FANTASY & SCI-FI | Book Lists: I Love Time Travel

Book Lists, the segment in which I make lists, because lists are fun.

I love time travel books. So for today's list I will be ranking the time travel books I've read, as well as a list of time travel books on my prospective reading list.

Before, I jump right in, I want to rant for a bit on what I consider a "time travel" novel. It is not a book that contains time travel in it; rather, it is a book in which the main plot (subjective, I'm sure) revolves around the aspect of time. It's a difficult perspective to explain, but I hope it makes sense.
Henceforth, what I don't count as a time travel novel would be the likes of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Rowling), Fortunately, the Milk (Gaiman), and not even Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children (Riggs), though arguably, I can understand if you do.

In this Book Lists post, I will go over the ranking of the only 5 books I've read that I consider to be "true" time travel novels, and discuss further readings in the genre.


As stated earlier, I have only read 5 books that I consider a "true" book of the Time Travel category. I have listed them below from least to most favorite.

5. H. G. Wells - The Time Machine (1895)

I read The Time Machine several years ago, so I don't remember it all that well, but what I do remember was that I wasn't completely enthralled by it. It was just alright. Interesting at parts, a little dull at others.

 



4. Diana Gabaldon - Outlander (2005)

How to describe Outlander? Gabaldon's book (the first installment of a 8-part series) is 60% romance, 37% historical fiction, 3% time travel. The time travel plays a large role in moving the plot forward, and I'm sure it'll play a much larger role in the subsequent novels, but the majority of chapters in Outlander capture the romance between the lead female character and her lover. (I was hoping for something more along the lines of Connie Willis' To Saying Nothing of the Dog.) It was entertaining for the most part, but I won't be coming back for the sequel any time soon. 



3. Audrey Niffenegger - The Time Traveler's Wife (2003)

The Time Traveler's Wife is the first time travel novel I can recall reading back in 2006/2007. Though I found it very entertaining at the time, the story quickly left me with no desire to reread it. It's an enjoyable read overall. I didn't care enough to watch the film, though I except I will someday out of boredom.

2. Cristin Terrill - All Our Yesterdays (2013)

I just did a Book Rave on this novel by Terrill (which you can find here), so it's fairly obvious that I really liked this novel. It combines time travel with YA fiction, and not too much romance- the perfect combination for someone like me. I would recommend this to those who enjoy post-apocalyptic/dystopian YA novels. 

1. Connie Willis - To Say Nothing of the Dog (1998)

Since I read this book back in January 2013, it has not only become one of my favorite time travel novels, but one of my favorite novels in general. It has humor, time travel, lovable characters, and a dash of romance that isn't too overpowering to the rest of the story. Time travel literature needs more books such as these.

And with the end of that list, comes the start of the next:


Here are the time travel books that I'm looking to read next (in the tentative order that I plan on reading them in):

1. Connie Willis - Doomsday (1992)

An obvious first choice considering my love for To Say Nothing of the Dog, Doomsday is actually the most popular book by Willis. I have high hopes.

 

2. Richard Matheson - Somewhere In Time (1975)

Somewhere In Time is another novel that blends time and romance. However, from what little I've read about it, it seems to be done so in a classic way. I'm greatly looking forward to reading this one.
 

3. Rysa Walker - Timebound (2012)

Walker's Timebound caught my attention when it became Amazon's Breakthrough Novel. It sounds like another new YA time travel novel, which is enough to intrigue me apparently.

 

 



4. Michael Crichton - Timeline (1999)

I have not read a single Michael Crichton novel. This one intrigues me because it sounds like a time travel novel in which the "science-y" aspect plays a larger role. Also, I enjoy reading new authors I've never read before. I expect this to be a fun start.
 

5. Stephen King - 11/22/63 (2011)

Like with Michael Crichton, I have also never read a single Stephen King novel. (Horror/mystery just isn't my cup of tea.) It just so happened that I overheard a coworker raving about this book the other day. She was utterly crazy about it. And although she raves about every King novel, when she said the words "time travel" I knew this would have to be the King novel to start with.

 

6. Everett Maroon - The Unintentional Time Traveler (2014)

I'm a little skeptical about this one. It's a brand spankin' new YA time travel novel about a guy who wakes up one day in a girl's body. Something like that. Meh. I love time travel. I love YA. New things are fun. I'll keep it in mind.



7. Bianca Turetsky - The Time-Traveling Fashionista (2011)

Okay. This one is just for kicks. I think it sounds pretty cheesy, but I keep seeing it on Goodreads, so I'll just put it here at the end of my list. Maybe it'll be a fun, quick summer read. I'm a risk-taker when it comes to books so I'll keep it in mind. And, if it turns out horribly, it'll be something fun to complain about.

And that ends my Book Lists post for today.
I'm only half a week in to this new routine, but I'm enjoying it so far.
I hope you are too. :)

See you back here in a couple days~