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Dual timelines are a format that allow for a book to incorporate details from two different timelines, whether that be years, months, days, or even hours apart. It may be a familiar format, especially with the onslaught of thrillers in recent years, but it still can make for a great read.

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Suggestions:
Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ: Popular Dual Timeline Books




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Optional questions:
- What are you reading for this category?
- What are the two timelines covered (i.e. years, hours, etc.)?

I've plumped for Kate Morton's The Clockmaker. One part is set in 1862; the other more than 100 years later. I nearly went with Barbara Kingsolver's Unsheltered. But I'm hoping I can find a good non-fiction book to pair with it and use it for one of the two connected books.

Serendipity wrote: "I've plumped for Kate Morton's The Clockmaker. One part is set in 1862; the other more than 100 years later. I nearly went with Barbara Kingsolver's Unsheltered. But I'm hoping I can find a good no..."

I have The Clockmaker's Daughter for this prompt as well! I got it from Book of the Month club last month, so I'm saving it to read in February.

My other options are Modern Lovers and One Day (both of which I own, but I'm not entirely sure they would work for this prompt).

I have a few ideas for this prompt that I got off various lists, but I actually am not certain they count - those lists can be misleading! Can anyone confirm whether The Fifth Season or Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Parts One and Two have dual timelines?

I have read Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Parts One and Two, and I would consider it as having a dual timeline.

So far, I have Next Year in Havana, Unsheltered and The Forgotten Room as choices but I also have The Clockmaker's daughter on my TBR so I'll add that on as well.

I would recommend pretty much anything by Susannah Kearsley, including her new one Bellewether which i really enjoyed and also The Great Believers.

Have any of you read Unsheltered? I haven't read anything by Kingsolver. This book was a Book of the Month club choice for November, and I didn't end up adding it because the reviews were so mixed on here. I do have The Poisonwood Bible on my 40 Before 40 list, so I will read her eventually, but I'm hoping I didn't make a mistake by skipping Unsheltered this month for (what's basically) free.

It seems Susanna Kearsley has many titles on this list.

I have loved everything I have ever read by Barbara Kingsolver (which may be only 2 books, so not as strong a recommendation as it sounds). I have Unsheltered waiting for me from the library.

I like Kingsolver a lot, and have read probably 5-6 of her books and loved several of them, but I find the reasoning of many of negative reviews of Unsheltered to be very believable. I do have it on hold at the libabry, but my excitement to read it has tapered off a lot.

Chrissy wrote: "I have a few ideas for this prompt that I got off various lists, but I actually am not certain they count - those lists can be misleading! Can anyone confirm whether [book:The Fifth Season|19161852..."

The Fifth Season has 3 timelines. The Cursed Child has time travel in it, so you could interpret it as multiple timelines.

This is probably a "bring it on" approach, but when I saw duel timelines, I thought parallel timelines, not time travel (I read a lot of time travel so that's almost too easy). In particular I'm thinking of 4 3 2 1, Dark Matter, and A Darker Shade of Magic.

I'm planning on the sequel, A Gathering of Shadows.

Lots of Willig and Kearsley and Williams books fit here (maybe ALL of their books?). I have The Ashford Affair by Lauren Willig pencilled in, but I may use something else since often I read a book not knowing it's dual timelines.

A few on my idea list that I'm not sure about - do these qualify? The Secret Place, Magpie Murders, Y is for Yesterday, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, To The Bright Edge of the World, Fourth of July Creek

Shelley wrote: "This is probably a "bring it on" approach, but when I saw duel timelines, I thought parallel timelines, not time travel (I read a lot of time travel so that's almost too easy). In particular I'm th..."

I would put ADSoM under the multiple perspectives prompt personally. I seem to remember the timeline is linear. Maybe this is why some people thought the two prompts were the same thing but I think a linear timeline told from different perspectives is not more than one timeline. It's like saying my boyfriend is in a different timeline right now because we're in different towns doing different things, but I can still talk to him.

I don't think this prompt requires time travel though. Lots of books have narratives separated by time in some way.

Nadine wrote: "Lots of Willig and Kearsley and Williams books fit here (maybe ALL of their books?). I have The Ashford Affair by Lauren Willig pencilled in, but I may use something ..."

Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo would work for this one. That's the only one on your list I've read!

I am not really a fan of the type of books that are kind of that "formulaic dual timeline" - Kate Morton, Susanna Kearsley, Kristin Hannah - so I wanted to find some other way to approach this challenge.

I am going to read My Real Children by Jo Walton, which is about a woman who remembers two different versions of her life and is not certain which one is real. I've meant to read something by Walton for quite awhile and this one looks very interesting!

dalex wrote: "I am not really a fan of the type of books that are kind of that "formulaic dual timeline" - Kate Morton, Susanna Kearsley, Kristin Hannah - so I wanted to find some other way to approach this chal..."

That looks really good, dalex. Another for the TBR. I read Among Others by Walton a few years ago and enjoyed her imagination.

Ellie wrote: "Shelley wrote: "This is probably a "bring it on" approach, but when I saw duel timelines, I thought parallel timelines, not time travel (I read a lot of time travel so that's almost too easy). In p..."

Looking into it, I suppose that duel timeline is specifically supposed to be two differing points in time. I much prefer my definition of the same point of time and place in two different universes so you end up having two parallel and complete timelines moving linearly together that a character moves between. I don't think I want to change it. We'll see.

I have the Clockmakers Daughter sitting on my shelves too. Another one to keep until the New Year.

Can it be more than dual timeline? I am considering The History of Bees, which has 3 timelines.

Like others, I might wind up using The Clockmaker's Daughter for this prompt because it was one of my Book of the Month picks and I'm pretty sure I won't get around to finishing it before the year ends. (My BOTM backlog is quite scary.)

Adding some suggestions I haven't seen listed yet, but think are definitely worth reading if you haven't yet:
- The Alice Network
- Nothing Left to Burn
- Girls Made of Snow and Glass
- The Broken Girls

Milena, I'd argue it can be more than a dual timeline. In order to have three timelines there most be two timeline. Therefore it is a dual timeline - just with extra. Consider it a Bring It On version! I'm also planning to read The History Of Bees. I've got it slotted in for the NYPL staff pick prompt.

I am going to be reading The Moon Sister by Lucinda Riley all the books in this serie has a dual timeline and are really good.

I think I'm gonna try The Clockmaker's Daughter for this one. I've heard great things about it and the plot seems so interesting. I'm probably gonna slot Outlander into a reject prompt too.

I want to finally ready 11/22/63 in 2019 so that's my first choice. A couple others I like: The Clockmaker's Daughter and The Address.

I am planning on reading Side Effects May Vary but i did notice the GR rating wasn't as high so not sure if I will love ti?? Going to give it a try but might be a DNF and i will have to pick another one we shall see!

Nadine wrote: "Lots of Willig and Kearsley and Williams books fit here (maybe ALL of their books?). I have The Ashford Affair by Lauren Willig pencilled in, but I may use something ..."

I'm also curious if anyone knows if counts as a dual timeline? It is tagged that way by one person and I do plan to read it soon-ish.

Would any of these count as dual timeline?

The Prince of Tides (I remember the movie had flashbacks, but don't know about the book.)
Middlesex
A Head Full of Ghosts

I've looked into them about as much as I can without spoiling myself as to plot details.

In The Prince of Tides the MC spends large portions of the book telling the stories of his childhood. So entire chapters are from that time.

Joanne wrote: "In The Prince of Tides the MC spends large portions of the book telling the stories of his childhood. So entire chapters are from that time."

Awesome, thanks!

Kelly wrote: "I am planning on reading Side Effects May Vary but i did notice the GR rating wasn't as high so not sure if I will love ti?? Going to give it a try but might be a DNF and i will hav..."

My book club read Side Effects May Vary years ago and I rated it 3 stars. I don't remember much about it... it was just ok for me.

Joanne wrote: "Nadine wrote: "Lots of Willig and Kearsley and Williams books fit here (maybe ALL of their books?). I have The Ashford Affair by Lauren Willig pencilled in, but I may..."

It looks like it would definitely count as multiple perspectives since the Wiki article says it alternates between the detective and student's point of view. There's a New York Times article that says this:

"Ms. French pulls off the interesting trick of keeping the detectives at St. Kilda’s for only one day, which she strings out through 450 pages. Their investigations scenes are punctuated by elaborate flashbacks explaining the network of friendships and rivalries among the school’s smart-mouthed (yet sometimes incredibly lamebrained) girls."

So judging by this, I'm thinking it would also count for dual timeline.

Thanks Laura!

Emily wrote: "Kelly wrote: "I am planning on reading Side Effects May Vary but i did notice the GR rating wasn't as high so not sure if I will love ti?? Going to give it a try but might be a DNF ..."

Thanks Emily... guess that happens in to all avid reads some AVERAGE books will fall! LOL And those are definitely ones that we can't remember. Hard for me to remember the fabulous books since I read (Audio) so many of them.

Mel wrote: "Like others, I might wind up using The Clockmaker's Daughter for this prompt because it was one of my Book of the Month picks and I'm pretty sure I won't get around to finishing it ..."

I really enjoyed The Broken Girls. I think I'm going to use The Clockmaker's Daughter for this one too.

I can't decide between The Chalk Man and The Broken Girls, so I'll either mood read, or read them both ( hah! as if....)

If anyone would like a YA recommendation, I just finished I'll Give You the Sun , which is both multiple perspectives and dual timelines. I used it to fill a difficult prompt from this year and ended up really enjoying it!

I'm probably going with . I really enjoy Simone St. James's WWI books and it will be interesting to see how she handles two different time periods.

Thanks Mel for the suggestion.

Angie wrote: "Would any of these count as dual timeline?

The Prince of Tides (I remember the movie had flashbacks, but don't know about the book.)
Middlesex
[book:A Head Full of Ghosts|..."

Middlesex definitely counts for me as the narrator tells the story of his family intertwined with his own present.

Desiree wrote: "If anyone would like a YA recommendation, I just finished I'll Give You the Sun , which is both multiple perspectives and dual timelines. I used it to fill a difficult prompt from t..."

One of my favorite YA books ever! I plan on rereading it next year... I try to reread a couple of my favorites every year.

This is such a hard one to plan for, since it's hard to know in advance if something will have a dual timeline...

That’s what recommendations are for 😜

My daughter and I will be reading:


The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

Angie wrote: "I have read Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Parts One and Two, and I would consider it as having a dual timeline."

That's good enough for me! IT's been on my TBR pile for ages, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, it will be.

The Time Traveler's Wife
Sarah's Key
The Shadow of the Wind
Outlander
The Japanese Lover
In the Midst of Winter

I am going to read The Cottingley Secret by Hazel Gaynor - duel time line 100 years apart. Has been on my radar for a while, and daughter recommended it, so now I have an excuse to read it :)

Krissy wrote: "My daughter and I will be reading:


The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield"

I read that this year and it was brilliant. One of my favourites not just this year, but ever. Enjoy!

I'm going to go for Before We Were Yours, as it seems to have a storyline set in 1939, and one set in the present day.

hm, it's difficult to figure out this one without knowing contents of the book and many of the book on lists in the original post are not of genres I like, so I tried to look at my wishlist more closely and The Engineer of Human Souls seems to be jumping back and forth chronologically according to reviews. I think I will go for it in Polish language version, since usually slavic languages translate better to other slavic languages.

I can't wait to try this author out. I heard amazing things. I own the book and also have the audio book. I'm reading Secret Keeper by Kate Morton