The Time Machine by H. G. Wells

The 1895 classic provides a short trip into the year 802,701, where the human race has apparently evolved into two very different creatures. Expecting to find great advancements, the time traveler spends eight days in this distant future where he is surprised to discover the severe degradation of humanity. The surface dwellers, Eloi, are small, friendly, child-like creatures who all look the same and live together in droves. They fear the nocturnal Morlocks: subterranean ape-like carnivores who surface at night to hunt for food. The time traveler, with his new Eloi friend by his side, has to face the Morlocks in their subterranean atmosphere in order to find his time machine, which they have hidden from him.

I listened to the audio version of this book, and I am not a huge fan of the narrator. A good or not-so-good narrator can make all the difference when listening, and it certainly comes down to personal preference. However, I think it's always a great idea to experience the classics. Though the language and writing styles have changed in the last century, Well's story still offers a relevant caution to the future of the human race.

The Square Root of Summer by Harriet Reuter Hapgood

A year ago Gottie was having sex with Jason, but it was a secret. A year ago her beloved grandfather was still alive and planning a big solstice celebration. But right now, time keeps slipping down a wormhole that spits Gottie out last summer, then rips her back to the present.

Gottie's a science and math genius, so the wormhole dilemma is a challenge she's attempting to rationalize. Is it possible? How? The part she's maybe overlooking is the Why? Additionally, her obsession with last summer means she's not really living her fullest life right now - there's a lot she's missing.

It's a story of shifting perspectives, with new information leaked out in drips and drabs. There's a delightful cast of characters in a loose, free-form hippy kind of household with minimal guidance and too many teenagers. I was captivated by the narrative - I couldn't decide if this was a story of magic realism, or science fiction, or some kind of psychological breakdown.

Every Anxious Wave by Mo Daviau

Karl's a nice enough guy, but maybe a little lonely. When he discovers a wormhole that allows him to drop into and out of the time continuum, he builds a side business transporting people to seminal rock concerts. See Hendrix at Monterey Pop! Watch the Ramones at CBGB!

When he bumbles a date and accidentally sends a friend to 980, Karl is forced to enlist the help of an astrophysicist to work the science end of getting him back. Lena's a socially awkward genius in punk goddess guise. Of course, there are sparks. Of course, there are complications.

It's a fun, light book full of 1990s music references and the kind of characters to whom you can relate. The time travel begins to make things a little sticky - not everybody is as diligent as Karl about not altering the past - but even at its twistiest the story never gets super sci-fi complicated.

I read it in a single sitting, and it was a welcome departure from more serious topics I'd been pondering. Plus, now I keep trying to decide what my ultimate concert experience would be ...

Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness

What happens when you throw a modern female historian into 16th century England - does she know as much as she thinks? Can she cope? That's just what happens in this installment of the search for the rare alchemical book Ashmole 782.

Second in the All Souls Trilogy that began with A Discovery of Witches, this novel continues both the love story and the epic quest of historian witch Diana Bishop and her scientist vampire Matthew Clairemont. And while I devoured the first book in practically a single sitting, this one I enjoyed in audiobook format, spread over 24 hours and several weeks in the car. (This audio version read by Jennifer Ikeda is outstanding.)

Diana and Matthew mission in the time travel is twofold: study up on Diana's previously untapped powers of witchcraft, and attempt to lay hands on the Ashmole manuscript before it's torn apart. They slip into Matthew's own actual past, which creates some new challenges - since he was at that time a sworn enemy of witches but suddenly not only consorts with one but marries her.

These arrangements allows Diana a unique peek into Matthew's past, as she gets to meet long-dead friends, enemies, and family, but she also gains a deeper understanding for a long-lifed vampire's very necessary half-truths, constant goodbyes, and ever-shifting personas.

This book's a bit of a whimsy - a historical story stuck in the middle of a contemporary series. And it's fun to read; the fish-out-of-water element of dealing with a patriarchal, monarchical society puts Diana on unsure footing from the start.

Landline by Rainbow Rowell

Is love enough, or does it take more to make a marriage work?

When a chance at her dream job interferes with Christmas, sitcom-writer Georgie's husband and kids go on to Omaha without her. That leaves her free to work - or does it mean that Neal just left her? Everybody's got their own theory.

Which all leaves Georgie a bit out-of-sorts. Neal's not answering his phone, her battery's gone kaput, and her Mom wants her to come over for a sympathy dinner. Georgie finally reaches Neal's mother's house in Omaha from her old bedroom at her mom's house, but something seems ... off.

This adult novel by YA wundkind Rowell is a fluffy bit of fiction with the kind of real-world, flawed and relatable characters she does so well. Georgie's certainly not perfect - but do you have to be perfect to deserve love?

Rainbow Rowell's books make me want to curl up in a quilted cloud and get lost, uninterrupted until I've turned the final page. 2013 was certainly the year her star exploded, but I think so far we've only seen the tip of her talent's enormous iceburg.

Man In the Empty Suit by Sean Ferrell

An unnamed time-travelling dystopian-future dude has to stop someone (himself?) from killing him a year from now at the birthday party he throws himself every year. But if he dies next year, why are there still older versions of himself at the party - shouldn't they never exist?

Sometimes I suspect I'm not smart enough for science fiction; I was continually confused and a little delirious about who, what and which version of the narrator was bending which paradox. The narrator's habit of giving differently aged versions of himself nicknames based on some notable characteristic or experience (The Drunk, Seventy, Screwdriver, and The Inventor) aid the unpuzzling - but also make it easy to forget it's all just future and past versions of the same guy.

The reason I persevered is the storyline that takes place from the party - about a woman he meets the night of the murder, then backtracks six months in time to attempt to steer her away from the party. That six-month story was way more interesting to me - and by the time we caught up to the party again, I simply had to finish to find out what happened.

This book was a tough row to hoe for me, but I suspect there are time-paradox fans who will find it much more though-provoking and engrossing than I.

Fortunately, The Milk by Neil Gaiman

Do you have one of those storytellers in your life who, when they begin a tale, you're never quite sure if it's truth or fabrication? I do, and this book reminds me of Pops. Neil Gaiman had one, too - the book is dedicated to his father "who would have told the tale with delight" and his son "who would never have believed a word of it." Sounds about right.

When Dad takes f-o-r-e-v-e-r on his run out to get milk for breakfast, he's got some explaining to do when he returns home to the kids. Luckily, there's a good reason it took so long: abduction by aliens, pirates, dinosaurs ... I won't spoil it for you. Let's just say it's a tall, tall tale. Fortunately, the milk stayed with him through it all.

(Perhaps I've just got Halloween on my mind, but it would be soooo fun to group-costume this story. I've got dibs on Queen of the Pirates, though.)

Return to Titanic series by Steve Brezenoff

Over the course of four books, a couple of young adventurers repeatedly time-travel to the Titanic (by illicitly touching artifacts in the back room of a museum where the boy's mom works). By the time the series is finished, readers know the whole story of the mighty Titanic's sinking from the perspective of those on the oceanliner.

Comparison to American Girl books seem suitable - both try to make history come alive for contemporary kids, and both use protagonists similar in age to prospective readers in order to place you in the character's shoes. Super short chapters and liberal pencil-sketch illustrations pitch the books even to reluctant readers. Unlike American Girl books, which have an unabashedly female audience, since the main characters here are a boy and girl (friends, not siblings) you may be able to entice boys to read the books.

I really liked the way they involved you emotionally in the historic drama; the reader and the main characters all have the luxury of historical perspective and understand the clock is ticking down until disaster. But I was annoyed by the every-other-page "will they escape" plot points - an extended effort to keep kids interested, but overly dramatic and tiresome.

Taft 2012 by Jason Heller

Given all that's going on in today's politics, this book is incredibly relevant: a subtle, truly funny political satire for people who wouldn't normally read anything in that genre.

Improbably, ex-president William Howard Taft has reappeared after a 99-year Rip VanWinkle-style hibernation. Lots about America has changed in the last hundred years - except the fact that we could still use an honest, ethical politician who speaks his mind and heart. Taft for President!?

Everything is Going to Be Great by Rachel Shukert

This memoir of Shukert's post-college European adventures is a comical alternative to the "Eat, Pray, Love" type of travel memoir. While Shukert "finds herself" just as Gilbert did, they go about the adventure in MUCH different ways.

Shukert's sharp wit is mainly directed at her own ineptitude. She travels to Vienna with a horrible touring play, then stays in Europe when it's over - travelling, drinking, and generally making bad decisions. In many ways she's a typically lost post-grad, attempting to navigate in the "real world" - albeit the real world of Amsterdam. Bad roommates, no money, temporary romance, and language barriers add up to a pretty entertaining look at one woman's painful transition to adulthood.

A Whole Nother Story by Dr. Cuthbert Soup

Spies, a family on the run, and extreme silliness abound in this story for the chapter-book set. The whole thing's kind of a set up: the author's pen name is ridiculous, and he sticks himself into the story as an all-seeing narrator of sorts. Characters have goofy, crazy names and even the dog's got problems.

The setup sounds more serious than it is: a pair of married, brilliant scientists create a time machine. Mom gets killed by agents trying to get the technology. Dad doesn't know the computer code she used to make it work, so he and the kids are on the run while they try to sort out the solution.

But it's a mostly light-hearted story, and even the suspenseful part at the end isn't too dark or scary. One kid's got a major thing about bubble gum. There's a sassy, squeaky sock puppet. And I definitely see a series in the making ...