Reading Recs

In this 1980s sci-fi classic, small-town California teen Marty McFly is thrown back into the '50s when an experiment by his eccentric scientist friend Doc Brown goes awry. He must then figure out how to make his way back... to the future! This movie is full of action, comedy and truly stands the test of time. – Mary Robbins, Kent Library

Homegoing chronicles the lives and descendants of two sisters, one married to an English slave trader and one sold into slavery on a Mississippi plantation. The novel follows their familial lines through eight generations as each subsequent generation struggles with what it means to be "free." – Misty McCormick Chisum, English

A murder mystery taking place in two different time periods, A murder from fifty years ago is investigated and impacts current day. Early, and one of the best, novels featuring Inspector Banks. – Barbara Glackin, Kent Library

In a future where time is money and the wealthy can live forever, Will Salas is a poor man who rarely has more than a day's worth of life on his time clock. When he saves Henry Hamilton from time thieves, Will receives the gift of a century. However, such a large transaction attracts the attention of the authorities, and when Will is falsely accused of murder, he must go on the run, taking the daughter of an incredibly wealthy man with him. – Mandy Blaney, Facilities Management

Dana finds herself repeatedly sucked into the past to save Rufus when he is in danger. Not ideal, yet it gets worse: Dana is a black woman, and Rufus is the son of a plantation and slave owner in the antebellum South. But according to family lore he's also her ancestor, and if she doesn't save him she might never be born. She could also die trapped in the past. – Carl Hess, Kent Library

WWII nurse, Claire Randall, walks through a mystical standing stone and finds herself transported from 1940s Scotland to 1740s Scotland. Follow along on Claire's unexpected adventure navigating the ins and outs of Eighteenth Century life, and love, in Britain. – Kelly Murray, Kent Library

The Passengers is a thrilling novel about 8 people trapped in self-driving cars that are destined to crash all into each other unless the public chooses one person to save, and who to kill first. This novel is fantastically written and pulls you into the world that Marrs created to feel all the emotions of not only the 8 passengers, but of those watching the situation unfold. – Rach Teasdale, Kent Library

Beautifully written, Cohen analyzes of the way political processes and bureaucratic procedures requiring "time" transact rights in a democratic government. As Cohen explains, "Within the domain of the political, time is required for almost any exercise of liberty that people seek to protect... Time is therefore inextricable from the realization of any vision of political justice." While her analysis is groundbreaking in the study of what political scientists refer to as "political time", Cohen has managed to produce a well argued, beautifully written text that is a joy to read. After spending time perusing her ideas, readers will come away with new perspectives concerning how and why durational time matters in the history of our political institutions and democracy, while also learning about the intricate interplay of cultural and politics in American political development. – Laura Hatcher, Political Science, Philosophy, and Religion

"The novel follows two modern-day academics as they research the paper trail around the previously unknown love life between famous fictional poets Randolph Henry Ash and Christabel LaMotte. Possession is set both in the present day and the Victorian era, contrasting the two time periods, as well as echoing similarities and satirising modern academia and mating rituals." (Wikipedia) In my own words, the book was gripping and very accessible! What a feat of writing, I thought upon completion! – John Baken, Kent Library

Red Shift is set simultaneously in Roman Britain, the era of the English Civil War (1640s) and England in the 1970s. It tells of three couples in the same place but at different times whose experiences fuse closer and closer together until they merge completely. The theme of the primacy of place and the meaninglessness of linear time is something Garner has continued to probe in more recent works such as Thursbitch and Boneland. Red Shift is his first exploration of the concept. One of Britain's most highly-regarded living novelists, Garner writes with extraordinary power and pithiness. Once read, never forgotten. – Paul Thompson, Music

Berman goes into the origins and effects of the Cartesian approach to understanding life and thought in the world's search for meanings, and how the commonplace "cogito ergo sum" may be, in a dialectic movement, changing into a more comprehensive, inclusive, creative, natural, and less linear/mechanic sort of "sentire/cogito ergo sum". – José Miño Lara, Academic Advising

Time travel through The Sense of an Ending while the main character of the book performs an analysis of his life. As time passes, you are given the opportunity to look back on your decisions and memories of the past, but now they may seem different than before. Not everything you see now will remain seen in that lens forever; in fact, it may pose a completely different feeling years from now. You will soon find out that you are responsible for your actions and learn that things you did in the past will impact that rest of your life. As time progresses allow the story of Tony Webster's life unfold unfold in front of his eyes as he makes sense of where he is presently. – Bryce Peacock, Class of '23

Billy Pilgrim is "unstuck in time" in this classic satire. – Eric Sentell, English

One of Faulkner's best novels, the story jumps around in time often, reflecting the mental states and thought processes of its multiple narrators, including three brothers fixated on their sister. Faulkner's novel experiments with how time is represented and is a challenging but rewarding book to read. – Chris Rieger, Center for Faulkner Studies

This National Book Award winning novel presents a fresh perspective on the passage of time over three different months of June, several years apart, yet within a single decade. Glass’s novel details the lives of two generations of the fascinating McLeod family and explores themes such as familial love, obligation, and loyalty. The arrangement of the novel spanning three separate months of June is a unique way to explore the different facets and perceptions of one fictional family. – Stephanie Hayes, Kent Library

Meg Murry, Charles Wallace Murry, and Calvin O'Keefe travel through time and space to find Meg and Charle's father who has been missing for a year. It all started on a stormy night when their eccentric neighbor, Mrs. Whatsit, visited. Mrs. Whatsit talks about tesseract, the scientific concept Mr. Murry was working on before disappearing. A tesseract is a fifth dimension that creates a wrinkle and allows for travel through time and space. The three children along with Mrs. Whatsit, who is really a centaur, travel through the universe to find Mr. Murry but almost loose Charles. Charles is saved when Meg discovers the power of love over conformity and the status quo to save her brother. Winner of the Newbery Medal, the Sequoyah Book Award, the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award, and runner-up for the Hans Christian Andersen Award. – Stephanie Hallam, Kent Library