PEOPLE Picks the Best Books From the 1990s, IncludingJurassic ParkandHigh Fidelity

Mar. 15, 2025

Our favorite books of the 1990s.

No matter how old you are, we’ve all got those books that have made a lasting impression on us. Whether it’s the book your mom read to you at night when you were a kid, one a beloved English teacher introduced you to or one that opened your mind and heart at an important point, some books really stand the test of time.In celebration of 50 years of PEOPLE, we polled our staff about the books from decades past that made a difference in their lives or the culture at large. Here are our picks from the 1990s.

No matter how old you are, we’ve all got those books that have made a lasting impression on us. Whether it’s the book your mom read to you at night when you were a kid, one a beloved English teacher introduced you to or one that opened your mind and heart at an important point, some books really stand the test of time.

In celebration of 50 years of PEOPLE, we polled our staff about the books from decades past that made a difference in their lives or the culture at large. Here are our picks from the 1990s.

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‘The Secret History’.Alfred A Knopf

Alfred A Knopf

From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Goldfinch comes this chilling psychological thriller about a group of misfits at a New England college whose quest for a different, more enlightened way of thinking leads them down dangerous roads. It’ll get under your skin and stay there.

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‘Jurassic Park’.Ballantine Books

Ballantine Books

Before it became the blockbuster film series that keeps on giving, we first traveled to Jurassic Park in the pages of Crichton’s fast-paced, meticulously detailed book that started it all. Start here, then make your way through the rest of the late sci-fi master’s impressive catalog.

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‘The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles’.Vintage

Vintage

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‘The English Patient’.Vintage Books

Vintage Books

At the center of this gem of a book lies a horribly injured, nameless man known only as the titular English Patient, and the crux around which the rest of the characters revolve. There’s the obsessive, exhausted nurse Hana, the maimed thief Caravaggio, and the Indian bomb-seeker Kip, all picking up the pieces at the end of World War II. Fans of historical fiction: Don’t skip this one.

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‘Interpreter of Maladies’.Mariner

Mariner

This Pulitzer Prize-winning collection of short fiction introduces us to a young Indian American couple confessing damaging secrets, an Indian American girl who confronts her cultural identity during a Halloween party against the background of the Pakistani civil war, a latchkey kid who gets attached to a woman from Calcutta and an interpreter for an Indian American family who hears a staggering confession. It’s kaleidoscopic, deeply emotive and absolutely essential reading.

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‘The Golden Compass’.Laurel Leaf

Laurel Leaf

In a world where people have animal familiars and children are getting stolen, our protagonist’s uncle is trying to build a bridge to a parallel world as she tries to find her kidnapped friend. This is the first, game-changing entry into Pullman’s His Dark Material series and once you read it, your brain will never be the same.

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‘The Giver’.Clarion Books

Clarion Books

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‘High Fidelity’.Riverhead Books

Riverhead Books

Rob runs a struggling record store, and his girlfriend has left him for the guy upstairs. At first, he thinks it’s for the best. But after he tries dating the kind of girl he’s always wanted, he realizes maybe the grass isn’t always greener after all. If you like the John Cusak movie, you’ll love the book.

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‘Into the Wild’.Anchor Books

Anchor Books

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‘Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone’.Scholastic Inc.

Scholastic Inc.

We first met a young orphan named Harry in 1998, and his books became a phenomenon that sparked movies, merchandise, theme parks and an entire generation of kids waiting for mail-bearing owls on their 12th birthday. It’s undeniably one of the most impactful series of all time.

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‘Game of Thrones’.Bantam

Bantam

While Harry was changing the game for kids, George R. R. Martin brought adults into the fantasy realm too. The Starks of Winterfell and their many tragedies, triumphs, betrayals and conquests captured our imaginations on the page before thehit HBO seriesbrought them alive on the screen. It’s a perfect cool-weather read.

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‘Bridget Jones’s Diary’.Penguin Books

Penguin Books

Renee Zellweger brought Bridget to gut-busting life in the movie version, but if you haven’t read the even-more-hilarious book, it’s not to be missed. The book about the lovably blundering single lady who made all of us feel seen has even gotten an update for its 25th anniversary — just in time for the fourth movie — so there’s no better time to check it out.

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‘Angela’s Ashes’.Scribner

Scribner

This memoir ofauthor Frank McCourt’s devastatingly impoverished childhood in Ireland won the Pulitzer Prize for its luminous prose and stunning story. It’s a deeply inspiring tale of survival against the worst odds but grab a box of tissues first — it’s a tear-jerker.

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‘Blindness’.Mariner Books

Mariner Books

After an epidemic of “white blindness” hits the city, authorities confine the afflicted to an empty mental hospital, where criminals steal food and rape women. One eyewitness brings seven strangers through the harrowing city in a parable that feels even more apt in 2024 than it did upon its publication.

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‘Brokeback Mountain’.Scribner

The short story that became the movie of the same name wonThe New Yorkerthe National Magazine Award for Fiction and once you read it, you’ll understand why. Ranch hands Ennis del Mar and Jack Twist share a tent and hard labor like all cowboys do, but their fellowship evolves into something deeper. Even after they marry, have kids and make something of their lives, their relationship remains the most important one. If you liked theHeath LedgerandJake Gyllenhaalmovie, read the book too.

source: people.com