14. Romancing Mr. Bridgerton

By Julia Quinn (480 pp)(ebook)

I watched Bridgerton and was obsessed with Penelope and Colin so I wanted to read the book. It's one in a series about the wealthy Bridgerton children finding true love. Colin is, I think, the third son, and he's tired of everyone thinking he's just a player. Penelope is best friends with one of the Bridgerton sisters and has had a crush on him since she was a teenager. But then he notices how awesome Penlope and there is love but also complications because Penelope has this whole hidden identity. It was great.

13. The Art of Fielding

By Chad Hardbach (544 pp)(ebook)

This book was highly recommended to me and I was a little disconcerted to see it came out in 2011. Yikes. And no doubt there are books that have been in line even longer. This one is about Henry, a baseball star recruited to a small college in Michigan. Other characters include his teammate Mike, who is a complex guy, the head of the college, Affenlight who makes some very poor choices, Henry's roommate Owen and Affenlight's daughter Pella. Great writing. All the characters have a lot going on. I had to shake my head a bit at some of the developments but overall: really loved this book.

12. Bride

By Ali Hazelwood (396 pp)

I am not super into paranormal romance and I didn't think I could get wrapped up in another vampire/werewolf story. I was wrong. This is really fun, with great characters. It's about a vampyre who is the daughter of an important councilman and she has to marry this super hot and powerful werewolf for story reasons. But also: she's trying to solve a mystery and her new husband might have some answers. I enjoyed.

11. Mr. Mercedes

By Stephen King (538 pp)(ebook)

I haven't read Stephen King in a long time and I have a bunch of his books on my ereader. This was a fast, easy read with some great characters and like all of this books: there's always a moment that you did not see coming that is very disturbing. This book delivers more than one! It's about a retired detective with that one unsolved crime that he can't stop thinking about. And then a letter from someone claiming responsibility shows up and the detective is drawn back in. This story is a TV show, too. Has anyone seen it? I have it on my list. Recommend.