Books Like The Midnight Library

by Josie Silver

After Lydia's fiance, Freddy, dies in a car crash on the way to her 28th birthday dinner, she wants nothing more than to be alone with her grief. But soon, she discovers that she's not alone after all - in fact, she wakes up in bed next to Freddy alive and well. But then she wakes up again, and he's gone. In this alternate reality, her life with Freddy continues toward their impending wedding.

As Lydia leads these two parallel lives, a new relationship causes her to question where she really belongs. Weaving together grief, humor, and heart, this book will give you all the feels.

by Cynthia Swanson

By day, Kitty is a single woman who owns a bookstore in Denver with her best friend, Frieda. In 1962, it was unconventional for a woman of her age to be an unmarried business owner, but she enjoyed having complete control over her day-to-day life without a husband to answer to. Although, there was a man in her life once that she might have considered marrying - a doctor named Kevin.

But at night, Kitty leads an alternate life in her dreams. In this dream reality, Kitty goes by Katharyn, and the year is 1963. She’s married to the love of her life, a man named Lars. Together they live in an elegant Denver home and have triplets.

This life is everything that she once thought she wanted, and at first, Kitty enjoys her nightly visits to this alternate reality. But soon, Kitty begins to find Katharyn’s life irresistible. As the lines between her real life and her dream life begin to blur, she wonders if she can choose the life she wants - and if so, at what cost?

by Taylor Jenkins Reid

One decision can change everything - even though we rarely realize it in the moment. After a decade of moving from city to city for meaningless jobs, 29-year-old Hannah has moved to her hometown of LA and is staying with her best friend, Gabby. One night the two go to a bar where Hannah bumps into her high school boyfriend, Ethan. When Gabby asks Hannah if she’s ready to head home, Ethan offers to give her a ride if she wants to stay and visit with him a bit longer. What will happen if she leaves with Gabby? And what will happen if she stays with Ethan?

In concurrent storylines told in alternating chapters, 29-year-old Hannah lives out two very different versions of her future based on this one decision. As these two different realities play out, this story raises questions about fate, true love, and the concept of soul mates.

The Book Girls Say… This book is perfect for fans of the 1998 romantic drama movie, Sliding Doors.

by Julie Cohen

This story begins on the day our main character is born in 1978. In one version of reality, Louis David Alder is born male. In an alternate reality, Louise Dawn Alder is born female. In both versions of the story, Louis and Louise grow up in the same Maine town, with the same parents, and even the same friends. Both have the same dream to become a writer. 

This book allows us to look at one life in two different ways. From childhood through adulthood, we see the ways in which Louis and Louise’s lives are the same and the ways in which they are treated differently because of gender. 

On the night of their high school graduation, Louis and Louise each experience a life-changing event that will cause them to leave their hometown until they are eventually called back many years later.

The Book Girls Say… This book is written from three points of view. There are some chapters narrated by Louis, some by Louise, and others that are from the POV of “Lou” which tells of things that affect both of them. Some reviewers say that this book can be a bit confusing until you wrap your head around the idea that although many of the same things happen to both Louis and Louise, other things only happen in one reality or the other.

by Tom Ellen

This book poses a question very similar to that asked in The Midnight Library - if you could turn back the clock, would you choose a different life?

Ben loves the month of December, but this year everything feels different. His marriage to Daphne has become very strained. They bicker and snip at each other constantly, making it hard for him to feel the usual magic of the season. When he gets a call from his old friend Alice, his mind starts racing with questions. He’s always thought of Alice as the one that got away - but now he wonders how things might have been different if he’d ended up with her.

After purchasing a watch on Christmas Eve, Ben wakes up the next morning to discover that it’s December 5th - but he’s back in his college dorm room in 2005. This was the very day that, fifteen years earlier, he first kissed Daphne. But what if he’d kissed Alice instead? Now he’ll have the chance to make that decision all over again. What if he chooses differently this time?

The Book Girls Say… Set during the holiday season, this book is like The Midnight Library meets A Christmas Carol. It’s not really a Christmas book, but instead, it’s a story of self-discovery. Like Scrooge, Ben gets to revisit and relive certain pivotal moments in his past, but this time, he can see the events from a different perspective. Reviewers warn that Ben is not always a likeable/sympathetic character, so skip this one if that’s a deal breaker for you.

by Jodi Picoult

When a flight attendant tells passengers to prepare for a crash landing, Dawn braces herself. When the thoughts passing through her mind are of a man she met 15 years before and not her husband, she’s shocked and confused. After she survives, the vision before the crash remains. She had a good life in Boston with her husband and daughter, so why did she think of Wyatt at the end?

When the survivors are given transportation anywhere they want to go after the crash, Dawn has a decision. Should she return to Boston or visit Wyatt in Egypt at the archaeological site she left behind years before? From here, her two potential futures make up the story alongside her long-buried secrets and doubts.

The Book Girls Say…Fair warning, this is one of Jodi Picoult’s lower-rated books, averaging 3.66 out of 5 on Goodreads. Some readers felt like too much was squeezed into the book, and that the focus on Egypology was too intense. However, other readers appreciated how much the storyline makes you think. Skip it if you want a lighter read, but if you are interested in Egyptian history, you’re likely to love it.

by Holly Miller

The same night Lucy quits her thankless job, she encounters two men who could be a part of very different futures. She meets Caleb, a local photographer, and runs into Max, who was once the love of her life. Men aside, she must decide if she should pursue her dreams of being a writer or head to London to revive her career.

The book is written in concurrent stay versus go storylines, with the "Stay" chapters showing what happens if Lucy stays home to pursue writing and a relationship with Caleb. In the "Go" chapters, you'll see what happens if Lucy heads to London to be a part of her friend's house-share and work for a prestigious company. In London, she can also ask Max what really happened ten years ago.

by Catriona Silvey

After a chance encounter while they are both in Cologne, Thora and Santi feel instantly connected. They are kindred spirits, but their new relationship lasts only days before a tragic accident. However, they are destined to meet again, and again, and again.

Throughout numerous lives, they meet at different ages and have various relationships - becoming friends, colleagues, lovers, and enemies. But when they start remembering small glimpses of their pasts, they must discover the truth of their mysterious attachment to each other.

by Laura Barnett

While The Midnight Library looks at the different lives Nora could have led if she’d made different decisions along the way, this book takes that concept one step further by examining the possibilities of an entire series of decisions.

It all beings with two people who met on a street in Cambridge in 1958. They felt an immediate connection, but what happened next? Did they kiss or go their separate ways? If they kissed, did they get married soon after or break up weeks later? Did they get caught up in the monotony of daily life together, or did they only find their way back to each other after years apart?

This book shows us three different versions of this couple throughout the decades - from the fifties, sixties, and seventies, all the way to 2014.

The Book Girls Say… This book is rated a bit lower than we usually look for when researching our book lists, in part because some found it too confusing to follow all three storylines through the alternating chapters. Others, however, loved the three different versions of this love story and praise the mystery element that is woven throughout.

by Taylor Jenkins Reid

In this story of love and loss, Emma married her high school sweetheart, Jesse. The two are building a life of adventure together on the west coast, far from the expectations of their families back east. But on their first wedding anniversary, Jesse’s helicopter crashes over the Pacific Ocean and he is assumed dead.

Just like that, the book closes on the fairy tale life that Emma thought would be her happily ever after. She moves back home to Massachusettes to rebuild her life. Years later, now in her thirties, Emma finally found love again after reuniting with an old friend, Sam. But when Jesse is found alive after more than four years, Emma will be forced to choose between her husband and her fiance.

The Book Girls Say... While One True Loves doesn’t include an element of magical realism like most of the other books on this list, Emma, like Nora in The Midnight Library, has now seen two different versions of her life and must choose which one she wants for her future.

by Lori Nelson Spielman

Brett seems to have it all - a good job, a spacious loft, and a handsome boyfriend. Her life checks all the boxes of where she thinks she’s supposed to be at thirty-four years old. But according to who?

When her mom passes away, Brett is surprised to learn that her inheritance comes with one major stipulation. She must first complete the list of life goals that she penned at the young age of fourteen. She can’t understand what her mom was thinking. Her teenage goals certainly don’t line up with her adult ambitions, and some of them seem downright impossible.

How can she have a relationship with her father, who passed away seven years ago? And how can she become an awesome teacher when she picked a completely different career path?

She reluctantly sets out on the journey her mother has laid before her, and along the way, she’ll discover that sometimes the best things come from unexpected places, and it’s never too late to reinvent your life!

by Cecelia Ahern

Lucy is very busy - busy despising her job, busy skipping out on her friends, and busy avoiding her family. That doesn’t leave a lot of time to enjoy her life. And her life has taken notice.

When she gets home one day, she finds a gold envelope waiting for her, and inside is an invitation to meet with Life. Her life. She’s been ignoring it, and it wants to talk face to face.

From the moment Lucy meets the man who introduces himself as her life, he’s ready to get to the bottom of her stories, her questionable choices, and her stubborn half-truths. Lucy may have given up on her life, but it hasn’t given up on her. She will have to learn to tell the truth about what really matters to her.

The Book Girls Say… This book is described as heartwarming and hilarious! As you can probably guess from the synopsis, Lucy is not always likable and some readers find her frustrating throughout portions of the book. Much like her Life. If you prefer to read likable characters, this book might not be the one for you.

by Annie Lyons

Eudora has lived a long, full life, but at the age of 85 she’s decided that she’s done with it all. She’s already witnessed the indignities and suffering of old age, and she wants the end - her end - to be on her own terms. She’s placed a call to a clinic in Switzerland to set her plan into motion. But then she meets 10-year-old Rose.

Rose is rainbows and sparkles and cheer. And as much as Eudora just wants to be left alone, she can’t help but be drawn into her young neighbor’s world of adventure. Along with her affable and recently widowed neighbor Stanley, they join Rose for afternoon teas, shopping sprees, trips to the beach, and birthday celebrations. As they all await the arrival of Rose’s new baby sister, Eudora reflects back on her own childhood and the devastating impacts of WWII on her family, along with the choices she made along the way.

Like Nora in The Midnight Library, Eudora was ready to end her life. But as this unlikely trio grows closer, the joy that her new friends bring forces Eudora to reconsider her entire life and whether she’s really ready to say goodbye.

by Christina Lauren

Mae has spent every Christmas since her birth at the same snowy Utah cabin. Knowing it's the last year they'll spend at the cabin, feeling trapped in a job she hates, and having just made a big mistake in the romance department leaves her feeling totally hopeless.

When her Christmas wish is for clarity on what will make her truly happy, she sets herself into a groundhog day experience of re-living the same day until she can get it right and connect with her true love. But don't worry, the repetition doesn't go overboard. Soon, the story will continue moving forward, and you'll find yourself very invested in Mae's romantic fate.

The Book Girls Say… In a Holidaze is one of our favorite holiday reads! For another Christmas book with Groundhog Day themes, try the Christmas Wish by Lindsey Kelk.

by Gillian McAllister

In this thriller, Jen is waiting for her 17-year-old son to come home one night in late October. Through the window, she witnesses the unthinkable. Her son kills a man right there in the street outside their home and is taken into custody.

She goes to sleep that night, wishing it was all just a bad dream. When she wakes up the next morning, she realizes it is now yesterday. Then, the next day she wakes up the day before yesterday.

Day after day, she wakes up another day earlier and has another opportunity to stop the murder, if only she can figure out what caused her son to commit the crime in the first place.

by Rachel Lynn Solomon

Barrett is thrilled to leave high school behind and start her college career, but on the first day, everything goes wrong. A know-it-all named Miles in her physics class embarrasses her, she botches the interview to join the college paper, and she even accidentally starts a fire at a frat house. After all that, she returns to her room to find the door locked and is forced to crash on a sofa in the common room.

However, when she wakes up, she’s back in her bed, and it seems to be the first day of classes all over again. When she gets to Physics 101 and has a confrontation with Miles again, she discovers that he has been trapped in the first-day-of-class cycle for months. Eventually, she gives in to the realization that they need to work together to get out of their time loop. Along the way, they have big, romantic adventures. But what will happen to their relationship if they finally get unstuck?

by Stuart Turton

In this book, you’ll step into the life of Aiden Bishop and his stay at the Blackheath Manor, where one of the guests has been murdered.

Each morning, he wakes up starting the day over like Groundhog Day as he tries to identify the killer of Evelyn Hardcastle so he can stop the murder. However, he's not himself each morning. Instead, he wakes up in the body of a different Blackheath Manor guest and uses their experiences and interactions to solve the mystery.

by Lynn Painter

Emilie has a TERRIBLE Valentine’s Day. It’s so bad that she escapes to her grandmother’s for some comfort and ice cream therapy. Emilie crashes on the couch, only to wake up back home in her home bed. She’s not thrilled to discover that it’s Valentine’s Day morning all over again.

She’s stuck in a time loop, waking up to see her boyfriend cheating on her day after day. And why does she keep running into Nick in unfortunate ways? How many days will she have to endure re-living her life going up in flames?

by Lauren Oliver

In this YA novel described as Groundhog’s Day meets Mean Girls, Samantha is the most popular girl in her high school. For her, “Cupid Day” should be a fun time full of Valentines and roses. Instead, she dies in a terrible accident that evening.

But then she wakes up the next morning and relives the same day again. And then again. Eventually, she lives this day seven times while realizing that even small daily choices create massive overall changes to the lives of others.

The Book Girls Say… The main character is a stereotypical mean girl and unsympathetic character, so avoid this one if you prefer relatable characters.

by Sarah Echavarre

Chloe’s career success has required personal sacrifice, including missing time with her family. She’s finally ready to change. Chloe books a trip home, but sadly her mom passes away just hours before her plane lands. Chloe is full of regret and grief about missing precious time with her mother.

But then, inexplicably, days before the funeral, Chloe finds her mom alive and well. She’s been transported back in time three months to March, and no one around her understands her confusion. But she’s determined to do everything differently in this second chance.

This book is included with Kindle Unlimited as of 1/24/23.

by Steven King

This book is NOT what you'd expect from Stephen King. Instead of horror, you'll find a suspenseful historical fiction crossed with science fiction (and even a twist of romance) that addresses the most compelling aspect of time travel - how actions taken in the past affect the same future you started in.

English teacher Jake Epping is recruited by his friend Al, the owner of the local diner, to help with the most unlikely of requests. Al discovered a portal in the diner's storeroom that transports him back in time to the era of Ike and Elvis, and he becomes obsessed with the idea of using to the portal to go back in time and stop the assassination of John F. Kennedy. But when he realizes he won't be able to complete the mission himself, he enlists Jake for the job.

Before Jake tackles the challenge of stopping the Kennedy assassination, he first hopes to change the course of history for Harry, one of his adult students whose father murdered his mother and siblings back in 1958.

The Book Girls Say… Throughout the first 250 pages of the book, Jake returns to September 9, 1958, again and again after realizing that his actions in the past while trying to help Harry have actually made things worse. At one point, Jake laments the fact that "We never know which lives we influence, or when, or why.”

While this book is more of sci-fi time travel novel compared to the other books on this list, the time looping aspect for the first ⅓ of the book shows Jake getting chance after chance to learn from his mistakes and correct his effects. It is only after this that the novel begins to move forward from 1958 to 1963 as Jake formulates a plan to try to stop the Kennedy assassination.

This book is a giant at more than 800 pages, but we promise you'll thank us for this recommendation. The audiobook is fantastic, and it makes a great summer road trip listen!

by Margarita Montimor

The night before Oona’s 19th birthday, on New Year’s Eve 1982, she’s struggling with a big decision. Should she go all-in on her commitment to her band and boyfriend, or follow through with a long-time plan to study economics in London with her best friend?

Before she can go down either path, she wakes up on New Year’s Day in 2014. So, instead of being 19, she’s suddenly 51. She continues to live her life out of order, traveling backward or forward each New Year, but never knowing what age she’ll be when she wakes up.

The Book Girls Say… We both really enjoyed this book and highly recommend it in audiobook form. While Nora in The Midnight Library sees different versions of her life, Oona jumps from year to year within one version of her life. Nonetheless, these two stories have a lot in common because each time Oona wakes to a new period of her life, she sees the impacts of earlier decisions that she hasn’t yet made.

by Rebecca Serle

In this emotional rollercoaster, Dannie Kohan is a rising Manhattan attorney who just nailed an important job interview and then got engaged. She’s had one heck of a great day and goes to bed confident that she’s on track to achieve her five-year plan.

When she wakes up, she finds herself in a different apartment, with a different ring on her finger and next to a different man. It’s still December 15th - but it’s now 2025, five years later. One intense and shocking hour later, Dannie wakes up again back in 2020.

Was it all a very realistic dream? She decides it must have been and tries to forget all about it. But the memory is suddenly brought back to the surface when, four and a half years later, Dannie meets the man from her dream.

by Nikki Erlick

If you could find out exactly how many years you have left to live, would you want to know?

On the same day, all around the world, every person over the age of 22 receives an identical box. Inside each box is a string. At first, no one knows what the strings mean, but it soon becomes apparent that a long string means long life, and a short string foretells a life cut short.

As society responds to the revelation of the boxes, each person must make a choice - do you want to know how long you will live? If so, what will you do with that knowledge? And what if your choice is different from those you care about most?

These are the dilemmas facing the eight protagonists in The Measure, whose fates become interwoven as their individual stories unfold.

The Book Girls Say… This book is different from the others on this list because there are no alternate realities or time loops. Nonetheless, The Measure gave us major Midnight Library vibes. The strings allow each character the possibility of glimpsing into the future to know how many years they have left to live, although they don’t know how that time will play out. And in turn, the ability to quantify their remaining days or years dramatically impacts the decisions they make in the present.

by Liane Moriarty

Alice Love is 29, madly in love with her husband, and pregnant with her first child. At least, that's the last thing she remembers. When Alice comes to after a fall at the gym and is whisked off to the hospital, she discovers that it's actually 2008, not 1998. She is 39 with 3 kids, and she's getting divorced.

As she tries to reconstruct what she's forgotten about the past decade, she also hopes to reconstruct the life she remembers. Ultimately she'll have to decide whether she wants really wants her old life back.

The Book Girls Say... This book provides an intimate look at life in your 30s from the perspective of a woman who has forgotten hers. If you woke up with no memories of the past 10 years, what would surprise you? How have your relationships changed? Would you have any regrets? Like Liane Moriarty's other books, this one will have you laughing, but it will also really make you think.

by Emma Straub

On the morning of Alice’s 40th birthday, she wakes up in 1996, the year she turned 16. Having her adolescent body and seeing her high school crush are both surprising, but being reunited with her 40-something father is the biggest shock. He’s so charming and healthy, unlike his ailing 64-year-old body she’s used to.

With 24 years of extra life experience in her brain, Alice has a brand new perspective on events from the past. Her life at 40 isn’t bad. She likes her job, apartment, romantic status, and long-time best friend. So, should she try to change anything while she’s in the past?

The Book Girls Say… If you enjoy a nostalgic trip back to the 90s, you might also enjoy a series of books by Kristy McManus titled 1996, 1997, 1998, and 1999. In the first book, Australian food blogger Anna Matthews takes a vitamin supplement that transports her back in time to her 16-year-old body, but just for twelve hours at a time. After getting over the initial shock, she takes advantage of the opportunity to learn more about her husband, who has always been unwilling to talk about his past.

by Rebecca Serle

Carol and Katy have been planning a mother-daughter trip to Positano, the magical Italian seaside town where Carol spent a summer long ago. But when Carol dies before the trip, Katy is faced with embarking on the adventure alone.

As soon as 30-year-old Katy steps foot on the Amalfi Coast, she can feel her mother's spirit. She's taking in the beautiful views and delicious food when her mother appears - but not the mother she just lost. Instead, she meets a healthy, tanned, 30-year-old version of her mother. For One Italian Summer, Katy gets to know Carol, not as her mom, but as the younger woman her mother used to be. Through her encounters with the 30-year-old version of her mom, Katy is inspired to reconsider her own life choices.

The Book Girls Say... As we both read One Italian Summer, our rating of the book bounced around quite a bit, but by the end, we both gave it 4 stars and were very glad we finished it. The main character wasn't always our favorite, but we loved her mother. We also loved the detailed descriptions of the Positano and the Amalfi Coast.

by Rainbow Rowell

While Georgie knows that she and her husband Neal deeply love each other, their marriage has been in trouble for many years as they don’t always like each other anymore. The family is heading to Omaha for Christmas, but once again, Georgie’s work intervenes in their life. She needs to stay in LA for the holidays and knows Neal will be upset, but she doesn’t expect him to take the girls on the trip without her.

Georgie is devastated that she may have ruined her marriage for good and is even more upset when she can’t get ahold of Neal. When cell phones won’t work, she tries the old landline at her mom’s house. When she’s finally able to reach Neal, it’s not exactly the 2013 Neal that left. It’s the 1998 version of Neal. Speaking to the past helps Georgie rethink the choices that got them to where they are today.

The Book Girls Say… Melissa rated this one three stars compared to the 4s and 5s we expect from our recommendations. However, Landline was a 2014 Goodreads Choice winner, and it fits the concept of peeking back into history and reconsidering your choices perfectly, so we thought we’d include it for your consideration.