Recs for recovery?

[neotoma]

I'm going to be recovering from surgery for the next two weeks, and I'd like recommendations for reading material to occupy my time while I'm doing it.

I like long plotty stories where if there is a romance, the successful resolution isn't the end of the story -- if there's an AU and it's dystopian, the world is still awful even if two characters are having sex, and the plot should still go on. I also like well done trope-inversion stories.

I've mainly been reading in Pacific Rim these days, but I also like Doctor Who, Torchwood, Marvel Cinematic Universe, DC Comics (The Flash, mostly), Supernatural (season 1-5, mostly), Vorkosigan, and several other fandoms, which you can see at my pinboard.

I'd also like recs for SF&F stories, and non-fiction books on history, anthropology, and any interesting topics you can think of for the layperson. I might not buy more than 1 or 2 of them, but the public library isn't too far for me to get to.

Comments

[peoriapeoriawhereart]

http://archiveofourown.org/works/1871955

[madripoor_rose]

Rereading some old favorites might be a good idea for the first part of your recovery. You're worn out, a little scattered on pain meds, it's a little hard to concentrate on something new. At least it was for me after my sinus surgery.

[hannah]

Everything by Mary Roach. Burn Unit by Barbara Ravage. Bill Bryson's good, too. MFK Fisher's always a joy, and same with Rebecca Solnit. Far From The Tree by Andrew Solomon is thick and dense but moves fast.

[siegeofangels]

Nonfic I have liked recently:

Consider the Fork, by Bee Wilson: this is about the history/evolution of cooking technology and so interesting

Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition, by Daniel Okrent

1491 and 1493, by Charles Mann: two books that explore first, what the Americas were like before European contact, and then how the Columbian Exchange affected everything. (These two are not *particularly* cheery, but are very interesting.)

[ellid]

I second the rec for Last Call - lots of fun, and a good, breezy read.

I also recommend Walter Hunt's new novel Elements of Mind. Excellent steampunk, beautifully written.

[isis]

Best of luck to you. I was in that boat myself last week (much shorter term, though) and I know how nice it is to have entertainment!

I am not in any of your fandoms these days, but as for SF/F, if you haven't read A Matter of Oaths it's downloadable for free from the author's website http://arkessian.com/; I second the rec for the Mann books, and for Roach (I loved Stiff) and Bryson (I really enjoyed At Home, which is basically a bunch of digressions but very fun).

[hunningham]

If you like SF/F short stories and are happy with kindle downloads, then a lot of the Tor short story collections are available for free. Here's some of the best from 2013 and the 2012 & 2011 collections are also free at amazon.