Books for the Hospital

Hi Guys!

I'm going to have to have surgery in a few weeks and will be in the hospital for 3-6 days afterwards. I'm not really looking forward to this (hee) and am trying to come up with a good stash of books to bring to while away the drugged-up hours.

Here's the thing: I'm really looking for a specific tone of novel. I want something that's engrossing and wonderful but not violent, dark, scary or involving health issues. A good lose-yourself-in-it I-really-care-about-the-characters clutch of reads. Deep emotional issues are fine in the book but not death/scary/horror/sick.

Looking at my shelves, authors who have generally given me the sense I'm trying to get here are Jonathan Safran Foer, David Mitchell, Jonathan Lethem, Diane Setterfield.

A couple of books I've pulled out as possibilities:
Summerland by Michael Chabon (kid's book; looks pretty light)
Jonathan Strange & Mr. Morrell by Susanna Clarke
Thirteen Moons by Charles Frazier (I need to read this for my book club anyway)
The Bonesetter's Daughter by Amy Tan
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See

I've been on a history kick lately but fiction seems the way to go here. Please advise if you think any of the books I've listed are a bit intense, or if you have some other ideas for me. You can see my library catalog (if you care to) to see what other books I own and have read (I always tag a book 'read' if it has been).

And, thank you.

And, touchstones are not working quite right at the moment, sorry.

Not much of a fiction reader, so I can't help you there. Based on 70+ titles we share, mostly political biographies and quirky little factoid-type books (some description that is), you might enjoy Anything for a Vote.

The author reviews all of the Presidential elections, describes the major candidates, the issues of the day, and the dirty tricks employed during the campaign. Very amusing, and easy to read in small chunks (each election covers anywhere from 2 to 6 pages). Good therapy when this year's campaign gets ugly.

Best of luck with your surgery.

Best of luck with your surgery.

Bit of advice based on some personal experience - I stocked up on books and was even given a lovely pile of trashy magazines from co-workers when I was in for major surgery two years ago...

All of this is based on the assumption that you'll get painkillers.

Don't worry about reading right away. Good painkillers mean you'll read the same three paragraphs over and over for a while until it's nappy time again. During the painkiller time, I recommend VH1 simply because they tend to do a ton of list (Top 100 whatever) shows that you can drift in and out of without feeling you've lost any continuity.

Outside of that, once you can focus again, it sounds like you have a really good list so far. =)

Good luck with your surgery, although I want to expand on Stephmo's comments above.

A few years ago I broke my leg in three places and then developed a bone infection. I was laid up for months and you would have thought I would have been able to read and read and read HOWEVER the cruel fact is that you will likely have trouble concentrating. Even without pain meds, which I generally did without, you may not be terribly comfortable and with your body working on healing you will lack some of your usual focus. I can generally read anywhere, anytime, yet couldn't seem to read while stuck in bed for months! It was very disconcerting.

I found all that I could read was the simplest, most straight forward stuff...things I NEVER read like Mary Higgins Clark! As Stephmo said, I found I often read the same paragraph over and over.

As a funny note, during this time my husband told a co-worker how awful it was that I was stuck and bed and yet somehow couldn't read. His co-worker said, "Your wife doesn't know how to read?".

I'd suggest having at least some books that are "simple" reading for you in case you too find it hard to read when laid up.

Best of luck.

Best of luck!

This may not be at all what you're looking for, but when my mom was in the hospital a few years ago, she started reading the Stephanie Plum books by Janet Evanovich (One for the Money, Two for the Dough, etc). They're light (mostly) and funny and the characters are endearing, if occasionally odd.

Yes, keep it simple and if possible, have a laugh. Here's an anecdotal example: a long time ago my father was in a veteran's hospital in a bad way and he said Mac Hyman's No Time For Sergeants made him laugh and kept him going through a rather tough time. It's a book that hasn't dated too badly, either. Still worth a read. And consider taking some headphones for recorded books or music, which would be less taxing.

Good luck with your surgery. I'll echo what several have already said - keep it simple. I had shoulder surgery last fall and was in the hospital for three days. I brought a few books, but only ended up reading a very small portion of one - Julie and Julia by Julie Powell.

One thing that people haven't mentioned yet is that a hospital is a distracting place, especially if you have a roommate. People are constantly coming and going and it's always noisy. I also ended up waking up a lot at night - noise plus discomfort - so I napped several times per day.

I've read several of the books that you list and would not have been able to really enjoy them when I was in the hospital. Knowing what I know now, I think I would have preferred a stack of trashy magazines to the books I had. Between pain killers, lack of good sleep and the noise, I really wasn't up for much more than that. I actually would have watched TV a lot more, except my roommate had some form of dementia and the TV really upset her. No, being in the hospital was not fun.

Best of luck to you, lyzadanger!
Even though I must agree with ToReadToNap on the fact that concentration is often quite difficult when you are in a hospital (been there way too many times myself), I would definitely recommend "light" and entertaining reading, such as any mystery by Agatha Christie or any book by P.G. Wodehouse, for example. They will distract you, but will not involve your attention to the point of making reading a chore.
Take care of yourself, and come back to us as soon as you can. We shall miss you!
:-))

Just for fun, you ought to should bring Coma, but it really depends in your sense of humor.

Other than that, what you bring really depends on how long you're actually going to be in there. I spent 5 weeks in a hospital after a motorcycle accident. In the first several days, I didn't want to read at all. It was a long, difficult surgery, so it took longer to get all the gases out of my head. I found I preferred lighter reading -- Bored of the Rings -- and a book of short stories (Sci-Fi, I think).

So, now you've got me thinking (positive thoughts your way, and) about what books I'd bring under your circumstances. I tend to be a slow reader, so I wouldn't want more than 2 or 3 books. I'd bring whatever I was currently reading, plus books I tend to think of as 'snippet' books -- a tag I'd not thought of using before now...

So...
Any of the Superior Person's Book of Words books by Peter Bowler. There are at least 3.
Either of the Highly Selective Dictionary/Thesaurus for the Extraordinarily Literate by Eugene Erlich
The Literary Companion
The World of Order and Organization
Bibliotopia
The Book Book
The Portable Curmudgeon -- There are at lease 2 of these.
Why Not Catch-21?
Flattened Fauna
The Field Guide to Little-Known and Seldom-Seen Birds of North America

Touchstones are wonky today.

Best wishes for a successful surgery and speedy recovery.

I suggest light reading, and short stories or essays. You will be tired and groggy, and constantly interrupted, so don't take anything that requires concentration!

If your surgery is near the digestive track or your back, laughter can make it hurt. Like everyone says, your mind won't be up to reading much beyond the Jr. Hi level.

Having spent much much more time than I would like in hospital, I can advise that you pack a range of reading.

Good children's novels for when you are a bit dazed and floaty on painkillers or exhaustion (perhaps some Diana Wynne Jones or Arthur Ransome or Philip Reeve. Fairytale-type writing seems to fit with the unreality of drugged-up hospitalness, too. Little, Big seems to fit well, so does Nights at the Circus and any of Tove Jansson's Moomin books, particularly Moominland Midwinter.

And some really good engrossing fiction for those late nights when you can't sleep because of noise and discomfort, short stories for when your focus is small and precise, and your memory is a bit stuffed and you can't hold multiple characters and threads in your head... Light and breezy stuff is also good (PG Wodehouse is marvelous always, Three men in a boat, Diary of a Nobody and things like that, or well-written trash like the victorian sensationalist novels (Wilkie Collins and Mary Elizabeth Braddon in particular. Good travel writing is another delight... transporting yourself away from tedious hospital wards.

I read fast, so, for a week in hospital after surgery (the first day you'll be good for nothing at all) I'd pack 6 to 10 books. Magazines just don't cut it for me, even when groggy. Pack ear plugs. Seriously. More valuable than anything else.

Forgot to mention -- if you're up to reading more snippets -- ANYTHING by Anne Fadiman.

(which came up red in the touchstones -- quite frustrating)

Medically-related:
The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down

Essays: (in order of my favorites)
Ex Libris
At Large and At Small
Rereadings

Excellent! Every one of them!

I can appreciate how you want some soothing books for your stay in hospital. I was in hospital unexpectedly just before Christmas and during my stay (and after it) I found some books rather upsetting when they wouldn't have bothered me before.

If you like Jane Austin then any of hers would be good and I think the easiest and most lighthearted read would be Emma.

Anne Tyler writes some beautiful and gentle books that do involve you emotionally wiht the characters. I like the Clock Winder but there is a death and a stay in hospital (happily resolved), but you might want to wait until you are out for that one. I think you would be okay with Morgan's Passing though. She is similar in a way to Carol Sheilds and her books The Republic of Love and Happenstance are both very good.

I also agree with #12 above, Three Men in a Boat and Diary of a Nobody are very funny and Tove Jansson's books are great. I think that three of her books for adults are in English translation now, The Summer Book, A Winter Book and Fair Play.

Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons is lovely and funny, as is I capture the castle by Dodie Smith.

Saving Fish from Drowning by Amy Tan is very good, although again there is a death but it states that right at the start because the books narrator is the lady who has died. Along that vein, The mercy of thin air by Ronlyn Domingue is a good gentle story about a ghost who looks at the lives of those she loves over a long passage of time.

oh, yes, both Cold Comfort Farm and I Capture the Castle are perfect, and have been to hospital with me more than once!

I'd also recommend Salmon Fishing in Yemen which is a complete delight... very funny and touching.

And one longer stay was made much more entertaining with the whole of The Forsyte Saga.

I second all of the posts re light and minimal. I had both knees replaced in 2006 - one at as time so two different hospital stays. Between the pain meds, learning to walk again, and PT, there was little time for reading. The first time I took three paperbacks with me; the second time I left all books at home and tried easy crosswords. Once home, I stuck to light stuff for the first week while I worked the drugs out of my system.

I really enjoyed The Summerhouse by Jude Deveraux. It was engrossing, but light at the same time. It does have a bit of romance in it...not sure if you like that kind or not. Sharon Osborne's autobiography is also a really good read.

I would consider the Three Bags Full : a sheep detective story, as it is funny.

There are medical aspects to The bonesetter's Daughter that would tend for me not to want to read it in the hospital.

I'm with those above who say stay away from the heavy stuff. About six months ago, I was immobile in the hospital with clots, and magazine sound bytes worked a lot better than In Cold Blood, which was one of the things I was trying to read. What with nurses in and out all the time, tests, someone always drawing your blood, etc., it's just hard to concentrate.

I would get the latest issue of anything you think you can tolerate reading, because it doesn't matter if you fall asleep on a magazine page and get it all wrinkled up. Light mysteries are good, unless you're like me and, when drugged-up, tend to forget who everyone is. Some of those bed-and-breakfast types are nice and light.

You and I share 60-something books-- you can see what I've tagged "guilty reading" (sadly, a tagging job I haven't completed yet). The Charlaine Harris books are kind of mystery-with-vampires and are actually decently written for that sort of thing. Anything tagged "guilty reading" is light, and if you zone out for a page or two, no problem.

The easy Suduko (I say easy because of what my brain functionality is while on drugs; maybe yours is better) books are good, so are easy find-a-words, and so are the easy crosswords someone mentioned. You can find all that stuff at the drugstore.

At least you get to prepare, right? (trying to find silver lining). That's a LOT better than going in with just the clothes on your back and the paperback in the purse (I went in with an Ian Rankin once and NOTHING when I had the clots, because they were so painful I forgot).

Good luck to you!

An un-suggestion would be Samuel Pepys: the Unequalled Self by Claire Tomalin. There's a 17th Century surgery description that put me off my lunch.

Hope everything work out! Get well soon!

All the best to you. Surgery is never fun--unfortunately I've had too many experiences and speak from experience.

I think you've gotten lots of good advice and would just maybe suggest something by Dave Barry as things you could pick up and put down (assuming he tickles your funny bone). Otherwise, why not check out the juvenile or YA fiction section of your library. You can check out a huge stack and if you don't like them--it didn't cost you anything. (Just make sure you can return them on time or renew online. I got a $4 fine for that one time!)

I like WholeHouseLibrary's suggestion of "snippet" books, and it reminded me of things like The Quotable Book Lover, or you could choose a small quotation collection on another topic of interest - I think that "Quotable" series has things like dog lover, golf lover, etc.

I also enjoy books about books, and there are several of these that are fairly slim (so not heavy or hard to hold), and contain just a couple paragraphs, or up to 2 or 3 pages, about various books. I haven't gotten a good look at Book Lust, but that's a well-known one. I like The Lifetime Reading Plan, which has had four editions, and then there's a really good collection about people who love books and reading, called A Passion for Books - and I hope that's the right touchstone! (Edited to fix - it should be the right one now.)

My thought with any of these is, if your attention span is short, you might only read a couple pages and then put it down, and even with light novels, you might have trouble trying to follow a plot or keep characters straight. Collections of quotations, or "book blurbs," would be enjoyable, but not taxing. And I agree with those who suggest magazines, too - something for every interest there.

Good luck to you, lyzadanger!

One more thing....

I never thought I'd ever uses this phrase (see the quoted words), but: You don't want to bring "too many books" to the hospital with you because you'll have to haul them back home afterwards, whether you read them or not. One larger book weighs less than ~n~ number of thinner books that take up the same amount of space.

On the other hand, you can let your friends and family lug those tomes back home for you (and they'll be glad to help, too), so perhaps War and Peace, or Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth series (they take up and entire shelf in my son's bookcase), or the Encyclopedia Brittanica, perhaps.