Kushiel's Dart (Kushiel's Legacy 1) by Jacqueline Carey (26)
Carey is a fantastic writer. The main focus of the book is prose, with the setting being close enough to medieval europe that it could be alternate history / historical fantasy, with very little magic. This isn't normal something I seek out or enjoy, but Carey's writing was good enough to carry me through to the end.
Its a great book, drags a bit in the middle, but when it ended I found myself wanting to read more. The POT character is a trained courtesan, who navigates the intrigues of court and much more, though for plot spoiler reasons I can't really say more. For anyone looking to read something that's not so dark with great prose, I would recommend this novel.
The Gunslinger (The Dark Tower 1) by Stephen King (27)
This was my first King novel, and while it was a bit weird, I enjoyed it. I don't know what King is known for (other than horror and prolific), but I was impressed by the prose. Its a really short book - less than 7 hours of audio - so the world building seemed stilted, but there was enough sprinkled in throughout to warrant picking up the sequel.
I've heard this is by far the worst in the series, so I was worried about this book and had low expectations. Maybe that colored my opinion about it, but if this is the worst the series has to offer then there's nothing to worry about. Hard to give it a strong recommendations, but there was also nothing in there to turn me away.