100 books like Why Time Flies

By Alan Burdick,

Here are 100 books that Why Time Flies fans have personally recommended if you like Why Time Flies. Shepherd is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of The Island at the Center of the World: The Epic Story of Dutch Manhattan and the Forgotten Colony That Shaped America

Thijs ten Raa Author Of Microeconomics: Equilibrium and Efficiency

From my list on microeconomics on how markets are interconnected.

Why am I passionate about this?

Microeconomics is a turnoff to most readers. Not without reason. Many books in this field are dull rewrites of other books and opaque.  In particular, it is not clear how the behavior of individual consumers and producers adds to the performance—good or bad—of an economy. The books listed here helped me to sharpen my own mind and to make my writing lucid.

Thijs' book list on microeconomics on how markets are interconnected

Thijs ten Raa Why did Thijs love this book?

This fascinating and very detailed history of early Manhattan shows how the Dutch with their policy based on individual liberty and free trade impacted not only New York City but even the shaping of America. 

I sensed this when I was an inhabitant of New York, but now I understand why.

By Russell Shorto,

Why should I read it?

5 authors picked The Island at the Center of the World as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In a riveting, groundbreaking narrative, Russell Shorto tells the story of New Netherland, the Dutch colony which pre-dated the Pilgrims and established ideals of tolerance and individual rights that shaped American history. 

"Astonishing . . . A book that will permanently alter the way we regard our collective past." --The New York Times

When the British wrested New Amsterdam from the Dutch in 1664, the truth about its thriving, polyglot society began to disappear into myths about an island purchased for 24 dollars and a cartoonish peg-legged governor. But the story of the Dutch colony of New Netherland was merely…


Book cover of The Time Machine

Travis Stecher Author Of Dilation: A 10,000-Year Sci-Fi Epic

From my list on immersive stories centered around time travel.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m a writer and musician with a background in mathematics, which is what originally led to my intrigue in cosmology. For writing speculative fiction, I’ve dug into a range of topics from quantum mechanics to cognitive theory, but spacetime had the opposite causality: my interest later spawned my writing. When I first learned about special relativity, many aspects seemed counterintuitive but were mathematically sound, leading me to obsessively read books, watch videos, and perform hours of calculations to get a feel for it. And what draws my adoration most to the cosmos is the quality it shares with dinosaurs—the more I learn, the more majestic it becomes.

Travis' book list on immersive stories centered around time travel

Travis Stecher Why did Travis love this book?

I was repeatedly impressed by H.G. Wells’ book, constantly reminding myself that it was written in the 19th century before relativity and the concept of spacetime, even before the game Red Dead Redemption 2 took place.

Conceptually, I found the ideas remarkably ahead of their time and enjoyed seeing the different eras of sci-fi that would follow represented to varying degrees, especially the Golden Age and New Wave. I went through a period of going through all of the fundamental science fiction I’d never read, and this was by far the most meaningful.

I frequently drive between L.A. and the bay, and the time I listened to it on my way home was the fastest the trip ever felt.

By H.G. Wells,

Why should I read it?

16 authors picked The Time Machine as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 8, 9, and 10.

What is this book about?

A brilliant scientist constructs a machine, which, with the pull of a lever, propels him to the year AD 802,701.

Part of the Macmillan Collector's Library; a series of stunning, clothbound, pocket-sized classics with gold foiled edges and ribbon markers. These beautiful books make perfect gifts or a treat for any book lover. This edition of The Time Machine features an introduction by Dr Mark Bould.

The Time Traveller finds himself in a verdant, seemingly idyllic landscape where he is greeted by the diminutive Eloi people. The Eloi are beautiful but weak and indolent, and the explorer is perplexed by…


Book cover of The Pillars of the Earth

Jill Wallace Author Of War Serenade

From my list on impossible odds and satisfying endings.

Why am I passionate about this?

My ultimate read is when the action is fast, but the character's discovery of self is slow. Besides, being engrossed in the challenges of others makes my own pale by comparison. The author needs to get me to empathize with the characters - even if their struggles are nothing like my own - and once they’ve done that, I’ll be in for the long haul! Journeying through life’s mire and finding the rainbow with a character you believe - and believe in - makes for the ultimate in vicarious living. And ‘Heck, YES’ to a satisfying ending!

Jill's book list on impossible odds and satisfying endings

Jill Wallace Why did Jill love this book?

OMG. I have recommended this book to more people than any other. It’s truly a historical fiction masterpiece. I read slowly but my eyes flew over these titillating pages as if I was a famished glutton and had to devour them quickly lest they disappear. The intrigue! The avarice! The anarchy!

It is an ambitious literary project that splashes over the colorful canvas set in 12th-century England. If, like me, you love the complexities of the human condition, read this book and prepare for the rapture that is virtuoso storytelling.

By Ken Follett,

Why should I read it?

19 authors picked The Pillars of the Earth as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

#1 New York Times Bestseller

Oprah's Book Club Selection

The "extraordinary . . . monumental masterpiece" (Booklist) that changed the course of Ken Follett's already phenomenal career-and begins where its prequel, The Evening and the Morning, ended.

"Follett risks all and comes out a clear winner," extolled Publishers Weekly on the release of The Pillars of the Earth. A departure for the bestselling thriller writer, the historical epic stunned readers and critics alike with its ambitious scope and gripping humanity. Today, it stands as a testament to Follett's unassailable command of the written word and to his universal appeal.

The…


Book cover of The National Dream, The Last Spike

Craig Vann Author Of The Hawking Sequence

From my list on to contemplate for a time.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have been fascinated by the concept of time travel since I was a kid wishing to return to simpler times; the days before computers, huge metropolises, and before people protested everything. Some of these books achieve that, others do not claim to. I have no expertise in the science of time travel; no one does. While “time travel” is real (check out “time dilation”), to travel through time as writers like me profess is impossible. Or maybe it’s possible, given an opportune gravitational wave... Enjoy my recommended books! You’re in for a treat.

Craig's book list on to contemplate for a time

Craig Vann Why did Craig love this book?

I am an ex-railroader. During my university days, I worked as both a sectionman (repairing and maintaining a section of track) and a brakeman (riding “shotgun” and calling signals in the lead unit with the engineer). I also worked as a patrolman, operating a “speeder” in front of and behind a train. In front, I was looking for rocks and trees that might fall on the tracks. Following a train, my job was to put out any fires that may start as a result of sparks flying from heated brake pads. So, the classic story of the building of the trans-Canada railroad is appealing to me. The characters that were involved at the time Sir John A. McDonald, Louis Riel, William Van Horne, and Sir Sandford Fleming – were Alpha personalities that were usually on a collision course. A classic piece of Canadiana, enjoyable for anyone. They even made…

By Pierre Berton,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The National Dream, The Last Spike as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This is an abridged version of two books, The National Dream and The Last Spike. This version deals mainly with the main story of building the railroad across Canada. It was produced as a CBC multi-million dollar television production. Most of the photos in the book were taken from production Location. Book is about 5 1/4 by 8 1/4 inches and 1 1/8 inches thick. Has a few maps.


Book cover of Consumption Takes Time: Implications for Economic Theory

Monica L. Smith Author Of Cities: The First 6,000 Years

From my list on why humans have so much stuff.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m an archaeologist, which means that I’ve been lucky enough to travel to many places to dig and survey ancient remains. What I’ve realized in handling those dusty old objects is that all over the world, in both past and present, people are defined by their stuff: what they made, used, broke, and threw away. Most compelling are the things that people cherished despite being worn or flawed, just like we have objects in our house that are broken or old but that we keep anyway.

Monica's book list on why humans have so much stuff

Monica L. Smith Why did Monica love this book?

This looks like it’s the sternest and most boring book ever, but I love Steedman’s cool-and-collected ability to address the implications of the obvious: You can only do one thing at a time. You only have two hands. And when you’re with one set of belongings, you’re neglecting all the other stuff you own.

By Ian Steedman,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Consumption Takes Time as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Standard economic theory of consumer behaviour considers consumers' preferences, their incomes and commodity prices to be the determinants of consumption. However, consumption takes time and no consumer has more - or less - than 168 hours per week. This simple fact is almost invisible in standard theory, and takes the centre stage in this book.


Book cover of The World In A Second

Lauren Redniss Author Of Heatwave

From my list on children’s books raising engaged citizens.

Why am I passionate about this?

For many years, I’ve been creating visual nonfiction books for adults. These books are about climate change, indigenous sovereignty, and nuclear physics—not typical kids’ book fare. But because my books include artwork, everyone always asked me when I would write and illustrate a book for children. Once I had my own children, I was suddenly full of ideas. Children’s books are often underestimated. The best books of the genre are accessible enough to interest a young person, sophisticated enough to engage the adults reading them aloud, and multidimensional enough to reward countless re-readings. I believe books that meet this standard fit alongside civilization’s great works of literature.

Lauren's book list on children’s books raising engaged citizens

Lauren Redniss Why did Lauren love this book?

I never tire of reading this brilliant book to my son. His imagination (and mine) goes to new places with each rereading. Each spread relocates the reader to another corner of the world, where we glimpse a snapshot of action: someone honks their car horn in a traffic jam in Mexico City, a volcano erupts in Papua-New Guinea, a woman drops a mysterious envelope on the sidewalk in Budapest.

For my son and I, the book has been as interactive as any game, offering endless possibilities for discussion and debate. Because each spread is a single moment, we can dream up our own interpretation of what might have led to this scene and what will unfold afterward. It’s wonderful to see wildly varied landscapes as we travel the planet. 

By Isabel Minhos Martins, Bernardo Carvalho (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The World In A Second as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 4, 5, 6, and 7.

What is this book about?

Inspired by the question, "What are they doing right at this moment on the other side of the world?" this book focuses on natural and human events happening all over the world in the same second. Talking about the world and how it's so different in places but also so similar and shared, so incredible and surprising, the books takes us to New York, Chicago, Mexico, Portugal, Angola, Turkey, Greece, Italy, Hungry, Brazil, and South Africa, among others.

So, while you sit turning the pages of this book, things are happening everywhere. Somewhere, a wave is reaching the shore. Elsewhere,…


Book cover of Time Lived, Without Its Flow

Alan Martin Tansman Author Of Japanese Literature: A Very Short Introduction

From my list on moving, profound books about loss and resilience.

Why am I passionate about this?

Like many people, I have experienced my share of suffering. I have also spent a lifetime exploring the suffering of others through great works of literature and art. My attraction to Japanese literature–imbued with a Buddhist sensitivity to loss–reflects my taste for the melancholy beauty of works of art that transmute suffering into aesthetic form. The qualities I find in Japanese literature are in wonderfully long supply in writings from around the world. My list of favorite books is a small testament to that aesthetic work which has the potential to heal us.

Alan's book list on moving, profound books about loss and resilience

Alan Martin Tansman Why did Alan love this book?

For anyone who has been shattered by a terrible loss and could not imagine a road to recovery, this intimate, poetic, and philosophically astute exploration of bereavement, of the mental ravages brought on by the loss of a child, will be a bracing and transformative reading experience.

This short and brilliant book has forever changed how I understand what it means to grieve and to master one’s suffering—it makes you feel less alone.

By Denise Riley,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Time Lived, Without Its Flow as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

'One of the most eloquent thinkers about our life in language' The Sunday Times

Time Lived, Without Its Flow is a beautiful, unflinching essay on the nature of grief from critically acclaimed poet Denise Riley. From the horrific experience of maternal grief Riley wrote her celebrated collection Say Something Back, a modern classic of British poetry. This essay is a companion piece to that work, looking at the way time stops when we lose someone suddenly from our lives.

The first half is formed of diary-like entries written by Riley after the news of her son's death, the entries building…


Book cover of When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing

Anna Dearmon Kornick Author Of Time Management Essentials: The Tools You Need to Maximize Your Attention, Energy, and Productivity

From my list on how to live your best life.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m a time management coach, author, keynote speaker, host of the top 1% ranked time management podcast It’s About Time, and founder of the It’s About Time Academy (a community of people who want to make time for what matters most). I help busy professionals and business owners struggling with overwhelm manage their time with my signature HEART Method. I’ve been devouring time management books for over a decade now—so I hope you enjoy these time management reads as much as I did!

Anna's book list on how to live your best life

Anna Dearmon Kornick Why did Anna love this book?

This book changed the way I think about time. It helped me incorporate biological chronotypes into my time management methods. After reading it, I realized that when you go with your flow, you get so much more done.

I love that this book is a great mix of science, stats, and introspective questions. One of my favorite things included are the action items throughout, and the concept of a nappuccino!

By Daniel H. Pink,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked When as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Timing is everything. But we don't know much about timing itself. Timing, it's often assumed, is an art; in When, Pink shows that timing is in fact a science.

Drawing on a rich trove of research from psychology, biology and economics, Pink reveals how best to live, work and succeed. How can we use the hidden patterns of the day to build the ideal schedule? Why do certain breaks dramatically improve student test scores? How can we turn a stumbling beginning into a fresh start? When should you have your first coffee of the day? Why is singing in time…


Book cover of Deep Time Reckoning: How Future Thinking Can Help Earth Now

Richard Fisher Author Of The Long View: Why We Need to Transform How the World Sees Time

From my list on to take a longer view of time.

Why am I passionate about this?

Throughout my life, I have been fascinated by humanity’s place within deeper time. As a boy, I collected rocks and fossils, and at university studied geology. The long term has also been a theme running throughout my journalism career at New Scientist and the BBC, and it inspired my research during a recent fellowship at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the US. I believe we need to embrace a deeper view of time if we are to navigate through this century’s grand challenges – and if we can, there’s hope, agency, and possibility to be discovered along the way. 

Richard's book list on to take a longer view of time

Richard Fisher Why did Richard love this book?

Vincent is a social anthropologist who spent a number of years in Finland completing a truly fascinating piece of fieldwork: he studied the people involved in planning the spent nuclear waste depository at Onkala.

This is a huge undertaking and responsibility, requiring its architects to project their minds tens of thousands of years into the future. Through his fieldwork, Vincent drew out various broader lessons for how to think longer-term.

What’s striking about Onkala is that the people involved in the planning are simply normal Finnish people tasked with an extraordinary job. To me that shows that deep time can be accessible to everyone, and indeed this is a theme that Vincent explores himself: seeking out long-term time in everyday experience can be cathartic, he argues.

By Vincent Ialenti,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Deep Time Reckoning as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A guide to long-term thinking: how to envision the far future of Earth.

We live on a planet careening toward environmental collapse that will be largely brought about by our own actions. And yet we struggle to grasp the scale of the crisis, barely able to imagine the effects of climate change just ten years from now, let alone the multi-millennial timescales of Earth's past and future life span. In this book, Vincent Ialenti offers a guide for envisioning the planet's far future—to become, as he terms it, more skilled deep time reckoners. The challenge, he says, is to learn…


Book cover of Repetition and Philosophical Crumbs

Jasna Koteska Author Of Communist Intimacy

From my list on understanding trauma and how to heal it.

Why am I passionate about this?

I was 14 years old when my dad was imprisoned by the communist police of ex-Yugoslavia. My dad spent his childhood working as a shepherd in a small Macedonian village with 11 inhabitants. Later, he became a poet, and he belonged to the last group of political prisoners in the former Yugoslavia. When my dad was sent to prison, my family and I dealt with great trauma. 

Jasna's book list on understanding trauma and how to heal it

Jasna Koteska Why did Jasna love this book?

How do we master trauma? Some books say that I should repeat what I already did, and other books say that I should choose something new. But this small book explains that both decisions are bad.

This book has taught me that neither repetition nor choosing the new heals. I should choose the recollection over the repetition. I already have all the knowledge I need to overcome it, which is already within me.    

By Soren Kierkegaard, Edward F. Mooney, M.G. Piety (translator)

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Repetition and Philosophical Crumbs as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

'The love of repetition is in truth the only happy love'

So says Constantine Constantius on the first page of Kierkegaard's Repetition. Life itself, according to Kierkegaard's pseudonymous narrator, is a repetition, and in the course of this witty, playful work Constantius explores the nature of love and happiness, the passing of time and the importance of moving forward (and backward). The ironically entitled Philosophical Crumbs pursues the investigation of faith and love and their tense relationship with reason.

Written only a year apart, these two works complement each other and give the reader a unique insight into the breadth…


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