Jurassic Park (Series) by Michael Crichton - 9/10

Dive into the suspense and adventure of a group of scientists and businessmen when they create a scientific marvel that gets drastically out of hand.

Since these books inspired a thriving movie franchise, I won't spend too much effort trying to introduce you to the basic plot - but Crichton's work is (perhaps unsurprisingly) qualitatively different than their Hollywood adaptations.

It's worth mentioning right off the bat that these books involve several characters being killed and eaten by dinosaurs, often in pretty graphic ways. If that's a deal-breaker for you, I understand - I normally avoid books like that too - but I am recommending these novels because they are hard science fiction. Some of the science is obviously unrealistic, but Crichton built a lot of scientific and philosophical exposition into these books in a way that is difficult to find in the genre (a lot of science fiction is closer to fantasy, which I also enjoy, but it doesn't excite my nerdy side quite as much) - they both cover ideas in the field of biology, but the first book also dives into chaos theory and the relationship between humans and nature, and the second book explores ecosystems and environmental biology.

*I am classifying this as a college-age book as a compromise between listing it as a high-school book or an adult book. The main characters are all adults, but the books are mainly intellectual (and dramatic) rather than relational, so I think that matters less. I read it as an extra-credit assignment for AP Biology - which is relevant because I think that academic context brings these books to life.