This column, featuring Omaha Public Library's featured time-travel reading for Groundhog Day, appeared in the Feb. 2, 2025, edition of the Omaha World-Herald (NE). It is also available at Omaha.com (opens in a new tab).
Omaha Public Library wants to help readers find new books — or at least books new to them. Our employees recommend reading based on different writing genres, themes or styles. This edition, staff are leaning into time traveling and have suggested their favorite books for Groundhog Day. Find these books and more at your local branch or omahalibrary.org.
Omaha Public Library embraces time-travel reading for Groundhog Day
Omaha Public Library wants to help readers find new books — or at least books new to them. Our employees recommend reading based on different writing genres, themes or styles. This edition, in honor of Groundhog Day (and the movie of the same name, opens a new window), staff members suggest their favorite books featuring time loops and other temporal anomalies. Find these books and more at your local branch or omahalibrary.org, opens a new window.
"11/22/63" by Stephen King. What would the world be like if JFK hadn’t been assassinated? Stephen King explores this idea in this trippy, time travel novel. It will have you on the edge of your seat the entire time. It’s huge but I read it really fast because I couldn’t put it down … and I thought about it long after I was finished. — Ashlee Coffey, library specialist at the Saddlebrook Branch
The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle
"The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle" by Stuart Turton. It’s a murder mystery where the main character replays the same day, but in a different houseguest’s body each time. It mixes the vibes of the game Clue with “Groundhog Day” and is a great debut novel, which also fits one of the 2025 Reading Challenge prompts! — Cierra Jackman, library specialist at the Benson Branch
"All Our Yesterdays" by Cristin Terrill. In a not-so-distant future, the U.S. government has figured out how to weaponize time travel. As war rages, a young girl, Em, travels back in time to stop the man who started it all. All the while, Marina battles to prevent the murder of the boy she loves. — Sam Ernst, library specialist at the Millard Branch
"The End of Days" by Jenny Erpenbeck. This book is a look back at the 20th century with five alternate versions of one woman’s life, each iteration ending in a different death at progressively later historical moments. Its literary strength lies in its particularity, with a sharp eye for rituals of mourning and the history of concrete objects. — Colby Jenkins, senior clerk at the Downtown Branch
The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August
"The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August" by Claire North. This creative, non-linear novel explores time and looping experiences in a unique way. Harry August continually is born, lives a life, dies and is reborn. Each rebirth is under the same circumstances as previous lives, but what comes next in his timeline is not fixed. August remembers the details of each previous life, earning him membership to an exclusive community of others with the same ability. He stumbles into a mission to solve a compelling mystery … and maybe stop the end of the world at the same time. — Courtni Kopietz, marketing manager
"Kindred" by Octavia Butler. In this novel, Dana, a young Black professional, is celebrating her birthday when she begins to feel ill. She is suddenly transported back to the antebellum South to save a young child. Just as suddenly, she is thrown back into her modern life. She continues to have these experiences, which become longer and more harrowing as she must save an ancestor to preserve her own life. This story was intense, horrifying and eye-opening. As we see Dana struggle with the differences between her modern life and the life of the plantation, I felt like I was there and experiencing the horrors with her. Butler’s writing is that good. This is a story about slavery and race, power and, also, love. — Beth Dankert Babb, borrower services specialist
"Life After Life" by Kate Atkinson. One of my favorite books, by a favorite author. Interesting characters and entertaining dialog — and the intriguing concept and setting kept me thinking long after I finished the book. What if you could live your life again, but making different choices? The novel shows many different outcomes to a single life, all set in the same family, and largely in the context of World War II. I loved it even more after rereading it. — Martha Grenzeback, genealogy librarian at the Genealogy and Local History Room
"The Magic of Lemon Drop Pie" by Rachel Linden. Through the use of magical realism, Lolly Blanchard is given a chance to briefly experience three different versions of her life. The underlying theme is that every choice has both gains and losses. Linden’s feel-good ending is perfect for a gray winter day. — Theresa Jehlik, strategy and business intelligence manager
"Re:ZERO" by Tappei Nagatsuki, with art by Shinichirou Otsuka. I wholeheartedly recommend this title to any and all manga lovers (or the YAFICTION copy for those who prefer more reading over art) because it’s an absolutely beautiful work following the story of a guy named Subaru who gets transported to another world, but — unlike most isekai stories — is both weak and in danger constantly. He has a gift that allows him to technically not die, but that only brings him back to a certain point in time, and all of that trauma stays with him, making for a good psychological twist! — Robbie Lizdas, collection processing aide
"Slaughterhouse-five" by Kurt Vonnegut. This sci-fi classic uses a protagonist unstuck in time to examine the disconnected feeling trauma from a war can give someone. Vonnegut uses his dark sense of humor to explore this heavy topic (after all, you can’t spell “Slaughterhouse-Five” without “laughter”) that brings a humane warmth to the novel. The disjointed nature of the narrative helps the reader understand how alienated Billy Pilgrim feels from the people around him. — David Dick, library specialist at the Benson Branch
"This Time Tomorrow" by Emma Straub. If you woke up tomorrow as your 16-year-old self, but with the knowledge you have gained through adult experience, what would you do differently? Who would you make more time for? Would you make different choices or relive the same experiences that made you who you are today? Straub explores these thought-provoking questions through the compelling story of Alice, a 40-year-old woman who suddenly finds herself back in high school with a chance to change the choices that shaped her adult life. — Sarah Lewald, assistant branch manager at the W. Clarke Swanson Branch
"The Time Traveler's Handbook" by James Wylie, Johnny Acton and David Goldblatt. This guidebook for the intrepid traveler takes you back in space and time to witness 18 historical events ranging from emptying chests of tea in Boston Harbor to revolutionary women marching on Versailles Palace near Paris to VE Day in London. Written in an old-fashioned, very detailed travel guide manner, the reader is given a good idea of what awaits them at the actual event. This cleverly written book has period illustrations, maps and many stylistic touches. — Jehlik
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