Best Books for When You're Stuck In Bed
YWR #152
BY REQUEST from a Real Live Reader, but one that feels quite timely because it seems like the Medical Industrial Complex has been hard at work diagnosing a lot of people with a lot of things. To which we say, thanks for the modern medical advancements but more importantly, what to read whilst recuperating?
The key to books for rest and recuperation, and please trust me on this as I am an accredited medical book recommender, is that they must NOT be those weighty books you’ve been meaning to read now that you finally have some uninterrupted time on your hands. They will just pile up on your nightstand until the cat knocks them over. No, we are healing, my darlings. We must not exhaust our beautiful, fragile corporeal ecosystems with distracting tomes about quantum mechanics.
This is the time for books that are:
Page turners, so as to distract you from what ails you
Not too mentally grueling, so that if you drift off to sleep, you don’t really lose your work
Not emotionally debilitating, because crying can tear stitches and cause dehydration
Available for immediate read on Libby so that you don’t have to spend your time waiting on the library queue or the Bookshop.org delivery which is, we all can admit, painfully slow.**
This means we’re going back into the proverbial and literal archive for some of my favorites, but if you haven’t read them, they’re new to you! And I won’t insult either of us by listing the obvious Daisy Jones and the Six or Book Lovers, even though those totally fit this bill. We’re better than that.
Oh, and if you’re hale and hearty? 1. Thank goodness for that and 2. All of these books are in my top recommendations. So get to reading (or drop a note and let me know that you have read ALL of them, which probably refers to you, Joanna.)
Sci-fi, but the Good Kind
First up: Seven 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, a total page turner about a man who witnesses a murder at an estate party, only to wake up in the body of another guest, repeating the day of the murder with the task of preventing the death. It’s time-twisty, twistery murdery, clever and creative. And if your recovering brain can’t suss out all the clues, don’t worry. It’s a fun ride either way.
Next: The Murderbot Series.
Look.
If I’m to be forced to live with AI, and Sam Altman apparently insists that I am, then I want it to be like Murderbot, an AI-powered droid who is nominally under government control but who has secretly become self-governing, hates humans, loves trashy soap operas, has a sharp wit, and operates on its own code. Tense, sardonic, short, imaginative. Plus there are a few of them in the series if you read fast.
Wholesome Adult Reading
The mentions of All Creatures Great and Small will continue until morale improves and everyone actually reads it. Look, I know, if you haven’t read it, it seems like sappy dog stories. And while it is the stories of a Cornwall vet in the early 20th century, I promise you that reading it will feel like the funniest, most heartfelt uncle you’ve ever had, sitting by the fire and entertaining you with yarns that can’t possibly be true. It’s just perfect. JOY IS A HEALING MODALITY!
And a few years back I actually read The Princess Bride, which of course was the basis of the legendary movie (which really holds up.) The book has all the derring-do of the movie but also has this odd layer about being a screenplay based on a real history. It’s original, funny, heartfelt, moving, really quirky. Give it a whirl.
Nourishing
If you looked up “delightful” in Merriam-Webster, My Life in Paris would be the entire entry. This is another book that I think is perceived to be kind of a dusty old nothing, but mais non mes petites - it is a joyful wonder to be in Julia’s world. It is also full of good food, and because the brain is so powerful I think it must be nutritionally therapeutic to simply read about hearty dishes. Absolutely do not miss.
Similarly, The Henna Artist is full of good Indian food, including recipes - in fact, there’s a storyline about using food to heal. But it’s also a really intoxicating, vibrant, compelling story of Lakshmi, who escapes from an abusive marriage to build a life in 1950’s Jaipur. The sequel was pretty bad, but I really enjoyed this one and got lost in its pages.
Thrillers
If you’re one of the three people who have never read The Secret History, consider this your sign to do so. I wrote a whole newsletter on it but suffice it to say, this mystery set in a New England college, focusing on a set of Classics majors, is frankly part of my canon. It’s erudite, it’s heady, it’s atmospheric, it’s deeply unsettling, it should come with all the trigger warnings - but it’s inimitable. One of my coworkers read it recently and his entire summation to me was “The Secret History? WOW.”
It’s dorky to like The Alienist, but dammit, you could do a lot, lot worse than this tale of a group of socialites and academics on the hunt for a serial killer in grimy, dangerous, exhilarating early 20th century New York. Smart and stylish. You’ll make it through an entire day of recuperation, lost in this book.
I Don’t Have a Clever Categorization Here So Let’s Call It “Other”
Personally, I can’t abide the thought of reading non-fiction while feeling poorly. But if that’s your jam, you’ll want to find some very fast paced narrative non-fiction. American Kingpin, about the hunt for the creator of the Dark Web-era Silk Road, will do the trick. Or, I guess some Erik Larson. Probably The Splendid and the Vile.
I don’t know anyone who’s read One More Thing: Stories and Other Stories but if you’re looking for humor writing in the vein of David Sedaris (but smarter and more unexpected), you’ve found it. Plus, these stories by B.J. Novak are not only startlingly intelligent and funny, but they’re definitionally short so you can dip in and out during your hazy days of recovery.
And if you can’t even focus enough to read, I suggest dipping into the following TV series: The Durrells in Corfu (1920’s Greece, family, hijinks), HBO’s Number One Ladies Detective Agency (only one season but gorgeous and charming), or just rewatch Schitt’s Creek. I hope you feel better soon!
Important Readerly Update
I VISITED GREEN GABLES and the entire Lucy Maud Montgomery experience on Prince Edward Island. It was as earnest and wholesome and satisfying as you might think if you’re a fan of Anne of Green Gables. Here are five unexpected discoveries to come out of this trip with my bestie Danielle:
This is not a young person’s pilgrimage. But all of us middle-agers and older were giddy to be there.
Lucy Maud Montgomery (AKA MAUD) was a cat person, extraordinarily verbal, and, according to one posted fan letter, “a girl’s girl” who loved her friends but thought her husband was a bit of a downer.
She didn’t live in Green Gables, she lived down the road, but set her indelible heroine in this gorgeous house, above. Thanks for giving Anne the homestead glow up!
Maud selected her own gravesite, which overlooks the ocean and the gorgeous rolling hills. Well, and a Tim Horton’s.
According to the Parcs Canada ranger, not only is PEI haunted, but “all islands are a little bit haunted, aren’t they?”
Shh, Time to Rest Now
All titles link to Bookshop.org, a fine and noble way to buy books that supports indie bookstores, but they’re also all currently available on my Libby and Hoopla apps through my local library. **This was by request and I aim to please
Don’t forget the archive for weeks and weeks of book options for your reading enjoyment.
When you were sick as a kid did you get those Lipton chicken noodle soups from the packet? They were so SALTY and DELICIOUS.
I visited the Anne sights in my early 20s (this would be circa 1993) on a family vacation. My mom and I wanted to go. Somewhere in the world there is a VCR tape with a recording my dad took, zooming in on the introductory plaque outside the home, and you can hear my dad say “What?! This chick never even really existed?!” Yeah, we didn’t explain that she was a fictional character. Lovely sights and island nonetheless.
Ok fine, I'll read a Secret History. Why am I SO resistant to this and yet I loved The Goldfinch???