The books, Jurassic Park and its sequel The Lost World, are very good and very different from the movies. I also recommend Disclosure by the same author.

Lost World had some fun stuff (Despite diverging from it's book even worse than the first movie) but you're really not missing much, none of the sequels come within a mile the original.

I saw the first one, enjoyed it...not sure I could explain the plot or what happened in it. At the time having the dinosaurs brought to life was spectacle enough; they could have made a movie about the park working correctly and it would have sold tickets.

I watched the second and third one back to back with a girl. They were alright. I don't care to see them again. I'm not watching any more of them.