory's life is about to change forever.'All that she's ever known or considered important will be challenged.'What lies ahead is only the beginning of a strange and wonderful journey into a world where destiny and magic come together, where true love and friendship find her, and where courage and strength of character are the only things that determine a young girl's worth.

The Time Machine 'by HG Wells ( See my review )

Blurb:' The story that launched Wellss successful career-the classic tale of the Time Traveler and the extraordinary world he discovers in the far distant future. A haunting portrayal of Darwins evolutionary theory carried to a terrible conclusion.

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Tomorrows Guardian 'by Richard Denning

Blurb:' Tom Oakley experiences disturbing episodes of deja-vu and believes he is going mad.Then, he discovers that hes a Walker someone who can transport himself to othertimes and places. Tom dreams about other Walkers in moments of mortal danger: Edward Dyson killed in a battle in 1879; Mary Brown who perished in the Great Fire of London; andCharlie Hawker, a sailor who drowned on a U-boat in 1943

The Future of Us 'by Jay Asher and Carolyn Macklin

Blurb:' Its 1996, and Josh and Emma have been neighbors their whole lives. Theyve been best friends almost as long at least, up until last November, when Josh did something that changed everything. Things have been weird between them ever since, but when Joshs family gets a free AOL CD in the mail,his mom makes him bring it over so that Emma can install it on her new computer. When they sign on, theyre automatically logged onto their Facebook pages. But Facebook hasnt been invented yet. And theyre looking at themselves fifteen years in the future.'By refreshing their pages, they learn that making different decisions now will affect the outcome of their lives later. And as they grapple with the ups and downs of what their futures hold, theyre forced to confront what theyre doing right and wrong in the present.

The Homeward Bounders by Diana Wynne Jones

Blurb:' When They threw Jamie out to the Boundaries, he was at first too shocked and amazed to make much sense of it. Hed been told he could go Home if he found himself in the right world, but life seemed to be a succession of strange countries -some pleasant, most dangerous-where survival was all that mattered.'Little by little, though, Jamie realized that there was a curious logic in things he wasnt the only Homeward Bounder, for one thing, though some, like Ahasuerus and the Flying Dutchman, had been trying to get Home for a very long time.'But Jamie decided to try and do more than that. Together with some other Homeward Bounders Helen, who could do extraordinary things with her withered arm, Joris the demon hunter (and Konstam, his master) and other friends, he plotted to oppose Them directly, in the fortress that seemed to be Their chief stronghold.'This is a remarkable, powerful story, full of unexpected events and ideas, which will absorb and fascinate all those who read it.

London Calling by Edward Bloor

Blurb:' Martin Conway comes from a family filled with heroes and disgraces. His grandfather was a statesman who worked at the US Embassy in London during WWII. His father is an alcoholic who left his family. His sister is an overachieving Ivy League graduate. And Martin? Martin is stuck in betweenfloundering.'But during the summer after 7th grade, Martin meets a boy who will change his life forever. Jimmy Harker appears one night with a deceptively simple question: Will you help?'Where did this boy come from, with his strange accent and urgent request? Is he a dream? Its the most vivid dream Martins ever had. And he meets Jimmy again and againbut how can his dreams be set in London during the Blitz? How can he see his own grandfather, standing outside the Embassy? How can he wake up with a head full of people and facts and events that he certainly didnt know when he went to sleepbut which turn out to be verifiably real?

The Wind Eye 'by Robert Westall

Blurb:' What was the Wind Eye? What did it have to do with the ancient sailing boat, which no one wanted them to use? And how were Michael and Beth going to protect Sally and the whole family from Cuddy and the terrible forces at work on the Farne Islands?

Justin Thyme 'by Panama Oxridge

Blurb:' The first book in the Tartan of Thyme series, following the adventures of teenage, self-made billionaire Justin Thyme, as he struggles against mysterious forces to keep his family together and stop the Curse of Thyme from striking again.

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Time Riders 'by Alex Scarrow

Blurb:' Liam OConnor should have died at sea in 1912. Maddy Carter should have died on a plane in 2010. Sal Vikram should have died in a fire in 2029. Yet moments before death, someone mysteriously appeared and said, Take my hand But Liam, Maddy and Sal arent rescued. They are recruited by an agency that no one knows exists, with only one purpose to fix broken history. Because time travel is here, and there are those who would go back in time and change the past. Thats why the TimeRiders exist: to protect us. To stop time travel from destroying the world

See also our review of Time Riders: Day of the Predator

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Knights of the Kitchen Table 'by John Scieszka

Blurb:' Joe receives a very special book from his magician uncle and soon he and his friends, Fred and Sam, find themselves involved in a series of time traveling adventures, meeting pirates, dinosaurs, knights, dragons, cowboys, their own grandchildren, and other friends and enemies from the past and future.

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine lEngle

Blurb:' Megs father mysteriously disappears after experimenting with the fifth dimension of time travel. Determined to rescue him, Meg and her friends must outwit the forces of evil on a heart-stopping journey through space and time.

The Starlight Crystal 'by Christopher Pike

Blurb:' It is 200 years in the future. Paige Christian, 18, has been given the chance to join the crew of the Travelera special spaceship/time capsule designed to circle the solar system and study the changes on earth throughout two centuries. But an awful thing happens to the earthand the Traveler.

Send Simon Savage 'by Stephen Measday

Blurb:' Simons father has drowned under mysterious circumstances and Simon wants to know why. So when two secretive men turn up with classified information and an offer of a place in an elite school, Simon jumps at the chance. The school is one of the worlds most uber secret organisations The Time Bureau.

Both Sides of Time 'by Caroline B Cooney

Blurb:' Imagine changing centuriesand making things worse, not better, on both sides of time.'Imagine being involved in two love triangles in two different centuries. What if, no matter which direction you travel in time, you must abandon someone you love?'Meet 15-year-old Annie Lockwood, a romantic living in the wrong century. When she travels back a hundred years and lands in 1895a time when privileged young ladies wear magnificent gowns, attend elegant parties, and are courted by handsome gentlemenAnnie at last finds romance. But she is a trespasser in time. Will she choose to stay in the past? Will she be allowed to?

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19 comments.

Thanks for an excellent list have passed it on to my 14-year-old sister for her enjoyment!

My pleasure, Yvann! I hope she finds something to read in there :)

MacCulloughs Once a Witch has a very good time travel element in it. I will have to think of others.

Thanks so much for the suggestion! Ill add it in.

I remember reading A Wrinkle In Time in primary school :)

I have wonderful memories of LEngle as well, Shelleyrae. :)

Youve missed a few of my favourite old time travel books: The House of Arden by Edith Nesbit Toms Midnight Garden by Philippa Pierce The Gauntlet by Ronald Welch

Plus Id love you to include my time travel book The Puzzle Ring in your list. If you havent read it, Id be glad to get my publsiher to send you a copy. Hey, we could even give away a couple ofr copies if you like. I love your blog and read it regularly thanks to the RSS feed.

My sister Belinda Murrell has also written a few time travel books: The Locket of Dreams The Ruby Talisman The Ivory Rose if you like I can organise her to send you a reading copy as well.

wishing you all the best Kate Forsyth

Thanks so much for these additions! I actually read The House of Arden just a few months agoI cant believe I didnt think to include it. I havent read the Puzzle Ring, but would be delighted to, and Id be happy to have a look at Belindas books as well. :) Ill update the list with these additional titles.

That would be so lovely, thank you. Can I arrange a reading copy for you? My publisher is Pan Macmillan in Australia or Scholastic in the UK let me know what suits. x Kate

With pleasure, Kate. Pan Macmillan Australia would be perfect. They should have my mailing address on record. :)

Wonderful. Itll be in the post by this afternoon :) I do hope you love it! many thanks Kate

I dont doubt that I will! :)

Im glad that this list was mentioned at the end of your Puzzle Ring postIm always on the lookout for time travel books, and there are several here that are new to me! Thanks!

My pleasure, Charlotte! I always enjoy your Timeslip Tuesday, but didnt even think to mention it to you! I might go through and add some of your recs to this list when I get a chance, too. :)

I read a book about time travel as a teenager and ive been searching for the book ever since. What I remember from this book is the main character has special abilities and was supposed to be born in the 70s but instead is born in the future and her family /twin sister from the past is somehow killed so she time travels to save them. She also had a physic best friend named Suki. Does anyone know this book??!!!

The closest thing I can think of is Megans Star by Allan Bailie. Does that sound right?

Im so desperate to figure out what a book is. All I remember is that it involves travelling through time and at one point she goes through a painting. The book ends with someone looking down at a watch and noticing that its full of sand. I know thats not a whole lot to go off

Hi there, I did a google, and it looks like it might be Caroline B Cooneys Time Travellers Quartet series. Does that sound right? Heres the Wikipedia link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_Travelers_Quartet

I checked it out from the library. It sounds like it may be right. I hope so!!! THANK YOU! Its been driving me crazy for months.

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YA Books About Time Travel and the Multiverse

02.27.2020 by Jen Ryland // 5 Comments

Do you love stories about characters moving between different worlds or time periods? Books like this were super-popular around 2012 but it seems like this trend might be coming back! Check out my list of YA Books About Time Travel and the Multiverse , including new titles for 2019 and 2020!

New for 2019 and 2020!

The Between by David Hofmeyr – (2020) a girl’s friend disappears and she has to search for her through multiple worlds.

Stolen Time by Danielle Rollins (2019) – features Dorothy in 1013 and Ash in 2077.

Twisted Fates by Danielle Rollins (2020) – the sequel to Stolen Time.

Malice by Pintip Dunn – a voice from the future tells a girl that the boy she loves will soon wipe out two-thirds of the population with a virus. (Wow, that’s kind of topical…)

Invictus by Ryan Graudin – (2017) a time-traveling space gladiator.

Jane Unlimited by Kristen Cashore (2017) a Gothic mystery with a multiverse twist.

Passenger by Alexandra Bracken (2016)

A Darker Shade of Magic by Victoria Schwab (2015) – a magician can travel between parallel versions of London.

Trial by Fire by Josephine Angelini (2014) – a teen discovers she is a witch in a parallel universe

A Thousand Pieces of You (2014) by Claudia Grey

Dissonance by Erica O’Rourke – (2014) a romantic thriller about a girl who can travel between worlds.

Tandem by Anna Jarzab (2013)

Parallel by Lauren Miller – (2013) high school senior Abby gets to see two versions of her future.

All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill (2013)

Pivot Point by Kasie West – (2013) when Addison’s parents tell her they’re splitting, she’s able to see her life living with each of them.

Just Like Fate by Cat Patrick (2013)

Through to You by Emily Hainsworth – (2012) after Cam’s girlfriend dies, he enters a parallel world in which she’s still alive.

Tempest by Julie Cross (2012)

Time Between Us by Tamara Ireland Stone (2012) Bennett in 2012 falls for Anna in 1995.

The Shadow Society by Marie Rutkoski (2012)

Do you have any books to add? Please tell me in comments and I will add your recommendations (with credit!)

About Jen Ryland

Over 12 years of book blogging and reviewing, I have read over 1500 books. A fair and honest reviewer who loves book discussions, I'm here to help you find a book you'll love to read AND give you a place to talk about it and ask questions. Find me on Instagram and Pinterest as @jenryland!

So, the lesson here is that I don’t really read many time traveling books. I did read Time Between Us and Passenger, and I liked both. I was a fan of the Into the Dim books too. I am sad it doesn’t appear that the series will get wrapped up, but the author brought us to two interesting time periods.

I do read them but I’m picky about them!

Definitely not a fan of this genre lol

I feel like I can’t trust anything that’s happening or it can’ be fixed or erased by a time change.

I have a lot of blogger friends that love them though.

Karen @ For What It’s worth

Haha that’s funny. Yes, that is true!

I love time travel (Doctor Who is one of my favourite tv series after all) but I struggle with multiverse and time travel YA books a lot, for some reason. I thought Dissonance was okay. I think in the end my favourite time travel books have been adult. Recently I read The Night Mark by Tiffany Reisz and Kindred by Octavia E Butler and I think they both did time travel well!

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25 Best Time Travel Books That Defy Time and Genre

By looking at the earliest iterations of traveling through time to the modern interpretations, we’ve collected the best time travel books. These best books vary from classic middle grade to contemporary romance. Each book defies a single timeline and a single defining genre.

25 Best Time Travel Books

The following books all feature time travel as a foundational element to the plot. In some, time travel is a narrative device which reveals more about the main character. Meanwhile, in others it is the hard-and-fast time machine that perhaps springs to mind. The inner workings of how the time travels functions are explained, or not explained, to various degrees.

Books about time travel have been around for more than a century and dip into almost every other genre. The picks on this list can also be categorized as romance or thriller, from middle grade to young adult to adult.

This is by no means an exhaustive list, but is our recommendations for the best time travel books. If your favorite book about time travel isn’t on this list, leave a comment below to let other readers know your recommendation.

25. The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes

Most time traveling books imbue a lesson about life and the importance of the small moments. This often occurs through a protagonist who, even if they aren’t perfect, is trying to be better. But what if the ability to travel through time landed in the hands of someone evil? That’s what Lauren Beukes explores in The Shining Girls.

This horror sci-fi is about a killer who finds a portal to the past. He then uses it to track, visit, and murder his victims.

Except one victim, Kirby Mazrachi, survives his attack. Now Kirby will do whatever it takes, no matter how improbable, to bring her attacker to justice.

24. Wrong Place Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister

In a similar vein, Wrong Place Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister is a combination of the 1993 movie Groundhog Day and murder. That’s because the main character is up late waiting for her son to return home when she sees the impossible. Her son kills a stranger right in front of their house.

With her son in custody and a million questions swirling in her mind, the main character goes to sleep and wakes up the day before yesterday. Each morning she wakes up one day earlier searching for the reason her son committed the murder, determined to find it.

23. Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier

The first book in the Ruby Red Trilogy veers slightly from the previous mystery thriller recommendations. That’s because Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier is a young adult romance with a historical fiction timeline. The trilogy is translated into English by Anthea Bell.

It follows sixteen-year-old Gwen who lives with her eccentric family in London. A time traveling gene runs through the female half of her lineage. However, Gwen was never introduced to the secrets of time travel as the gene was supposed to have skipped Gwen.

So, she is completely unprepared when she starts taking uncontrolled leaps into the past. Gwen needs to learn the ropes fast, while also dealing with her incredibly attractive time traveling partner Gideon.

22. Recursion by Blake Crouch

The time travel in the world of Recursion by Blake Crouch is slightly different than other recommendations, but the importance of memory is still paramount in this setting.

Barry Sutton, a cop in New York City, is investigating False Memory Syndrome. This is a new phenomenon that is driving victims to insanity.

The mysterious affliction is inserting memories into the minds of its victims. Most cannot cope with the onslaught of trauma. Barry and neuroscientist Helena Smith are the only ones who stand a chance at defeating this terrifying opponent.

21. Hyperion by Dan Simmons

Next in our list of the best time travel books is a classic: Hyperion by Dan Simmons. This is a sci-fi space opera which takes place on the world of Hyperion. It is the first book in a quartet with an additional prequel and sequel.

In this world there is a creature called the Shrike. Some worship it, some fear it, and some wish to destroy it. Structures move backward through time in the Valley of the Time Tombs and this is where the Shrike waits.

But on the eve of Armageddon, seven pilgrims set forth to Hyperion. They seek answers to the unsolved riddles of their lives. Each pilgrim carries hope and a secret, and one may hold the fate of humanity in his hands.

20. An Ocean of Minutes by Thea Lim

This is a story about love and the endurance of humanity. It unfolds against a backdrop of time travel, a flu pandemic, and sacrifice. An Ocean of Minutes by Thea Lim follows two people separated by time.

When Polly’s boyfriend Frank catches the deadly flu virus that is rampaging its way across America, she will do anything to save him. Even agree to a radical contract with a company that has invented time travel to work as a bonded laborer. If she agrees, the company will pay for Frank’s treatment.

Polly and Frank agree to meet in twelve years’ time in Galveston, Texas. But when Polly is sent an additional five years in the future, everything is thrown into question. Now Polly must try to find Frank, see if he is alive, and if their love still rings true.

19. The Rose Garden by Susanna Kearsley

The Rose Garden by Susanna Kearsley is another romance that involves themes of loss, grief, and identity.

Eva and Katrina spent their summers as children in Cornwall, so when Katrina dies that is where Eva returns to spread her ashes. But Eva must confront the metaphorical ghosts of her past. As well as the very real ghosts she finds in the home where she is staying.

That’s because in this home Eva can travel through time back to the eighteenth century. She finds herself interacting with the inhabitants who lived there then. She also finds herself falling for one of them, Daniel Butler, and needing to choose between the life she knows and the past she feels so drawn towards.

18. This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone

Another romance, This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone is equally ethereal and unexpected. It is written in the form of letters between two enemies from opposing sides of a war who slowly, through their shared correspondence, fall in love.

Known only as Red and Blue, their letters begin as taunts, then praise, and then something more. The prose in this book feels more like poetry. As Red and Blue traverse the strands of time and history to weave their own attacks in this War or snip others, we learn more about them, the intimacy of their correspondence, and the chances of their happily-ever-after.

17. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

No list of the best time travel books would be complete without Outlander by Diana Gabaldon, because it has become a beloved modern classic. Claire and Jamie’s love story has sold millions of copies and sprung from the pages into a hit TV adaptation. But this is where it all began.

In 1945, as Claire enjoys a second honeymoon with her husband in Scotland, she walks through an ancient stone circle and finds herself in 1743. Claire does not understand the forces which propelled her back in time, nor does she fully understand the fiery passion she feels for James Fraser, who has her questioning her vows of holy matrimony.

16. The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

Another book that has become synonymous with time travel and likely immediately springs to mind is The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. It too has a popular screen adaptation with a 2009 movie and a more recent 2022 television series.

It follows the love story of Clare and Henry as they try to navigate their lives with Henry’s genetic condition that causes him to travel sporadically through time. They first met when Clare was six and Henry 36, then married when Clare was 22 and Henry was 30. Their fight for each other is moving and unforgettable.

15. All Our Wrong Todays by Elan Mastai

The future imagined by those in the 1950s was remarkable. In the world of All Our Wrong Todays by Elan Mastai, it was also accurate. What we think of as the real world is actually an offshoot that feels like a dystopian wasteland when Tom Barren finds himself in our version of 2016 after a time traveling mishap.

But in this alternate reality Tom finds versions of his family, his career, and the love of his life. Now, Tom must make a decision on whether to he needs to fix his mistake, or if he should forge out a new life in this unpredictable reality.

14. The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells by Andrew Sean Greer

The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells by Andrew Sean Greer opens in 1985 and depicts the various lives Greta might have lived, if she had been born in a different time.

It all starts when Greta begins psychiatric treatment for her depression after the death of her twin brother and a difficult break up. Through her treatment she begins to experience alternative versions of her life in 1918 and 1941. Each comes with its own hardships and losses, but if she had a chance to choose, where would Greta stay?

13. Just One Damned Thing After Another by Jodi Taylor

The next recommendation in our list of the best time travel books is the first in The Chronicles of St Mary’s series. Just One Damned Thing After Another by Jodi Taylor follows a group of time traveling historians who try to stay under the radar, but don’t always succeed. It is a fun adventure-filled read.

That’s because the members of St Mary’s Institute of Historical Research have a penchant for disaster as they investigate major historical events in contemporary time. While they always intend to observe quietly, they quickly realize it’s not just History they’re fighting.

12. Doomsday Book by Connie Willis

This is another book which follows scholars and academics through time travel and is also the first book in a series. Doomsday Book by Connie Willis is the first book in the Oxford Time Travel series. It explores universal themes of evil, suffering, and the resilience of the human spirit.

Kivrin prepared for her next on-site study by receiving inoculations against the diseases of the fourteenth-century and crafting an alibi for a woman traveling alone. Her instructors in the modern day were busy with the painstaking calculations to send her to where she needed to be.

But then a crisis strands Kivrin in a time of superstition and fear. She finds herself becoming an unlikely angel of hope to those around her.

11. Time and Again by Jack Finney

Time and Again is the first book in the Time duology by Jack Finney. It follows a young man who is enlisted into a secret government experiment.

Si Morley finds himself transported from mid-twentieth century New York City to 1882. While enchanted by the city he solves a 20th-century mystery by finding its 19th-century roots. He also falls in love with a beautiful young woman and must choose between the past or the present.

10. The Kingdoms by Natasha Pulley

An alternative history standalone, The Kingdoms by Natasha Pulley asks the question of whether it is worth changing the past to save the future when it costs you everyone you’ve ever loved.

Joe Tournier doesn’t remember anything about his life before he stepped off a train onto the soil of 19th-century England, which is a French colony. The only clue he has is an old postcard of a Scottish lighthouse from 100 years ago. The post card is written in English, which is illegal, and signed with an M.

His search for his identity begins with who wrote this postcard. It will see Joe travel from French-ruled London to rebel-owned Scotland. He will remake history, and himself.

9. The River of No Return by Bee Ridgway

More than halfway through our list of the best time travel books is The River of No Return by Bee Ridgway. It presents another alternative history between London and France.

Lord Nicholas Falcott was dying on a Napoleonic battlefield when he suddenly awoke in 21st-century London. A secretive group of time travelers, The Guild, told him there is no return. But Nick’s heart belongs to Julia Percy back in 1815 and Nick is willing to gamble everything against the rules of time itself for their reunion.

8. One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle

After quite a few romantic time traveling stories, this recommendation ventures into a different type of relationship and form of love. One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle follows Katy to the Amalfi Coast of Italy as she grieves the loss of her mother.

Katy and her mother, Carol, were supposed to travel to Positano together; it is a town where Carol spent the summer before she met Katy’s father. While Katy travels to Italy alone, she soon feels her mother’s spirit all around her, and then she finds her mother walking through the streets, somehow 30 years old again.

Katy has gotten her mother back and has one Italian summer to get to know her as a young woman. But Katy will have to reconcile her version of her mother who knew everything with the young woman before her still figuring it out.

7. The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

This next recommendation quickly became a beloved favorite following its publication, but before you read The Midnight Library by Matt Haig you may want to check out the detailed content warnings as it does have themes of suicide ideation and depression.

Despite the heavy themes, Haig is able to create a world that is lyrical, poignant, and strangely uplifting. Between life and death in this world there is a library which holds all the different variations of your life: The might-have-beens.

Nora Seed finds herself in the Midnight Library with the possibility to change her life for a new one. As she travels through the stacks she must decide what is truly fulfilling in life and what makes life worth living in the first place.

6. 11/22/63 by Stephen King

While he is known as the King of Horror, Stephen King has a grasp on writing that shines through in any genre he tackles. That much is true for 11/22/63 which takes place in two timelines as an English teacher from Maine attempts to stop the Kennedy assassination.

It begins in 2011 as Jake Epping’s friend shares with him the time traveling portal in the back of his diner. Jake agrees to this daring, and seemingly impossible, mission to prevent the Kennedy assassination. But in this world of a bygone era, Jake falls in love with a high school librarian and then encounters a troubled loner named Lee Harvey Oswald…

5. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut

As we begin counting down the top five best time travel books, this is where we start to feature the classics that undoubtedly affected the course of the genre. The first of these classics is Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

The time travelling aspect of this book is part of the narrative and how Billy Pilgrim relives his life in a slightly disorienting and non-linear way. Centering on the infamous bombing of Dresden during the Second World War, Billy Pilgrim’s odyssey through time reflects the mythic journey of our own fractured lives as we search for meaning in what we fear the most.

4. The End of Eternity by Isaac Asimov

Our fourth pick for the best time travel book is The End of Eternity by Issac Asimov. This is a dystopian science fiction in which humanity is split between Eternals and non-Eternals.

Andrew Harlan is an Eternal, which means it is his job to travel through the past and present to monitor Time and, when necessary, change it. But when he falls in love with a non-Eternal woman, he decides to use the powers at his disposal to twist time for his own purposes, so he and the woman he loves can carve out a life together.

3. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle

This next best time travel book is an evocative story about friendship and family. A Wrinkle in Time is the first book in the Time Quintet by Madeleine L’Engle, which is a middle grade classic.

It begins at the Murry house when a stranger beckons Meg, her brother Charles Wallace, and their friend Calvin O’Keefe on a dangerous and extraordinary adventure. It is a journey through time that will threaten their lives and our universe, but the life of Meg’s father hangs in the balance.

2. Kindred by Octavia E. Butler

Our penultimate pick for the best time travel book explores a theme that has not yet featured on our list, which is how time travel can be an incredibly different experience with the dangers of racism. Kindred by Octavia E. Butler is heralded as the first science fiction novel written by a Black woman; Butler and this novel have become a cornerstone of the genre.

In 1976 California, on her 26th birthday, Dana finds herself hurtled through time to antebellum Maryland. She saves a drowning white boy, but finds herself staring down the barrel of a shotgun. She escapes with her life when she is inexplicably transported back to the present, but this is just the beginning of multiple time traveling experiences with the same young man, which makes Dana realize the challenge she has been given.

1. The Time Machine by H.G. Wells

Finally, our best time travel book is the 1895 classic that literally coined the term which has now become universal: The Time Machine by H.G. Wells. Even though it was written more than a century ago, Wells’s novel remains a striking commentary on the duality of human nature.

It is a first-hand account of the main character’s journey from Victorian England to 800,000 years in the future. There the Time Traveller encounters an Earth that is slowly dying and populated by two races: The ethereal Eloi and the subterranean Morlocks. It depicts humanity’s greatest hopes, and its darkest fears.

Final thoughts on the best time travel books

In conclusion, here is a recap of our picks for the best time travel books. These recommendations span more than a century of literature. This list includes the first instances of time travel in fiction and other cornerstone classics that shaped this trope.

Books about time travel can go in countless directions, which makes it a building block for so many other genres: Middle grade, young adult, romance, or mystery. Regardless of whichever genre these time travel books share, each one offers a poignant reflection into the psyche of humanity. Each book on this list explores a what-if and the conclusions reveal a little bit more about our lived reality.

• The Time Machine by H.G. Wells (1895)
• Kindred by Octavia E. Butler (1979)
• A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle (1962)
• The End of Eternity by Isaac Asimov (1955)
• Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut (1969)
• 11/22/63 by Stephen King (2011)
• The Midnight Library by Matt Haig (2020)
• One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle (2022)
• The River of No Return by Bee Ridgway (2013)
• The Kingdoms by Natasha Pulley (2021)
• Time and Again by Jack Finney (1970)
• Doomsday Book by Connie Willis (1992)
• Just One Damned Thing After Another by Jodi Taylor (2013)
• The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells by Andrew Sean Greer (2013)
• All Our Wrong Todays by Elan Mastai (2017)
• The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger (2003)
• Outlander by Diana Gabaldon (1991)
• This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone (2019)
• The Rose Garden by Susanna Kearsley (2011)
• An Ocean of Minutes by Thea Lim (2018)
• Hyperion by Dan Simmons (1989)
• Recursion by Blake Crouch (2019)
• Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier (2009)
• Wrong Place Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister (2022)
• The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes (2013)

More Book Recommendation Resources

• 21 Best Psychological Thriller Books
• 15 Best Historical Fiction Books
• 17 Best Science Fiction Books
• 30 Best YA Fantasy Books

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50 Best Time Travel Books of All Time

I love the concept of time travel in books (and movies!). It just opens up so many creative possibilities, which make them so fun to read. So, here’s my list of the 50 Best Time Travel books!

This list includes titles released at any point in time, but has a slight preference for newer titles. It’s divided up into General Time Travel, Literary, Romance and Young Adult titles .

And feel free to drop a comment if you have a favorite time travel book that belongs on this list!

General Time Travel

Literary time travel, time travel romance, young adult, other time travel books.

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Wow. What a great list. I have only read a handful of these and have added another big handful to my TBR list. So glad to see Kindred here. It is a favorite of mine. Thanks for the post.

thanks rosi, glad you liked it! :)

I’m really interested in time travel nowadays, especially going into the past. I always wonder how I would manage 100, 200, 500 years ago. Life was so different!

yes! and I love how the change in time periods make for interesting perspective clashes that are a lot of fun to read about :)

An amazing list, thank you.

One of the best recent additions to the time travel genre is Novikov Windows: A Time Travel Novel, by Chris Cosmain.

11 Time Travel Novels That Will Transport You

Anne Mai Yee Jansen

Anne Mai Yee Jansen is a literature and ethnic studies professor and a lifelong story addict. She exists on a steady diet of books and hot chocolate, with a heaping side of travel whenever possible. Originally hailing from the sun and sandstone of southern California, she currently resides with her partner, offspring, and feline companion in the sleepy mountains of western North Carolina.

View All posts by Anne Mai Yee Jansen

This unique ability of time travel novels means that these books either harken back to the past or project into the future (or, sometimes, both). If you’re interested in spending a little more time thinking about this, give the essay “Time Traveling Books: Historical Fiction or Speculative Fiction?” a read.

And while many time travel novels often feature complex mechanisms for time travel (such as Charles Yu’s fascinating How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe ), not all time travel requires a time machine. Take Octavia Butler’s Kindred — a true classic! Butler’s protagonist finds herself unwittingly thrust into the past at unpredictable moments in her life…an extremely perilous situation for a Black American woman who keeps finding herself in the antebellum South.

The future of literary time travel is just as exciting as its past and present. You can expect Stephen Graham Jones’s “historical slasher” comic series Earthdivers to premier this October. (Incidentally, some of Jones’ other books — like Ledfeather and The Bird is Gone — also dabble in time travel.) No matter when you look for it, there’s always a good time travel novel to be found.

Long Division by Kiese Laymon

Originally published in 2013, Kiese Laymon’s time warping novel about racism across the decades was republished in 2021. It’s the story of “City” Coldson, a teenager who spectacularly fails at a nationally televised spelling contest. His timeline begins in 2013, but shortly after being sent to stay with his grandmother in a small southern town things get…weird. Things take a metafictional turn for the character when he discovers a book called Long Division written in the 1980s by an author with his same name. And then 1964 makes an appearance, and before you know it, Laymon has taken you on a wild ride spanning half a century and confronting racism across the years.

The Mexican Flyboy by Alfredo Véa, Jr.

Simon Vegas acquired a time machine in Vietnam…and he’s been trying to get it in working order ever since. Once he gets it working, things get really wild really fast. Simon’s time machine has a focus: seeking out injustice and delivering its victims to a utopian afterlife. There are plenty of famous names sprinkled in there, but the real focus of this novel is on questions of power (or, perhaps more aptly, powerlessness), compassion and humanity, and trauma and justice. Since it’s Alfredo Véa, Jr. doing the writing, there’s a masterful blurring of genre lines and the larger question at the core of the time travel: is it real, or is it all in Simon’s head?

An Ocean of Minutes by Thea Lim

This is a time travel novel that feels uncannily timely. It’s a book that already gave readers a lot to think about, but given its release one year before the COVID-19 pandemic, the global context adds another layer of meaning. It’s 1981 and the U.S. is in the middle of a deadly pandemic. (Sound familiar?) Frank is sick, but people in the future mastered time travel in order to try to subvert the pandemic. So Polly has contracted out her future in order to save him. Of course, when love and time travel happen, nothing ever goes smoothly — their plan to be reunited at a set time in a set location is ruined when Polly gets sent too far into the future. As Polly tries to find Frank, Lim’s novel asks deep questions about love, connection, and these troubled times we live in.

The Girl from Everywhere by Heidi Heilig

Nix is a time traveler’s daughter, and she’s been seemingly everywhere and everywhen. It’s been a grand adventure…but then her dad is navigating toward an uncertain past: the year before Nix was born in the place where she was born. The problem is, Nix’s mother died in childbirth. The big question, then, is what her father intends to do when they get to when they’re going. And Kash, Nix’s mischievous love interest, throws another wrench into the works. Heilig’s novel is so hard to put down, and if you like The Girl From Everywhere , the second book of the duology, The Ship Beyond Time , is also available!

This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone

It’s nearly impossible to not be at least mildly interested in a semi-epistolary novel co-authored by the likes of Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone. Their improbable protagonists are on opposite sides of a war: technology vs. biology (obvs, I’m being a bit reductive). And yet… love . Despite the improbability of it all, despite the war they’re caught up in, despite the very real danger their correspondence represents to each of them. Love .

The Perishing by Natashia Deón

This is an unconventional time travel novel, for sure. For starters, protagonist Lou is immortal. She’s also, apparently, an amnesiac, having woken up in an alley with no memory of her past. Set in Los Angeles during the Great Depression, The Perishing follows Lou as she makes a name for herself and breaks all kinds of barriers as a professional journalist. But then she makes a new friend and is shocked to find that his face is one she’s been drawing for years. Deón crafts a fascinating mystery that will have you pondering all manner of ideas, big and small, long after you’ve finished the last page.

Here and Now and Then by Mike Chen

How can you go wrong with a time travel novel featuring a secret agent protagonist? I would argue that you can’t. Kin Stewart is living the suburban lifestyle in San Francisco, but it’s not suburbia he needs to be rescued from. It’s his life, which is a facade while he waits for someone to come get him and return him to his real life over a century and a half in the future. But help takes almost two decades to show up, and in the meantime Kin has been living his life — complete with a wife and daughter. Chen’s novel is appealingly deep, exploring the many dynamics that define the self even as it entertains with its fresh take on time travel.

Miko Kings: An Indian Baseball Story by LeAnne Howe

Miko Kings is the oldest book on this list, but it’s a fascinating read. Howe’s novel follows an intriguing cast of characters as the Native American baseball team in Oklahoma, the Miko Kings, strive to win the championship. The year: 1907. Yup, that’s the same year Oklahoma (the majority of which was officially known as Indian Territory ) was granted statehood by the United States. With that political history looming in the background, Hope Little Leader is caught up in some events that are far larger than his role as pitcher for the team. And then there’s the odd and brilliant Ezol Day, whose theories on time are intertwined with linguistics and Indigenous epistemologies. This book has it all: conspiracy, romance, and political scheming. To top it off, you’ll find some wonderfully non-standard textual elements here, like newspaper clippings and handwritten journal entries.

A Bubble of Time by Pepper Pace

What would you do if, in your 50s, you suddenly found yourself reliving your high school years as your actual 16-year-old self? That’s exactly what happens to Kenya Daniels in Pepper Pace’s hilarious and smart time travel novel A Bubble of Time . She’s 16 again, but with all of her half-century of lived experience alive and well in her memory. There’s a truly comedic element here for anyone who lived through the ’80s, because it’s pretty entertaining to follow Kenya as she is forced to revisit the wild decade as her younger self. But Pace’s time travel novel is also at turns thoughtful, heartwarming, and unexpected, too.

Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

What would you do if you could travel through time? What if you could travel through time, but only for a very short duration and without the ability to change the present? In Toshikazu Kawaguchi’s time travel novel, there’s a cafe in a basement in Tokyo where this is possible. But only from the cafe. With these interesting constraints on their time, patrons (and staffers) in the cafe time travel for small but profound reasons. It’s a strikingly beautiful meditation on the little regrets we carry with us throughout our lives. If you’re a fan of this book, you’ll be happy to know that it’s the first part of a trilogy; Tales from the Cafe came out two years ago and the third book, Before Your Memory Fades , is scheduled for release this November!

The Kingdoms by Natasha Pulley

The Kingdoms is a wild ride! It’s historical fiction as much as it is a time travel novel. It opens with Joe Tournier’s confused arrival in 19th century England, but this is a very different England than the one you might have learned about in the history books: this England is a French colony. Shortly after his arrival, a mysterious postcard arrives. Not only is it written in English (a forbidden language in this alternate reality), but it’s addressed to him. As Joe seeks answers, he travels into Scotland (which is also an alternate Scotland) and beyond. It’s a captivating read — if you’ve ever read Pulley’s other works, this will come as no surprise.

Wanna buy yourself more time?

Get yourself stuck in a literary time loop by checking out the books on this list of time loop books . Or, if you’re feeling lovey, try a selection from this list of romantic time travel novels . And of course, you can’t go wrong with any of the options on this list of must-read time travel books !

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The 100 Best YA Books of All Time

With a panel of celebrated authors—Elizabeth Acevedo, Kacen Callender, Jenny Han, Jason Reynolds, Adam Silvera, Angie Thomas and Nicola Yoon—TIME presents the most compelling, enlightening and influential young-adult books, in chronological order beginning in the 1800s

Jason Reynolds: YA Books Make Us Feel Safe to Be Who We Really Are

Little Women

By louisa may alcott.

Anne of Green Gables

By l. m. montgomery.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

By betty smith.

Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl

By anne frank.

The Catcher in the Rye

By j.d. salinger.

Lord of the Flies

By william golding.

To Kill a Mockingbird

By harper lee.

From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler

By e.l. konigsburg.

A Wizard of Earthsea

By ursula k. le guin.

I'll Get There. It Better Be Worth the Trip

By john donovan.

Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.

By judy blume.

A Hero Ain’t Nothin’ but a Sandwich

By alice childress.

Tuck Everlasting

By natalie babbitt.

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry

By mildred d. taylor.

A Swiftly Tilting Planet

By madeleine l'engle.

The Westing Game

By ellen raskin.

by Cynthia Voigt

The House on Mango Street

By sandra cisneros.

Weetzie Bat

By francesca lia block.

by Lois Lowry

Ella Enchanted

By gail carson levine.

by Louis Sachar

If You Come Softly

By jacqueline woodson.

Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging

By louise rennison.

by Walter Dean Myers

by Laurie Halse Anderson

by Jerry Spinelli

The Princess Diaries

By meg cabot.

A Step from Heaven

Rainbow Boys

By alex sanchez.

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants

By ann brashares.

Before We Were Free

By julia alvarez.

by M.T. Anderson

by Marjane Satrapi

How I Live Now

By meg rosoff.

Code Talker

By joseph bruchac.

by Gabrielle Zevin

The Book Thief

By markus zusak.

The Lightning Thief

By rick riordan.

American Born Chinese

By gene luen yang.

by Sharon Draper

by Coe Booth

by Kristin Cashore

The Hunger Games

By suzanne collins.

Ship Breaker

By paolo bacigalupi.

Akata Witch

By nnedi okorafor.

Daughter of Smoke & Bone

By laini taylor.

by Marie Lu

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

By benjamin alire sáenz.

Code Name Verity

By elizabeth wein.

by David Levithan

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl

By jesse andrews.

The Fault in Our Stars

By john green.

If You Could Be Mine

By sara farizan.

March: Book One

By john lewis and andrew aydin, illustrated by nate powell.

Brown Girl Dreaming

I'll Give You the Sun

By jandy nelson.

by John Corey Whaley

The Crossover

By kwame alexander.

To All the Boys I've Loved Before

By jenny han.

An Ember in the Ashes

By sabaa tahir.

by Julie Murphy

Everything, Everything

By nicola yoon.

March: Book Two

More Happy Than Not

By adam silvera.

Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda

By becky albertalli.

Six of Crows

By leigh bardugo.

Salt to the Sea

By ruta sepetys.

by Neal Shusterman

The Sun Is Also a Star

We Are the Ants

By shaun david hutchinson.

When the Moon Was Ours

By anna-marie mclemore.

by Tiffany D. Jackson

American Street

By ibi zoboi.

Dear Martin

By nic stone.

I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter

By erika l. sánchez.

Long Way Down

By jason reynolds.

by Dashka Slater

The Hate U Give

By angie thomas.

The Marrow Thieves

By cherie dimaline.

We Are Okay

By nina lacour.

When Dimple Met Rishi

By sandhya menon.

A Very Large Expanse of Sea

By tahereh mafi.

Children of Blood and Bone

By tomi adeyemi.

Darius the Great Is Not Okay

By adib khorram.

The Astonishing Color of After

By emily x.r. pan.

by Elizabeth Acevedo

Frankly in Love

By david yoon.

Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me

By mariko tamaki, illustrated by rosemary valero-o’connell.

Like a Love Story

By abdi nazemian.

by Akwaeke Emezi

With the Fire on High

The Black Flamingo

By dean atta.

Felix Ever After

By kacen callender.

by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi

The Henna Wars

By adiba jaigirdar.

We Are Not Free

By traci chee.

You Should See Me In a Crown

By leah johnson.

Firekeeper's Daughter

By angeline boulley.

• Entertainment

Young Adult Books About Time Travel

20 YA Travel Books For The Adventurer In You

I’ve recently been on a bit of a young adult reading kick, which is why, over the past week, I’ve accumulated a giant stack of YA travel books. I love young adult travelogues. They’re an escape through unique, (often) breathtaking and dramatic storytelling. And I feel a different experience when I step into each journey.

Right now, my TBR is piled with young adult travel romance novels and coming-of-age adventures and heartwarming tales from the road. And this year, I’m dedicated to reading as many YA travel books as I can.

2020 Update: I finished most of the ya travel books on this list! And my favorite turned out to be a reader recommended addition: Wanderlove . Thanks Amanda!

So without further ado, here are 20 YA travel books for the adventurer in you. 

P.S. Please support your local independent bookstore or library if you can!

Quick Note: The affiliate links below are powered by Bookshop (not sponsored but I do get a small commission), an online bookstore that financially supports independent bookshops around the US and gives back to the indie book community. They’ve raised over four million dollars for independent bookstores thus far. And if you decide to buy a physical copy of any of the YA travel books below, you’ll be giving back to an indie bookstore as well (they’re very transparent and disclose exactly how much you’ll be giving back before purchase). I found this service whilst looking for alternatives to Amazon (since my local indie bookshop is closed right now) and I absolutely love it.

Table of Contents

Love & Luck

I first read Jenna Evan Welch’s novel, Love & Gelato , while on a road trip to San Antonio (not exactly Venice, but definitely the closest you’ll get in Texas). Welch uses simple, evocative writing to build up a feel-good romance. Love & Luck , her second novel, follows a brother and sister’s mayhem-filled tour through Ireland . I love how Welch mixed in snippets of a laugh-out-loud guidebook , Ireland For The Heartbroken (seriously, can I get a copy of this?), into Addie’s story. I’m only about three chapters into Love & Luck, right now, but the warm, bubbly feelings have already emerged. And let’s just say, I’m drowning in (shamrock-shaped) charm.  Update: I finished reading Love & Luck and I’m happy to report, this is now one of my all-time favorite YA travel novels. I enjoyed it even more than Love & Gelato.

I’ve been avoiding Wanderlost for so long, but I’ve finally decided enough is enough. I’m reading this book this month. I originally picked the novel up after seeing it pop up all over YouTube as one of the top YA travel books. Then, I let it sit on my e-shelf and collect the equivalent of electronic dust. Jen Malone weaves the tale of Aubree Sadler, a young Ohio girl pretending to be her sister on a bus tour to Europe . A seemingly cliche love story, Wanderlost gives me serious Monte Carlo ( do you remember the 2011 chick flick starring Katie Cassidy, Leighton Meester, and Selena Gomez? ) vibes.

Amy & Roger’s Epic Detour

Don’t judge a book by its title. Too late. Amy & Roger’s Epic Detour sounds like a classic swoon-worthy road trip romance. I fell in love with the small details thrown into this novel. More than words, Amy & Roger’s Epic Detour is told in part through receipts, postcards, and playlists ( which I’ll be compiling on Spotify at some poin t). Morgan Matson narrates a cross-country road trip with two ( almost ) strangers. But despite the lighthearted storyline, there is an underlying note of grief that Amy is realistically grappling with throughout the trip. I’ve heard the novel is a bit of a tear-jerker ( luckily, I’m all stocked up on tissues and vats of ice cream ). 

Let’s Get Lost

I actually read Let’s Get Lost when it was first released in 2014 ( which I completely forgot about until I poked through the first chapter last week ). Part-novel and part-anthology. Adi Alsaid sows together five separate threads with the needle of Laila . While Alsaid’s writing is beautifully crafted, I wish the characters were a little more rounded and the connection between the different stories was a little less loose. But if you’re looking for a breezy YA travel book , Let’s Get Lost is the perfect coming-of-age story to kick off your adventures.

I See London, I See France

I See London, I See France paints a cartoonish sketch of a young girl’s adventures through Europe . I vaguely remember reading Sarah Mlynowski’s previous novel, Ten Things We Did (And Probably Shouldn’t Have), and absolutely loving it. Mlynowski masters the balance between presenting overtly comical situations and moral acceptance . While her writing falls more on the abrupt side, her expert storytelling swayed me into picking up one of her travel YA books. Update: This is now my lowest rated book on Goodreads. It reads like a middle-grade novel but is plagued with adult concepts. The writing is forced. The characters are fueled by lust (which oddly enough is their defining character trait). The lead (and her best friend) are extremely disrespectful travelers and their bad decisions are glorified. I wish I didn’t chug through this and I’m not sure why I read until the end. The plot just got worse and worse.

13 Little Blue Envelopes

I’m currently halfway through this book and oh my goodness, I think I’m in love. I just want to take a plane and make a break for Europe right now. 13 Little Blue Envelopes follows Ginny Blackstone, a young girl backpacking through Europe based on letters sent by her eccentric aunt. Here’s the catch: her aunt is dead. I love how Maureen Johnson gives us hints of Aunt Peg’s personality, makes us fall in love with her wild, I-don’t-care nature, without Aunt Peg ever making a physical appearance. One of the must-read YA travel books, 13 Little Blue Envelopes will immediately send you to all the places you dream about.   Update: Yes. Yes. Yes. I think I love everything by Maureen Johnson.

Girl At Sea

I was so in love with 13 Little Blue Envelopes that I went ahead and picked up another Maureen Johnson novel, Girl At Sea . I know, I know, I should read one book at a time. This one takes place in a boat in Italy – which, according to the back cover, the main character gripes about. How could you be irritated by being on a boat in Italy? I don’t understand. I’d love to be in Italy….eating gelato ( gelato sounds so good right now ). Anyway, Maureen Johnson is fantastic at capturing teen angst and drama and I’m sure this book will be ship-shape and sea-worthy.

9 Days & 9 Nights

9 Days and 9 Nights caught me by the cover first. I fall so hard for books that have polaroid-esque collages on the front. Then, I read the description and it said: “ for fans of Jenny Han .” I stopped there. If you don’t know, I absolutely love Jenny Han’s writing style (I was so stoked for the Netflix adaptation of To All The Boys I Ever Loved and for once, a book to movie adaptation delivered ). And while I usually hate “ exes meeting in chance in an exotic location and feelings come rushing back ” novels, I’m hoping to give 9 Days and 9 Nights a chance ( hopefully, it lives up to the hype ).

Love & Other Train Wrecks

Love and Other Train Wrecks starts off with an Amtrak ride from Virginia to New York. Since I’ve actually been on that journey ( once upon a time ), I wanted to reminisce a little with this novel. In the story, Noah and Ammy, polar opposites, are coincidentally in the same Amtrak car . Cue events that throw them together – a crazy snowstorm and a broken-down Amtrak car. I love situations like this where the main characters are forced to interact with each other . Instead of a game of lust, I’m hoping for open and honest conversations that spill details about each lead’s past.

The Distance From A to Z

The Distance from A to Z ( this is an Amazon affiliate link as it’s only available on the Kindle. You can find out more about affiliate links here ) is a quick contemporary romance. Epic Reads brings a breezy story (b y debut author Natalie Blitt ) about a young girl hoping to get away from it all and learn French . If you’re in love with France, this is one of the best YA travel books to read. The protagonist (Abby) describes her Francophilia in a truly wholesome and meaningful and relatable way.

More than travel infused, The Distance from A to Z is wanderlust infused. Abby falls slowly and so hard for Zeke ( a boy who is everything she despises in life ). There’s teetering chemistry and a side character who I’m 100% obsessed with (love Alice).

There You’ll Find Me

The premise of There You’ll Find Me is unlike any other YA novel I’ve ever seen. Finley Sinclair isn’t a damsel in distress. She knows what she wants in life and where she is going. Career driven, creative, Finley only loses her spark when she hears about the death of her older brother . Then, Finley journeys to Ireland, following her brother’s travel log. This is where her brother felt closest to God and where Finley tries to seek what he found. Jenny Jones weaves a beautiful tale around one single question – how do you forgive God?

Meant To Be

I get so sappy over hate to love romance novels ( this is what happens after you read Pride and Prejudice two hundred times ). I picked up Meant To Be because I felt so many classic YA travel book elements pouring through the pages – comedy, history, an exotic setting . While I find Julia’s character to be pretentious, stuck-up, judgemental, and flat-out annoying ( right now ), I’m hoping that Lauren Morrill is playing the “travel opens your eyes” angle in this novel.

Anna And The French Kiss

I’m rereading all of Stephanie Perkins novels right now. I just reread Lola and the Boy Next Door ( my favorite book by her ) and now, I’m picking up all the France feels with Anna and The French Kiss. While the title sounds like a lusty, hormonal driven, steamy romance, Anna And The French Kiss is anything but that. Cute as a button, the characters, Anna and Etienne, are so incredibly lovable ( Update: I reread this book and just now realized how disconcerting Anna and Etienne’s relationship is. Their relationship depicts a very weird lesson: actual cheating on your partner isn’t okay, but thinking about it is. That idea is wrong on so many levels. I no longer stand by this book ). And Stephanie Perkins elegantly sweeps you through the famous French attractions. Seriously, every time I read this novel, I imagine that I’m on a whirlwind tour of Paris (this much is still true. I’ll admit to that ).

Airports, Exes, And Other Things I’m Over

The title of this book is so sassy and angry, I know I’m going to love the female lead in this novel. A comedy of errors, Airports, Exes, and Other Things I’m Over is one of the top YA travel books I’m looking forward to reading the most this month. I can totally imagine Sari sitting in the airport with a “stank face” ( the immortal words of Kelly Clarkson – I can’t imagine The Voice without her ), fed up with the crazy situation she’s somehow straddled in .  

Up To This Pointe

Up To This Pointe is all about romance, science, and dance, a unique combination in an even more unique setting – Antarctica . While most YA travel books discuss hopping around Europe and summer flings during an all-American road trip, Jennifer Longo uses the harsh extreme of Antarctica as the backdrop of her story about a young girl, who thought she found herself, trying to find herself. There’s something about the plot that resonated with me and I can’t wait to dig beneath the iceberg and discover the full depths of this novel.

The Gentleman’s Guide To Vice And Virtue

Set in the 1700s, A Gentleman’s Guide To Vice And Virtue is about one young man’s hilarious romp through Europe. A cute LGBTQIAP+ travel romance , the novel is deftly written. Despite Monty wanting nothing more than a hedonistic European escapade, he somehow ends up in the mess of an 18th-century manhunt . A story about finding true love over the course of harrowing events, A Gentleman’s Guide To Vice And Virtue pushes the limits of the term morality.  P.S. This is one of our January 2020 travel book club picks!

Girl Off The Grid

Girl Off The Grid ( this is an Amazon affiliate link as it’s a self-published book. You can find out more about how and why we use affiliate links here ) is the story of a city girl meeting a wild world . The tale follows fashion blogger, Camille Caldwell, who is offered a press trip to Costa Rica. She’s imagining Pina Coladas and cute beach-side photoshoots. But when she’s paired with wildlife photographer, Adam Lloyd, she realizes the trip is a “little more off the grid.” As a blogger, I’m hoping Camille is fun and relatable ( AKA she doesn’t fall into the category of shallow and high maintenance – this is such a common blogger stereotype that I’m sick of seeing ). Side note: the author, Kenzie Hart, has pledged to donate 10% of the book proceeds to a sea turtle conservation and research group.

18 Hours To Us

So I’ll admit, I picked up this book thinking it was a yoga beach romance. Uh, no. And I’m really glad it isn’t. 18 Hours To Us is about two classmates who miss a field trip bus and are forced to drive together from Michigan to Virginia Beach . The book slowly reveals little details about each character – their back story, their talents, and their secrets. I love how there isn’t any information dumping in this title and all the pieces slowly fall into place. I haven’t gotten too deep into the book but I’m absolutely in love with what I’ve read so far.

See You In The Cosmos

I knew I wanted to read this book when I found out the main character has a dog named Carl Sagan . A complex and well-connected web, See You In The Cosmos is about a nerdy boy who sets out on a trip, recording on his iPod what Earth looks like ( so other life forms can hopefully see it one day ). While the novel shifts beautifully between landscapes from Colorado to California , at heart, See You In The Cosmos is a journey about rediscovering family.

Mosquitoland

The captivating art style of Mosquitoland drew me to the book ( yes, I judge books by their covers ). The story of a girl who climbs aboard a Greyhound bus and journeys to find her sick mom, Mosquitoland isn’t all roses. Through thorny relationships, Mimi Malone is forced to untangle her prickly life, confront her inner demons, and search for hope along a thousand-mile journey . The novel deals with heavy subjects ( I know, I was trying to aim for more light-hearted books this month ) but the writing ( on the first page alone ) is so evocative and beautiful, I can’t wait to finish the novel.

P.S. If you love reading, feel free to join the Eden Travel Book Club ( shameless plug) . We read one YA travel book together every month!

Did you enjoy this post on YA travel books? Have you read any YA travel books that I should add to my TBR? What books are you reading this month? Let me know in the comments below!

Editor-In-Chief

Anshula grew up with a love of stories and places. Thirty-five states and 100 bookstores later, she's made her hobbit home in Middle Tennessee. Her Tookish side still takes over and leaves her chasing window seats, literary destinations, adventure books, sunrise coffee, and indie bookshops. She's appeared as a travel source on HuffPost, Reader's Digest, and MSN.

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16 comments.

Wow that’s a lot of books, you’ve been busy and had time on your hands. I do envy that you have had the opportunity to read so many books. I used to read all the time but more horrors and thrillers myself. It’s nice to be able to relax and read every so often.

Yes, it is nice to sit down and read! xx – Anshula

You should read “Wanderlove” by Jen Malone and “wanderlost” by Kirsten Hubbard. These are my FAVORITE travel books, they make my heart happy.

Wow! I love reading books! can’t wait to check all of these! Thank you for sharing!

Have fun, dear! Hope you enjoy them! xx – Anshula

Wow nice. Thats a lot of books to choose to but maybe one day i will buy one of them. Maybe the Let’s Get Lost 🙂 🙂 🙂

Let’s Get Lost is really good (and the writing is just….beautiful) xx – Anshula

This is a great list! My daughter would love these books.

Thanks, Cyndi! xx – Anshula

I definitly need to get back into reading so these should help me out! Thanks for the post!

I was in a reading slump for the longest time so I just went all out to get out of it! xx – Anshula

These sound like so much fun! I always love to find new reads 🙂

Me too! xx – Anshula

I am a bookworm but I always go for the crime mystery and romance ones. I’ve never read a travel book but I like some of your suggestions.

Thanks, love! Most of these are travel romance so they should be right up your alley! xx – Anshula

As a reading specialist, I’m always on the lookout for good YA books for my charges. This has a few I’d love to share with them

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Clockwise: (A young adult time travel novel) (The Clockwise Series) Paperback – March 31, 2015

Praise for CLOCKWISE: Completely original! It’s funnier than heck, great for all ages, and full of surprises. Oh, I absolutely loved Clockwise!

A teenage time traveler accidentally takes her secret crush back in time. Awkward.

Casey donovan has issues: hair, height and uncontrollable trips to the 19th century and now this --she's accidentally taken nate mackenzie, the cutest boy in the school, back in time. awkward. protocol pressures her to tell their 1860 hosts that he is her brother, and when casey finds she has a handsome, wealthy (and unwanted) suitor, something changes in nate. are those romantic sparks or is it just "brotherly" protectiveness when they return to the present, things go back to the way they were before: casey parked on the bottom of the rung of the social ladder and nate perched high on the very top. except, this time her heart is broken. plus, her best friend is mad, her parents are split up, and her younger brother gets escorted home by the police. the only thing that could make life worse is if, by some strange twist of fate, she took nate back to the past again. which of course, she does. what readers are saying: "what a fun read author elle strauss successfully combines adventure, time travel and romance all in one book. this isn't your typical sci-fi, time travel book" "this is a light-hearted time-travel. part adventure, some disaster, a dash of comedy and an edge of romance.".

• Book 1 of 5 The Clockwise Series
• Print length 240 pages
• Language English
• Publication date March 31, 2015
• Dimensions 5.5 x 0.6 x 8.5 inches
• ISBN-10 0987807811
• ISBN-13 978-0987807816
• See all details

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From the inside flap, about the author, product details.

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ ESB Publishing (March 31, 2015)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 240 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0987807811
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0987807816
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 13.4 ounces
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 0.6 x 8.5 inches
• Best Sellers Rank: #4,404,301 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books )

About the authors

Lee strauss.

For fans of cozy mysteries with a touch of Downton Abbey ~ from a USA TODAY Bestselling author!

You'll adore Lady Gold from the acclaimed Ginger Gold Mysteries series starting with the introductory novella, Murder on the SS Rosa.

Fill up on the short story companion series, Lady Gold Investigates, and if you're in need of more Golden Age Whodunnits, try the spin-off series, Higgins & Hawke.

Look for the 1950s themed ROSA REED MYSTERIES!

Don't forget to FOLLOW LEE ON AMAZON. (^^^Yellow button under photo^^^)

Contact: leestraussbooks.com

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The 35 Best Books About Time Travel

Here's what to read after you finish Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series.

Every item on this page was chosen by a Town & Country editor. We may earn commission on some of the items you choose to buy.

Gabaldon first published Outlander —the book that would eventually inspire the television series starring Caitriona Balfe as Claire and Sam Heughan as Jamie —in 1991, and the ninth novel in the series, Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone , came out in November 2021.

Ahead of the seventh season of Outlander , now's the perfect time (ha) to dive into time travel books. From time traveling romance to alternate realities to murder mysteries, there's something for everyone here.

The Time Traveler's Wife

Any list about time travel books must begin with The Time Traveler's Wife , right? This bestselling novel tells the love story of Henry DeTamble, a dashing, adventuresome librarian who inadvertently travels through time, and Clare Abshire, an artist whose life takes a natural sequential course. Plot sound familiar? The book was adapted into a 2009 film starring Rachel McAdams and Eric Bana, and a 2022 TV show starring Theo James and Rose Leslie .

Read more: 20 of the best Time Travel Films Ever Made

A Murder in Time

Kendra Donovan is a rising star at the FBI, until one disastrous raid when half her team is murdered and a mole in the FBI is uncovered. After she recovers from her wounds, she's determined to find the man responsible for the death of her team—yet upon her arrival in England, she stumbles back in time to 1815. Mistaken for a lady's maid, Kendra is forced to quickly adapt to the period as she figures out how to get back to her own timeline. There are five books in the Kendra Donovan series , so if you love a time travel mystery, don't miss these.

Author Octavia Butler is a queen of science fiction, and Kindred is her bestselling novel about time travel. In it, she tells the story of Dana, a Black woman, who is celebrating her 26th birthday in 1976. Abruptly, she's transported back to Maryland, circa 1815, where she's on a plantation and has to save Rufus, the white son of the plantation owner. It's not just a time travel book, but one that expertly weaves in narratives of enslaved people and explores the Antebellum South.

Faye, Faraway

Diana Gabaldon herself called Faye, Faraway "a lovely, deeply moving story of loss and love and memory made real , " so you know it's going to be good. The plot focuses on Faye, a mother of two, who lost her own mother, Jeanie, when she was just 8 years old. When Faye suddenly finds herself transported back in time, she befriends her mother—but doesn't let on who she really is. Eventually, she has to choose between her past and her future.

The Eyre Affair

In this version of Great Britain circa 1985, time travel is routine. Our protagonist is Thursday Next, a literary detective, who is placed on a case when someone begins kidnapping characters from works of literature and plucks Jane Eyre from the pages of Brontë's novel.

Bonus: The Eyre Affair is the first in a seven book series following Thursday.

The River of No Return: A Novel

Lord Nicholas Davenant is about to die in the Napoleonic Wars in 1812, and wakes up 200 years later. But he longs to return back in time to his love, Julia. When he arrives in modern society, a mysterious organization called the Guild tells him "there is no return," until one day, they summon him to London and he learns it's possible to travel back through time. A spy thriller that's also historical romance that's also time travel... Say less.

One Last Stop

Casey McQuiston's second novel ( following Red, White, and Royal blue, which is going to be a major motion picture this summer ) is a queer time-loop romance set on the Q train in New York City, and it's riveting. August is 23, working at a 24-hour diner, and meets a gorgeous, charming girl on the train: Jane. But she can't seem to meet up with her off the Q train—until they figure out Jane is stuck in time from the 1970s. How did she travel through time? Can August get Jane unstuck? Will they live happily ever after!? The questions abound.

What the Wind Knows

Anne Gallagher grew up hearing her grandfather’s stories of Ireland. When she returns to the country to spread his ashes, she is transported back in time to 1921—and is drawn into the struggle for Irish independence. There, she meets Dr. Thomas Smith, and must decide whether or not she should return to her own timeline or stay in the past. As one reviewer wrote on Amazon, What the Wind Knows is a "spectacular time travel journey filled with love and loss."

The Midnight Library: A Novel

Imagine a library with an infinite number of books—each containing an alternate reality about your life. That's the plot of The Midnight Library , where our protagonist Nora Seed enters different versions of her life. She undoes old breakups, follows her dream of becoming a glaciologist, and so much more—but what happens to her original life?

The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O.: A Novel

In this novel from Neal Stephenson and Nicole Galland, magic existed—until 1851. A secret government organization, the Department of Diachronic Operations (or D.O.D.O. for short), is dedicated to bringing magic back, and its members will travel through time to change history to do so. As Kirkus Reviews wrote , the novel "blend[s] time travel with Bourne-worthy skulduggery." It's a delight for any fans of science fiction, with a slow burn romance between military intelligence operator Tristan Lyons and linguist Melisande Stokes.

This Is How You Lose the Time War

Cowritten by two beloved and award-winning sci-fi writers, this epistolary romantic novel tells the story of two time-traveling rivals who fall in love. Agents Red and Blue travel back and forth throughout time, trying to alter universes on behalf of their warring empires—and start to leave each other messages. The messages begin taunting but soon turn flirtatious—and when Red's commander discovers her affection for Blue, they soon embark down a timeline they can't change.

The House on the Strand

Set at an ancient Cornish house called Kilmarth, where Daphne du Maurier lived from 1967, The House on the Strand story follows Dick Young, who has been offered use of Kilmarth by an old college friend, Magnus Lane. Magnus, a biophysicist, is developing a drug that enables people to travel back to the 14th century, and Dick reluctantly agrees to be a test subject. The catch: If you touch anyone, you're transported back to the present. As the story goes on, Dick's visits back to the 1300s become more frequent, and his life back in the modern world becomes unstable.

The Kingdoms

It’s 1898 and there’s a man named Joe, who lives in London, which is, in this alternate historical, a part of the French Empire as in this version of the past, Britain lost the Napoleonic Wars. Joe has gotten off a train from Scotland and cannot remember anything about who he is or where he’s from. He soon returns to his work, and after a few years, he is sent to repair a lighthouse in Eilean Mor in the Outer Hebrides. Joe then finds himself a century earlier, on a British boat with a mysterious captain, fighting the French and hoping for a future that is different than the one he came from. If you're into time travel and queer romance and alternate history, this is for you.

The Future of Another Timeline

In 1992, 17-year-old Beth agrees to help hide the dead body of her friend's abusive boyfriend. The murder sets Beth and her friends on "a path of escalating violence and vengeance" to protect other young women. In 2022, Tess decides to use time travel to fight for change around key moments in history. When Tess believes she's found a way to make an edit to history that actually sticks, she encounters a group of time travelers bent on stopping her at any cost. Tess and Beth's lives intertwine, and war breaks out across the timeline.

Shadow of Night

The sequel to A Discovery of Witches , the plot of Shadow of Night picks up right where the story left off: With Matthew, a vampire, and Diana, a witch, traveling back in time to Elizabethan London to search for an enchanted manuscript. You really need to read the first book before reading Shadow of Night , but the series by Deborah Harkness is a swoony magical romance.

And: It's now a TV show! ( Season one is streaming on Amazon Prime Video .)

The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle

In The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, the same day happens again and again. Each day, Evelyn Hardcastle is murdered at 11:00 p.m at Blackheath. And each day, our protagonist Aiden Bishop wakes up in the body of a different witness—and tries to solve her murder. He only has eight days, and it's a race against time to solve Evelyn's murder and to escape the time loop.

Recursion: A Novel

In 2018 New York City, detective Barry Sutton fails to talk Ann out of jumping off a building. But before Ann falls to her death, she tells him she is suffering from False Memory Syndrome—a new neurological disease where people are afflicted with memories of lives they never lived. The dissonance between their present and these memories drives them to death. This is best read unspoiled, but it's undoubtedly a time travel story you haven't read before.

On the eve of her wedding day, Shay Garrett looks into her grandmother's antique mirror and faints. When she wakes up, she's in the same house—but in the body of her grandmother, Brandy, as a young woman in 1900. And Brandy awakens in Shay's body in the present day in 1978. It's like Freaky Friday , but with time travel to the Victorian era.

Here and Now and Then

Kin Stewart is a time traveler from 2142, stuck in 1990s suburban San Francisco. A rescue team arrives to bring Kin back to his timeline—but 18 years too late. Does Kin stay with his "new" family, and the life he's built for himself in San Francisco, or does he return to his original timeline? He's stuck between two families—and ultimately, this is a time travel tale about fatherhood.

A Knight in Shining Armor

Originally published in 1989, this romance novel features a present-day heroine and a knight from the 16th century who fall in love. Per the book's description: "Abandoned by a cruel fate, lovely Dougless Montgomery lies weeping upon a cold tombstone in an English church. Suddenly, the most extraordinary man appears. It is Nicholas Stafford, Earl of Thornwyck…and according to his tombstone he died in 1564. Drawn to his side by a bond so sudden and compelling it overshadows reason, Dougless knows that Nicholas is nothing less than a miracle: a man who does not seek to change her, who finds her perfect, fascinating, just as she is. What Dougless never imagined was how strong the chains are that tie them to the past…or the grand adventure that lay before them."

Emily Burack (she/her) is the Senior News Editor for Town & Country, where she covers entertainment, culture, the royals, and a range of other subjects. Before joining T&C, she was the deputy managing editor at Hey Alma , a Jewish culture site. Follow her @emburack on Twitter and Instagram .

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The best books about time travel to read right now

Spanning genres and continents, author and ancient historian jean menzies shares some of her favourite books about time travel, from tales of redemption to murder mysteries..

‘Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so.’ Or so says  Douglas Adams  in  The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy . When I think time travel, I think science-fiction. And when I think science-fiction I think  The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy . But the more I mulled it over the more I started to realise how the most impactful time travel novels I’ve read traverse so much more than traditional hard science-fiction. In fact, the time travel genre as I’m now going to call it might be one of the most relatable genres of literature, encompassing the full range of human emotions and experiences. Let me prove it to you.

Before the Coffee Gets Cold

By toshikazu kawaguchi.

First released in Japan in 2015, this bestseller has since been translated for English audiences. The story takes place in a small basement café in Japan, home to a very special urban legend: visitors can travel back in time. There are strict rules, however; you can only travel back to speak to people who have visited the café itself, you cannot leave your seat while in the past, nothing you do will change the present, and you must return before your coffee gets cold. Each character comes to the café with a new reason to time travel. As many of the patrons discover, you can’t change the present, but you can change yourself.

by Octavia E. Butler

In Butler’s 1970’s classic, we witness our protagonist Dana transported back to the antebellum south at random intervals. Dana is a black woman living in 1970s North America who thinks herself well-versed in the experience of slaves. Knowing and experiencing, however, are two very different things. Appearing in the past without warning, Dana is forced into the role of house-slave to survive. Based on the historical accounts of slaves themselves, Butler uses time travel to great effect. The contrast between Dana’s 20th century expectations and what she must do to survive in the 1800s makes the reader face their biases head-on.

A Christmas Carol 

By charles dickens.

I doubt many of us think science-fiction when we think Dickens, but in actuality,  A Christmas Carol  is one of the original time travel novels. Set in mid-1800s London, this classic follows Ebenezer Scrooge, a wealthy and miserly Englishman who knows not ‘the meaning of Christmas’. Over the course of one night Scrooge is visited by the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future. They show Scrooge the impact his cruelty had, has, and will have on one Christmas Day. Each time period offers Scrooge new insights and helps him learn ‘the true meaning of Christmas’. 

The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle

By stuart turton.

A complex blend of time travel and body-swapping, this is a mystery that has you on your toes every step of the way. Set during an extravagant party held in a manor house, our nameless protagonist wakes every morning to experience the same day, just in a different host’s body. Why? As it turns out he has been tasked with finding out ‘who killed Evelyn Hardcastle’ and he must do so by the seventh day, or all of his memories will be wiped. Time travel doesn’t have to cross huge distances to be exciting, and with each repeat of the day we learn new details surrounding the crime that will inevitably take place each evening. 

Opposite of Always

By justin a. reynolds.

What everyone really hopes for from a bit of time travel, a second chance . . .  or five. Reynold’s young adult debut uses time travel to explore the universal experiences of love and grief. The story follows Jack, a young man who’s head over heels in love with his girlfriend Kate. Their relationship comes to a devasting end, however, when Kate dies. Or does it? Unexpectedly, Jack finds himself stuck in an endless loop, reliving his time with Kate, but hoping for a different ending. This is a beautiful and moving novel, where time travels draws us a little deeper into Jack and Kate's story. 

The Time Machine

By h. g. wells.

Most of the books on this list, haven’t really dealt with the ‘scientific’ aspect of ttime travel. Enter  The Time Machine , literally. Throughout the story, we follow an inventor dubbed ‘The Time Traveller’ whose latest creation transports him more than eight-hundred-thousand years into the future where humanity has been replaced by two races known as Eloi and Morlocks. Through his speculative time travel, Wells poses questions surrounding hierarchy and human relationships. The book popularised the concept in fiction and has continued to have a huge influence on the genre.

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Sea of tranquility.

The exiled son of an aristocrat driven to madness, a writer trapped far from home, and a detective in the ever-dark Night City. Three storylines entwine across centuries in the captivating worlds of Emily St John Mandel, author of award-winning Station Eleven . Perceptive and poignant about art, love, and what we must do to survive, Sea of Tranquility is a novel that investigates the idea of parallel worlds and possibilities, that plays with the very line along which time should run.

One Last Stop

By casey mcquiston.

Both hilarious and full of heart, Casey McQuiston brings us the story of cynical twenty-three-year-old August in her latest rom-com. August doesn't believe in magic and cinematic love stories, and she's sure her move to New York will prove her right. But then, on the train, she meets Jane. Instantly charmed by her swoopy hair and soft smile, August's subway crush becomes the best part of her day. There's just one problem: Jane is displaced in time from the 1970s, and August is going to have to use everything she tried to leave in her own past to help Jane. 

Stories of Your Life and Others

Stories of Your Life and Others deftly blends human emotion and scientific rationalism in eight remarkably diverse stories where all the characters must confront sudden change while striving to maintain some sense of normalcy. From a soaring Babylonian tower that connects a flat Earth with the firmament above, to a world where angelic visitations are a wondrous and terrifying part of everyday life; from a neural modification that eliminates the appeal of physical beauty, to an alien language that challenges our very perception of time and reality, Chiang’s rigorously imagined fantasias invite us to question our understanding of the universe and our place in it.

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