From yesterday’s USA Today, the most memorable books of the past 25 years:
25 Books that leave a legacy
Books tell a story — about our reading preferences, certainly, but also about what’s happening in our world. USA TODAY’s book editors and critics chose 25 titles that made an impact on readers and the publishing industry over the past quarter-century.
We might have included Chris Van Allsburg’s Polar Express to the list.
| 1 | Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone | By J.K. Rowling (1998) |
| 2 | The Deep End of the Ocean | By Jacquelyn Mitchard (1996) |
| 3 | The Da Vinci Code | By Dan Brown (2003) |
| 4 | The 911 Commission Report | By the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks (2004) |
| 5 | Chicken Soup for the Soul | By Mark Victor Hansen and Jack Canfield (1993) |
| 6 | Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus | By John Gray (1992) |
| 7 | Dr. Atkins’ New Diet Revolution | By Robert C. Atkins (1992) |
| 8 | And the Band Played On | By Randy Shilts (1987) |
| 9 | Beloved | By Toni Morrison (1987) |
| 10 | The Greatest Generation | By Tom Brokaw (1998) |
| 11 | Bridget Jones’s Diary | By Helen Fielding (1998) |
| 12 | Left Behind | By Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins (1995) |
| 13 | The Purpose Driven Life | By Rick Warren (2003) |
| 14 | Fast Food Nation | By Eric Schlosser (2001) |
| 15 | The Satanic Verses | By Salman Rushdie (1989) |
| 16 | The Closing of the American Mind | By Allan Bloom (1987) |
| 17 | The Bonfire of the Vanities | By Tom Wolfe (1987) |
| 18 | The Joy Luck Club | By Amy Tan (1989) |
| 19 | What To Expect When You’re Expecting | By Heidi Murkoff, Arlene Eisenberg and Sandee Hathaway (1984) |
| 20 | A Brief History of Time | By Stephen Hawking (1988) |
| 21 | Iacocca | By Lee Iacocca (1984) |
| 22 | Waiting to Exhale | By Terry McMillan (1992) |
| 23 | Cold Mountain | By Charles Frazier (1997) |
| 24 | Backlash | By Susan Faludi (1991) |
| 25 | Final Exit | By Derek Humphry (1991) |