Merriweather

Merriweather is a slab serif typeface designed by former ATypI board member Eben Sorkin for Google in 2010. Since 2011, it has been continually updated through his Massachusetts-based company Sorkin Type Co., with the most recent update being made in 2020. It is currently among the top 20 most frequently used typefaces on Google Fonts annually, with direct usage on over two million different websites. The typeface is notable for having a significantly taller x-height than most of its contemporary serif counterparts, giving it extra accessibility through ease of readability even when rendered at small sizes. The characters are also condensed in width to allow for more efficient use of page space, being developed particularly for news design, with a serif style inspired by Renaissance-era Roman type to provide an added sense of warmth to Merriweather's professional appearance.

From the Wikipedia article “Merriweather (typeface)”, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Serif typefaces like this are the traditional choice for book body text: the serifs guide the eye along the line in long passages. Set novels at 10.5–12 pt with 125–140% leading.

Commercial typefaces require a licence that covers embedding in PDFs and ebooks; check the foundry's licence before you publish.