Replay

By Ken Grimwood,

Book cover of Replay

Book description

At forty-three Jeff Winston is tired of his low-paid, unrewarding job, tired of the long silences at the breakfast table with his wife, saddened by the thought of no children to comfort his old age. But he hopes for better things, for happiness, maybe tomorrow ...

But a sudden, fatal…

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Why read it?

4 authors picked Replay as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

If you could go back and change something about your life, would you?

The hero of this story inadvertently finds himself returning to his past time and again, each instance trying to follow a different path to success or happiness. But just as he finds what he thought he wanted, the cycle begins again. 

In Replaya 43-year-old average Joe sustains a fatal heart attack and awakens in his college dorm as his 18-year-old self. Replay doesn’t have the same immediacy and gripping nature as typical time loop tropes since readers follow the protagonist through decades of his life rather than a single week or day, but I will forever be indebted to Ken Grimwood for introducing me to the concept of a dwindling time loop. Also, the book sparked deep feelings of wonder in me, making me contemplate my own life decisions, highlights, regrets, wasted time, and opportunities…and compelling me to hug…

From Jodi's list on where time is out to get you.

Replay is one of my all-time favourite books. It’s probably the book I’ve reread the most. I expect I’ll read it again one day. And the weird thing is every time I’ve read it, it’s been a slightly different book. Of course, it’s no doubt me that’s changed, not the book. Or… is it? Anyway, what if you could live your life over again? And again, and again? What would you do differently? Such an intriguing question is one of the many charms of this terrific book. Utterly gripping from start to finish, I may not wait, and go read…

This book isn’t just my favorite time travel novel — it might be my favorite novel, period. Jeff Winston, in his forties and trapped in a miserable marriage, dies of a massive heart attack on page one. But don’t worry! By page four, Jeff has opened his eyes again, only to discover that he is in his own nineteen-year-old body, decades in the past, with the full memory of everything that will transpire in the interim. You think you know where this is headed, but you don’t — Grimwood’s tour de force contains a terrific twist on time travel that…

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