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Explore new worlds with the best time travel books, including thrillers, romance, contemporary lit, classics, and mind-bending sci-fi.

The Uncorked Librarian » Book Lists » 14 Time Travel Books I Absolutely Loved Across Genres14 Time Travel Books I Absolutely Loved Across Genres As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. This post may contain affiliate links that earn me commissions at no extra cost to you. ByChristine F. Updated onJuly 18, 2025 Explore new worlds with the best time travel books, including thrillers, romance, contemporary lit, classics, and mind-bending sci-fi. Pin As an avid reader and MLIS-degreed, rogue librarian, discover my top time travel novels of all time with brief reviews. Then, keep reading for more recommendations from The Uncorked Librarian reading community. I frequently change and update this reading list. Lately, I’m a basic b’ mood reader.Looking for even more? You might also enjoy these incredibly unique books about time travel. Let me know your favorites in the comments. 💜 Christine Table of ContentsContemporary & Literary Fiction Time Travel BooksScience FictionHistorical FictionTime Travel Romance BooksYoung Adult/Teen/TweenTime Travel Classics Everyone Should Read At Least OnceMore Time Travel Books Our Uncorked Readers Love P.S. To save money on ebooks, along with your local library and indie bookstores, try Amazon Prime or Audible. Contemporary & Literary Fiction Time Travel Books From new releases to contemporary fiction, these are just a few books I enjoyed and recommend, with a few gentle critiques, too. Many of these are great for a book club! In Five Years by Rebecca Serle Pin 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, I 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. I was 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. I will say, not all of our Uncorked Readers loved this one as much as I did. Read & Buy A Copy Here: Amazon Libro.fm Bookshop Target Before the coffee gets cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi Pin Translated by Geoffrey Trousselot | I just love translated Japanese literature. One of the most debated time travel books among my Uncorked 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 would you 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. I shed a tear or two. Discover even more terrific and thought-provoking Japanese fantasy novels here. Read & Buy A Copy Here: Amazon Libro.fm Bookshop Target The Midnight Library by Matt Haig If you are looking for the most unique and 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. Pin 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, in The Midnight 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 i...

14 Best Time Travel Books Across Genres, Periods, & Worlds