A sick day has its own kind of reading. Your head is foggy, your energy is low and you want something kind. These are books that ask very little and give a lot back.
A small note: books keep you company, they do not treat you. If you feel properly unwell, rest, drink water and call a doctor when you need one.
Five gentle books
The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame (1908). A river, a few friends and very little danger. It is easy to read in short stretches.
Winnie-the-Pooh, A. A. Milne (1926). Short chapters, soft jokes, no hurry. It is the comfort book many adults go back to.
84, Charing Cross Road, Helene Hanff (1970). A New York writer and a London bookshop, told entirely in letters. A friendship that grows slowly, over years. It is short enough to finish in a day.
Anne of Green Gables, L. M. Montgomery (1908). A talkative orphan, a farm and a great deal of warmth.
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams (1979). Funny, quick and wonderfully silly when you cannot take anything seriously.
How to read when you feel foggy
- Read one page at a time. It is fine to read the same page twice.
- Put a mug, a spare tissue and a blanket within reach before you start.
- Keep the lamp low and turn the screen off.
- Choose a book you have read before if new words feel like work.
Your library probably has all five. A reservation takes a minute, and you can pick them up when you feel better.
