Friends of Montclair Library

In the movie “Groundhog Day,” Bill Murray’s character is stuck in a time loop, doomed to repeat the same day over and over until he becomes a better person.

In honor of Groundhog Day, we’ve pulled together 15 books that play with the “Groundhog Day” theme of repeating time. A lot of these books are rom coms or YA rom coms (who doesn’t wish for a do-over in love sometimes, especially teenage love?), but there are also mysteries, historical fiction and more where the protagonist is stuck reliving the same day (or decade, or lifetime) until they get things right.

(Book descriptions are from the library catalog unless otherwise noted.)

The Déjà Glitch by Holly James (rom com)
“When she literally crashes into Jack one Friday morning, Gemma gets a funny feeling of déjà vu until he tells her the unbelievable truth: they have lived this day over and over 147 times and to break the loop, she must fall in love with him within the next twenty-four hours.”

Midnight Strikes by Zeba Shahnaz (YA-Fantasy)
“At the stroke of midnight, an explosion rips through the palace, killing everyone in its path,” including Anaïs. When “she wakes up in her bedroom, hours before the ball, no one else remembers the deadly attack or believes her warnings of disaster. Not even when it happens again. And again. And again. If she’s going to escape this nightmarish time loop, Anaïs must take control of her own fate and stop the attack before it happens.”

Life After Life by Kate Atkinson (literary fiction)
“On a cold and snowy night in 1910, Ursula Todd is born to an English banker and his wife. She dies before she can draw her first breath. On that same cold and snowy night, Ursula Todd is born, lets out a lusty wail, and embarks upon a life that will be, to say the least, unusual. For as she grows, she also dies, repeatedly, in a variety of ways, while the young century marches on towards its second cataclysmic world war. Does Ursula’s apparently infinite number of lives give her the power to save the world from its inevitable destiny?”

The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton (mystery)
This stylishly crafted murder mystery is Clue and Agatha Christie meets Groundhog Day (with a dash of Downton Abbey), as our “hapless protagonist is doomed to relive the same day over and over unless he can solve a murder at a masquerade ball.” (Kirkus Reviews)

In a Holidaze by Christina Lauren (rom com)
“Love Actually” meets “Groundhog Day” in the quintessential holiday romance as Maelyn Jones wakes up from a car crash to find she’s back on a plane, beginning the holiday again. “With one hilarious disaster after another sending her back to the plane, Mae must figure out how to break free of the strange time loop—and finally get her true love under the mistletoe.” (Amazon) (See also The Christmas Wish by Lindsey Kelk)

The Opposite of Always by Justin A. Reynolds (YA)
“Here’s a second chance romance with a twist: Jack and Kate meet and fall fast at a party. Their romance is perfect…but then Kate dies in an accident, and this sends Jack straight back to the party where they first met. Being given a second chance at their love story and at saving Kate seems like a dream come true, but as Jack is about to find out, every action has a consequence, and they can be difficult to predict.” (Bookriot)

End of the World House by Adrienne Celt (dystopian fiction)
“The apocalypse is looming, but best friends Bertie and Kate are more concerned with a relocation for a new job pulling them apart. They take a trip to Paris to bond before the move, but when frightening world events overlap with a private night tour of the Louvre, they get stuck in a time loop and then separated from each other. Can they reunite in time to survive the end of the world?” (Bookriot)

Timequake by Kurt Vonnegut (science fiction – as much as any Vonnegut book ever fits into any one genre)
“After the universe decides to back up ten years and all humans must live through the 1990s again, author Kurt Vonnegut finds himself trying to write a book called Timequake, which he knows he will never finish since he already did not finish it.”

The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North (science fiction)
“Forced to relive his life over and over again, Harry August receives a message on his eleventh death bed from a little girl who tells him that the world is about to end, and it is up to him to stop it.”

See You Yesterday by Rachel Lynn Solomon (YA)
Barrett Bloom is stuck reliving her disastrous first day of college when she meets Miles and learns he’s been trapped for months, too. Working together to find a way out, “soon they’re exploring the mysterious underbelly of the university and going on wild, romantic adventures. As they start falling for each other, they face the universe’s biggest unanswered question yet: what happens to their relationship if they finally make it to tomorrow?”

The Do-Over by Lynn Painter (YA)
“After living through a dumpster fire of a Valentine’s Day, Emilie Hornby escapes to her grandmother’s house for some comfort and a consolation pint of Ben & Jerry’s. She passes out on the couch, but when she wakes up, she’s back home in her own bed—and it’s Valentine’s Day all over again.” (Goodreads)

Replay by Ken Grimwood (science fiction)
“Through a bizarre cycle of dying and coming back to life again and again, Jeff Winston receives six chances to change his life, correct previous mistakes, and find the happiness that has long eluded him.”

Wrong Place Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister (thriller)
Jen witnesses her 18-year-old son committing murder, then “falls asleep in despair. But when she wakes up…it is yesterday. The murder has not happened yet—and there may be a chance to stop it. Each morning, when Jen wakes, she is further back in the past, first weeks, then years, before the murder. And Jen realizes that somewhere in the past lies the trigger for Todd’s terrible crime…and it is her mission to find it, and prevent it from taking place.”

The Rehearsals by Annette Christie (rom com)
“After a disastrous rehearsal dinner Megan and Tom vow to call the whole thing off—only to wake up the next morning stuck together in a time loop. Are they really destined to relive the worst day of their lives, over and over? And what happens if their wedding day does arrive?”

If I See You Again Tomorrow by Robbie Couch (YA)
“Clark has lived the same Monday 309 times. But everything changes on his 310th Monday, when a boy he’s never seem before shows up in his math class. Soon, Clark and Beau set out on an adventure across the Windy City, and Clark is falling for the new boy. He’s just not sure he’ll see Beau in the morning…” (BookBub)