The 25 best books of the 1990s
The 25 highest-ranked books first published in the 1990s in our ranking of 2,816, scored on how much readers love them, their prize, best-list and bestseller record, and current buzz. We rank 273 books of the 1990s in all. How we rank
- 1
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone96.8Must-Read ScoreHarry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Harry Potter has spent ten years sleeping in the cupboard under the stairs of his cruel aunt and uncle's house when a letter arrives that changes everything: he's a wizard, and he has a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Why it made the listHugo Award winner (2001, for Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire)One of the best-selling books ever (about 120 million copies)#1 New York Times bestseller (2 weeks at #1)Hugo Award finalist (2000, for Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban) - 2
A Game of Thrones96.2Must-Read ScoreA Game of Thrones
Lord Eddard Stark rules the cold North and wants nothing to do with the royal court.
Why it made the list150 weeks on the New York Times bestseller lists since 2011Nebula Award finalist (1997)Hugo Award finalist (2012, for A Dance with Dragons)PBS Great American Read - 3
On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft87.2Must-Read ScoreOn Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
Stephen King's book about writing is two things at once.
Why it made the listTIME All-TIME 100 NonfictionGuardian 100 Best Books of the 21st Century - 4
The Eye of the World86.4Must-Read ScoreThe Eye of the World
On the night of a spring festival, monsters out of legend attack the quiet village of Emond's Field.
Why it made the list17 weeks on the New York Times bestseller lists since 2021Hugo Award finalist (2014, for the Wheel of Time series)PBS Great American Read - 5
Outlander85.9Must-Read ScoreOutlander
In 1945, Claire Randall, a former British army nurse, is on a second honeymoon in the Scottish Highlands when she touches an ancient standing stone and is thrown back two centuries, to 1743.
Why it made the list#1 New York Times bestseller (3 weeks at #1)34 weeks on the New York Times bestseller lists since 2009Goodreads Choice (historical fiction) finalist (2022, for Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone)PBS Great American Read - 6
Angela's Ashes85.7Must-Read ScoreAngela's Ashes
Frank McCourt was born in Brooklyn during the Depression, but his family moved back to Limerick, Ireland, where they lived in desperate poverty: a flooded slum, little food, children dying of illness, and a charming father who drank away every wage.
Why it made the listPulitzer Prize (Biography) winner (1997)#1 New York Times bestseller (22 weeks at #1) - 7
The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money, and Power85.2Must-Read ScoreThe Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money, and Power
Daniel Yergin's history of oil, from the first well in Pennsylvania in 1859 through John D.
Why it made the listPulitzer Prize (General Nonfiction) winner (1992)#1 New York Times bestseller (1 week at #1) - 8
Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster84.4Must-Read ScoreInto Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster
In May 1996, journalist Jon Krakauer joined a guided expedition to the summit of Mount Everest on assignment for Outside magazine.
Why it made the list#1 New York Times bestseller (4 weeks at #1)Pulitzer Prize (General Nonfiction) finalist (1998)NBCC Award (Nonfiction) finalist (1997) - 9
A Deepness in the Sky83.7Must-Read ScoreA Deepness in the Sky
After thousands of years of searching, humans are about to make first contact with an alien race on a planet whose strange star switches off for centuries at a time.
Why it made the listHugo Award winner (2000)Nebula Award finalist (1999) - 10
Tuesdays with Morrie83.6Must-Read ScoreTuesdays with Morrie
Sportswriter Mitch Albom hadn't spoken to his favorite college professor, Morrie Schwartz, in sixteen years when he saw him on television, dying of ALS.
Why it made the list#1 New York Times bestseller (55 weeks at #1) - 11
Barrayar82.9Must-Read ScoreBarrayar
Cordelia Naismith, a scientist and ship captain from a peaceful, progressive world, has married Aral Vorkosigan, a warrior from the militaristic planet Barrayar, and moved there.
Why it made the listHugo Award winner (1992)Nebula Award finalist (1991) - 12
Infinite Jest82.7Must-Read ScoreInfinite Jest
In a near-future North America, a film called "the Entertainment" is so pleasurable that anyone who watches it loses interest in everything else and dies.
Why it made the listTIME All-TIME 100 Novels - 13
Annals of the Former World82.5Must-Read ScoreAnnals of the Former World
For twenty years, John McPhee traveled across America along Interstate 80 with geologists, reading the story of the continent in the rocks of road cuts.
Why it made the listPulitzer Prize (General Nonfiction) winner (1999) - 14
Parable of the Sower82.5Must-Read ScoreParable of the Sower
In 2024 California has fallen apart: climate change, poverty and violence have turned cities into ruins, and families hide behind walls.
Why it made the listNebula Award winner (1999, for Parable of the Talents)Nebula Award finalist (1994) - 15
Voices From Chernobyl: The Oral History of a Nuclear Disaster81.8Must-Read ScoreVoices From Chernobyl: The Oral History of a Nuclear Disaster
On April 26, 1986, a reactor exploded at the Chernobyl nuclear plant in Soviet Ukraine.
Why it made the listNBCC Award (Nonfiction) winner (2005) - 16
Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II81.8Must-Read ScoreEmbracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II
When Japan surrendered in 1945, its cities were in ruins and its people starving.
Why it made the listPulitzer Prize (General Nonfiction) winner (2000)National Book Award (Nonfiction) winner (1999)NBCC Award (Nonfiction) finalist (1999) - 17
The Golden Compass81.7Must-Read ScoreThe Golden Compass
Lyra Belacqua, a wild, scheming girl raised among the scholars of an Oxford college in a world like ours but different, where every person has an animal companion called a daemon, sets off for the frozen North.
Why it made the listBooker Prize longlist (2001, for The Amber Spyglass)Guardian 100 Best Books of the 21st Century (for The Amber Spyglass)BBC's The Big Read (for the His Dark Materials series) - 18
Truman81.5Must-Read ScoreTruman
Harry Truman was a Missouri farm boy who served as an artillery captain in World War I, failed at running a men's clothing store, and rose through the Kansas City political machine to the Senate.
Why it made the listPulitzer Prize (Biography) winner (1993)National Book Award (Nonfiction) finalist (1992) - 19
Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly80.9Must-Read ScoreKitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly
Anthony Bourdain was the executive chef at Brasserie Les Halles in New York when he wrote this memoir about life in restaurant kitchens.
Why it made the list#1 New York Times bestseller (4 weeks at #1)19 weeks on the New York Times bestseller lists since 2011 - 20
The Coldest Winter Ever80.9Must-Read ScoreThe Coldest Winter Ever
Winter Santiaga is the spoiled, beautiful daughter of a Brooklyn drug kingpin, and at seventeen she has everything: money, clothes, a big house on Long Island.
Why it made the listPBS Great American Read - 21
Mirror Dance80.8Must-Read ScoreMirror Dance
Miles Vorkosigan, born with brittle bones and a body that never grew to full height, leads a double life as a mercenary admiral.
Why it made the listHugo Award winner (1995) - 22
Stalingrad80.6Must-Read ScoreStalingrad
In the summer of 1942, Hitler's Sixth Army drove deep into the Soviet Union toward the city of Stalingrad on the Volga.
Why it made the listBaillie Gifford Prize winner (1999) - 23
Interpreter of Maladies80.6Must-Read ScoreInterpreter of Maladies
Jhumpa Lahiri's first book is a collection of nine stories about Indians and Indian Americans.
Why it made the listPulitzer Prize for Fiction winner (2000) - 24
Good Omens80.6Must-Read ScoreGood Omens
According to the Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch, the only reliable guide to the future, the world will end next Saturday, just after tea.
Why it made the list18 weeks on the New York Times bestseller lists since 2018BBC's The Big Read - 25
The Vor Game80.2Must-Read ScoreThe Vor Game
Miles Vorkosigan graduates from the Barrayaran Imperial Military Academy and gets the assignment he dreads: weather officer at a frozen arctic base.
Why it made the listHugo Award winner (1991)
