Depending on who you ask, the World Wide Web as we know it turned 25 this year—at least, that is how long it has been publicly available. Speaking as a current 27-year old, it’s hard for me to remember a pre-Internet life. I do remember the arrival of my first family computer in the mid-90s, but information, it seems, has almost always been a few clicks away (and a few horrible beeps and buzzes, at one point). As an homage to 25 years of Internet life, I’ve pulled a few books in which characters rely on the Internet, for better or worse, and two in Internet-less near-future worlds.

Attachments by Rainbow Rowell

Rainbow Rowell’s debut novel from 2012 follows the story of IT guy Lincoln O'Neill, who has been tasked with monitoring the work emails of newsroom employees. Beth Fremont and Jennifer Scribner-Snyder realize someone is monitoring them, and have a bit of fun sending personal and hilarious emails back and forth. Little do they know, rather than reporting them Lincoln is following along and falling in love with Beth. It’s kind of a one-sided You’ve Got Mail, and without the Internet this delightful story wouldn’t exist.

The Circle by Dave Eggers

On the flip-side of the Internet-loving coin, the prolific Dave Eggers delivers a chilling tale of an overly-connected world. When Mae Holland is hired to work for the Circle, the world's most powerful (and Google-esque) internet company, she feels she's been given the opportunity of a lifetime at the dawning of a new age of civility and transparency. This book will have you pondering just how connected we all need to be and changing all your privacy settings on social media.

Notes from the Internet Apocalypse by Wayne Gladstone

Can you imagine a world in which the Internet suddenly ceases to exist? Wayne Gladstone did, and the result is hilarious with a touch of darkness. People wander the streets attempting to recreate memes and communicate in Tweets, bulletin boards replace Craigslist and Facebook newsfeeds, and the world begins to collapse. When Gladstone hears a rumor that someone in New York is still online, he sets off to find the truth and save humanity. If you’re the type who mocks the low brow side of the internet, this one might be for you.

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

In the near-future of 2044, society as we know it is gradually coming to an end. People escape to the virtual universe of OASIS, following a series of clues from the creator for an Easter Egg that will grant the finder a fortune and control of the OASIS. Amazing 80s references abound as Wade Watts navigates this digital world—definitely a gamer-friendly book, but plenty for the general Internet-lover to love.

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

In a post-apocalyptic-plague world, we enter a society without Internet—it shut down shortly after 99.9% of the Earth’s population died of the Georgia Flu. Station Eleven follows the winding stories of five people pre-and-post-apocalypse, and beautifully explores the ways in which society learns to rebuild and survive. References to the magic of the Internet—a utility some realize they may have taken for granted—are sprinkled throughout, and might inspire in you a deeper appreciation of the positives the Internet brings in a world where the daily negatives feel more apparent.