From both Ruby & Drew: “Dungeon Crawler Carl”. It’s not high literature, its pulpy fan service full of references and homages to much of the media that defined us folks in the late 40s-early 30s age brackets these days. I think there are some not so subtle undercurrents that I love also. To smash together our descriptions it’s Ash from Evil Dead if he were dropped into Running Man.
In that same vein, Drew give a rec to “How to Become the Darklord and Die Trying”. Again not high literature or fancy but it’s good escapism and fun. Think Star Trek time loop episode meets generic fantasy land. Worth noting there might be a few triggers in this one.
Carrying on through the simple escapism category: “Off to be the Wizard”. A bit more YA but still a romp.
From Ruby: Legion from Brandon Sanderson. This one is going into my queue right now. From Drew, also Brandon Sanderson’s “The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook”.
Many more got mentioned but these were the ones that stuck though 8hrs of sleep.