Anything by Liane Moriarty
Moriarty is the author of Big Little Lies, which has been made into an HBO series. These standalone novels can be read in any order. Try an audio book if you can; the narrators are great! My favorite is The Husband’s Secret. Learn more about Moriarty and find a list of her novels here: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/322069.Liane_Moriarty
The Da Vinci Code and others by Dan Brown
Code does the job if you want to escape – intrigue and established religion are interwoven. Code is the 2nd in the Robert Langdon Series, but many had never read Angels and Demons, the first title, until they had read this book. There are a couple more book in addition to these two; learn more here: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/630.Dan_Brown
The Bridget Jones series by Helen Fielding
Bridget Jones’s Diary is the first title of this very funny British chick-lit series. This is a series you will want to read in order. More info: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3090.Helen_Fielding?from_search=true&from_srp=true
Almost interchangeable with Bridget is the Shopaholic series by Sophie Kinsella. It’s not bad! I get the two series confused all the time. Here’s a link to the first book, Confessions of a Shopaholic: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9416.Confessions_of_a_Shopaholic?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=OJdjunketh&rank=1
Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum series
These are funny, irreverent mysteries/crime novels starring Stephanie Plum, bounty hunter. Read these in order, starting with One for the Money. There are well over twenty books in the series now – and counting – but you may find you’ve had your fill after eight or nine. More info: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2384.Janet_Evanovich
Any Debbie Macomber title
If you like the Hallmark Channel, which has featured some movies based on Macomber’s work, you’ll enjoy her books. Just google her name or plug it into your library’s search engine and get started.
The Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon
Time travel, history, romance, and kilts. What makes these books so escape-worthy is the amount of painstaking research conducted by the author to present an authentic historic Scotland. Start with Outlander. These books contain explicit sex scenes.
Find out more about Outlander, which is the basis for the Starz TV series of the same name, here; there are links to the author and the other titles in the series which, it appears, is still not complete: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10964.Outlander?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=I9uMKgMyL5&rank=1
Stephen King’s early work
I was in my teens when King started writing, and I remember being transfixed by Carrie, The Shining, Pet Sematary, and ‘Salem’s Lot.
If you like horror but haven’t read any of these first works, you need to start now, regardless of your opinion of his current titles. That being said – these are not for the faint of heart. If you don’t want to be scared, don’t read them.
Bookish in the Mitten 