100 books like One Day

I had to include this book because this is the book that opened up the whole world of time travel for me.

I read it as a young teenager and have loved everything about the concept of time travel ever since. I think the reason is that there is this implied desire to fix the mistakes of our past or something, and that whole idea bubbles under the surface of Wells’ classic.

Of course on the other side of that coin is that I would later come to learn that Wells was an atheist, and so that brings up the whole question of whether time travel is a human attempt to play God, and whether time travel is only possible in a universe where there is no God. 

‘The evening is the best part of the day.’ This is the ultimate realisation of Mr. Stevens, the narrator of Kazuo Ishiguro’s most famous novel. It is a delightful first-person narrative, during which Stevens, an ageing butler, looks back on his life of service while embarking on a drive through the West Country.

Ultimately, it is a love story, the most moving of love stories, the unrequited love story. It is also an atmospheric portrait of a bygone age, of a life in service before the war, in the dying moments of the aristocracy’s country estate era.

I loved the fact that we, the readers, are addressed directly as if we are sitting beside Stevens in his vintage Ford as he motors around the country.

This is an excellent book about relationships and attachment theory, which describes our attachment styles in relationships. I loved reading this book because it taught me about my own attachment style and how I am in relationships.

This is a must-read for anyone who wants to learn about themselves in relationships. I enjoyed the concepts in the book and how relatable it was. I recommend this to every human being who would like a relationship. It is a great way to learn about yourself.

When I was a child, I was captivated by this 1958 English novel. It’s every bit as good forty years later. 

Tom, a bored boy spending the summer with his aunt and uncle, finds a rambling Victorian garden in the backyard of the house… but the garden is only there at night, gone during the day.

It’s a gripping time-travel story, one that celebrates the garden as a place where a child can stretch both limbs and mind. And through Tom’s friendship with a Victorian girl named Hatty, the novel touches beautifully upon the ache that comes from seeing your friends grow up before you do. 

The novel’s fantastical elements are handled (and, ultimately, explained) in a totally satisfying way. It’s an enchanting read.

A modern classic, this beautifully crafted fusion of romance and speculative fiction has endured as my top pick among time travel novels. The story follows Henry DeTamble, who involuntarily travels through time, and Clare, his wife, who must cope with Henry's unpredictable absences and reappearances.

I adored this book for so many reasons, but it was its moving portrayal of Henry and Clare's resilience in the face of uncontrollable circumstances that captured my heart so completely.

Furthermore, I appreciated the author's nuanced treatment of the time travel component, foregoing complex scientific explanations to maintain the story's focus on the fundamental human conditions of love, commitment, and hope.

I received my first copy of this iconic book, a Bodley Head hardcover edition for my eighteenth birthday from a girl who worked in libraries and knew I liked books. I found the novel tough going initially, having been enraptured earlier by Joyce’s short stories Dubliners which were far more straightforward and accessible. But I went back to Ulysses at different stages in my life, reading different editions, determined to finish the book which I did three times and was glad I did as I learned more about the workings of this novel, loosely based on Homer’s epic, the more often I entered between its covers. In Ulysses, James Joyce paved a new way of looking at the world as it experimented with different modes of narrative, non-linear and without being enslaved to plot, and through his ‘epiphanies’ he saw and showed us the extraordinary in the ordinary things of… show more.

Penetrating? Secret Society? Pick Up Artists? Okay you’re going to have to trust me, that despite its nebulous reputation Strauss’ voyage into the underworld of the “pua” community has some merits. Firstly, it’s a fantastically funny, twisted story. Secondly, whilst every “technique” the book advocates to hone your seduction skills is squarely on the side of skeezy, just the idea that you can learn skills for dating is cool. It gripped me 15 years ago, and started me on my quest in the dating industry. 

I have to admit it: I’m pretty sure I bought this book in my early twenties with less-than-pure intentions. It didn’t end up doing much for my romantic life, but it changed the way I think forever after.

In writing about how to get attractive people to fall into your arms (and into your bed), Robert Greene makes no distinction between seducing an individual and seducing an audience of millions. It’s one of those books that makes you feel like you want to take a shower. Then again, most of my favorite books make me feel that way.

I’ve written horror all my career: seven novels, 100 short stories, and two feature films (based on my books). This book by Carolyn Kepnes made me want to switch genres.

I loved reading from the perspective of the antihero, being in his thoughts, and understanding why he was making such rash moves. 

I bought this book when I was looking for something else: its title hit me between the eyes. The word “bittersweet” encapsulates everything I often feel; I was nodding along in self-recognition.

If I’m honest, I’ve probably internalised a certain amount of shame around my strong emotions. Definitely, I’ve longed to feel less viscerally about the highs and lows of life. Or, at least, to feel them sequentially – instead of jumbled together: wonderful things tinged with the sadness of impermanence; hard things somehow glowing around the edges with the feeling of being really alive.

What to do with all the emotions? That’s been my recurring question. This book answers – gently, but insistently – make art.