I collected several lists of best books of the 1990s from various sources and compiled them into a single meta-list. Here are all the books on 2 or more of the lists, arranged by rank (that is, with the books on the most lists at the top). These are not my personal opinions and I have not read all these books. If I have read the book, I’ve included my 1-5 rating.
On 6 lists
ALL THE PRETTY HORSES (1992, US). By Cormac McCarthy (fiction: novel) (4)
INFINITE JEST (1996, US). By David Foster Wallace (fiction: novel) (5)
On 5 lists
THE THINGS THEY CARRIED (1990, US). By Tim O’Brien (fiction: stories) (5)
THE ENGLISH PATIENT (1992, Canada). By Michael Ondaatje (fiction: novel)
On 4 lists
POSSESSION (1990, UK). By A. S. Byatt (fiction: novel) (4)
THE JOURNALIST AND THE MURDERER (1990, US). By Janet Malcolm (nonfiction)
THE SHIPPING NEWS (1993, US). By E. Annie Proulx (fiction: novel) (4)
BLINDNESS (1995, Portugal). By José Saramago. Translated by Giovanni Pontiero (fiction: novel) (4)
THE GOLDEN COMPASS (Northern Lights) (1995, UK). By Philip Pullman (fiction: fantasy novel)
DREAMS FROM MY FATHER (1995, US). By Barack Obama (nonfiction: memoir)
A GAME OF THRONES (1996, US). By George R. R. Martin (fiction: fantasy novel)
HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER’S STONE (1997, UK). By J. K. Rowling (fiction: fantasy novel)
AMERICAN PASTORAL (1997, US). By Philip Roth (fiction: novel) (4)
GUNS, GERMS, AND STEEL: The Fates of Human Societies (1997, US). By Jared Diamond (nonfiction) (4)
INTERPRETER OF MALADIES (1999, US). By Jhumpa Lahiri (fiction: stories)
On 3 lists
THE HOUSE OF MORGAN (1990, US). By Ron Chernow (nonfiction)
GENERATION X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture (1991, US). By Douglas Coupland (fiction: novel)
AMERICAN PSYCHO (1991, US). By Bret Easton Ellis (fiction: novel)
JAZZ (1992, US). By Toni Morrison (fiction: novel)
THE SECRET HISTORY (1992, US). By Donna Tartt (fiction: novel)
THE END OF HISTORY AND THE LAST MAN (1992, US). By Francis Fukuyama (nonfiction)
TRAINSPOTTING (1993, UK). By Irvine Welsh (fiction: novel)
THE VIRGIN SUICIDES (1993, US). By Jeffrey Eugenides (fiction: novel)
THE GIVER (1993, US). By Lois Lowry (fiction: novel)
OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS: A Journal of My Son’s First Year (1993, US). By Anne Lamont (nonfiction: memoir)
MIDNIGHT IN THE GARDEN OF GOOD AND EVIL (1994, US). By John Berendt (nonfiction)
A FINE BALANCE (1995, Canada). By Rohinton Mistry (fiction: novel)
HIGH FIDELITY (1995, UK). By Nick Hornby (fiction: novel)
THE WIND-UP BIRD CHRONICLE (1995, Japan). By Haruki Murakami. Translated by Jay Rubin (fiction: novel)
THE GOD OF SMALL THINGS (1996, India). By Arundhati Roy (fiction: novel) (5)
BRIDGET JONES’S DIARY (1996, UK). By Helen Fielding (fiction: novel)
FIGHT CLUB (1996, US). By Chuck Palahniuk (fiction: novel)
A SUPPOSEDLY FUN THING I’LL NEVER DO AGAIN (1997, US). By David Foster Wallace (nonfiction: essays)
THE POISONWOOD BIBLE (1998, US). By Barbara Kingsolver (fiction: novel)
DISGRACE (1999, South Africa). By J. M. Coetzee (fiction: novel)
On 2 lists
RABBIT AT REST (1990, US). By John Updike (fiction: novel) (4)
THE BEAUTY MYTH: How Images of Beauty Are Used Against Women (1990, Canada). By Naomi Wolf (nonfiction)
THE TAMING OF CHANCE (1990, Canada). By Ian Hacking (nonfiction)
THE ANTS (1990, US). By Bert Hölldobler and Edward O. Wilson (nonfiction: science)
OMEROS (1990, St. Lucia). By Derek Walcott (poetry)
A THOUSAND ACRES (1991, US). By Jane Smiley (fiction: novel)
SHE’S COME UNDONE (1992, US). By Wally Lamb (fiction: novel)
BASTARD OUT OF CAROLINA (1992, US). By Dorothy Alison (fiction: novel)
SNOW CRASH (1992, US). By Neal Stephenson (fiction: science fiction novel)
MAUS II: A Survivor’s Tale: And Here My Troubles Began (1992, US). By Art Spiegelman (fiction/nonfiction: graphic memoir)
ANGELS IN AMERICA: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes (1993, US). By Tony Kushner (play)
THE LONE RANGER AND TONTO FISTFIGHT IN HEAVEN (1993, US). By Sherman Alexie (fiction: stories)
CAPTAIN CORELLI’S MANDOLIN (1994, UK). By Louis de-Bernières (fiction: novel)
SNOW FALLING ON CEDARS (1994, US). By David Guterson (fiction: novel) (3)
LONG WALK TO FREEDOM (1994, South Africa). By Nelson Mandela (nonfiction: autobiography)
PROZAC NATION (1994, US). By Elizabeth Wurtzel (nonfiction: memoir)
THE HAUNTED LAND: Facing Europe’s Ghosts After Communism (1995, US). By Tina Rosenberg (nonfiction)
DROWN (1996, US). By Junot Díaz (fiction: stories)
INTO THE WILD (1996, US). By Jon Krakauer (nonfiction)
THE CLASH OF CIVILIZATIONS AND THE REMAKING OF WORLD ORDER (1996, US). By Samuel P. Huntington (nonfiction)
COLD MOUNTAIN (1997, US). By Charles Frazier (fiction: novel)
UNDERWORLD (1997, US). By Don DeLillo (fiction: novel)
GHOST WORLD (1997, US). By Daniel Clowes (fiction: graphic novel)
NAKED (1997, US). By David Sedaris (nonfiction: essays)
INTO THIN AIR: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster (1997, US). By Jon Krakauer (nonfiction) (4)
SEX AND THE CITY (1997, US). By Candace Bushnell (nonfiction: essays)
THE RUN OF HIS LIFE: The People v. O. J. Simpson (1997, US). By Jeffrey Toobin (nonfiction)
MY NAME IS RED (1998, Turkey). By Orhan Pamuk. Translated by Erdağ Göknar (fiction: novel)
THE NO. 1 LADIES’ DETECTIVE AGENCY (1998, UK). By Alexander McCall Smith (fiction: novel)
THE HOURS (1998, US). By Michael Cunningham (fiction: novel) (3)
HOLES (1998, US). By Louis Sachar (fiction: novel)
A WALK IN THE WOODS: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail (1998, US). By Bill Bryson (nonfiction)
CRYPTONOMICON (1999, US). By Neal Stephenson (fiction: novel)
THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER (1999, US). By Stephen Chbosky (fiction: novel)
WHITE OLEANDER (1999, US). By Janet Fitch (fiction: novel)
WAITING (1999, US). By Ha Jin (fiction: novel) (4)
NO LOGO: Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies (1999, Canada). By Naomi Klein (nonfiction)