It’s the fall season, most people’s favorite time of the year, with Halloween, pumpkins, Christmas, and colds. Unfortunately, this time of the year is also cold and flu season. Being stuck at home can be a needed break for some, while driving others insane. 

Either way, the best thing to do while being sick is to make some soup, curl up in a blanket and catch up on media students normally wouldn’t be able to. However, it’s hard to decide what to watch or read, so instead of scrolling tiktok for recommendations, here is an entertainment guide for those sick days stuck at home. 

What to Watch:

There are always those classic shows and movies that you promise your friends that you’ll keep watching but never get around to. Being stuck at home with a bug is the perfect time to dive in.

In the season of fall, “Gilmore Girls” is always a fan favorite. It’s a show that you can pick any episode and be able to catch on to the plot pretty quickly. The small town setting following a mother and daughter through their daily life sets up for the warm comforting feeling needed when feeling sick. It’s also great as background noise while trying to complete assignments. 

“8 Mile” follows the life of Jimmy Smith Jr. played by Eminem as he struggles to make it out of the rough side of Detroit and forward his career as a rapper.

Junior Claire Heaney said, “While I was sick, I rewatched one of my favorite movies ‘8 Mile’ because I enjoy the movie soundtrack and I like young Eminem.”

The movie is great for those who enjoy rap and hip hop with the soundtrack containing a bunch of popular 90s hip hop bangers. 

Similar to the vibes of “Gilmore Girls”, “Little Women” is the perfect fall/winter movie that explores the lives of four sisters in the 1860s. Directed by award winning director Greta Gerwig and accompanied by a well known cast, it wonderfully depicts many important aspects of life that’s often not thought about. 

Any movies watched on sick days as a kid may be just what’s needed on the sick days today.

“Sometimes when I have a lot of time when I’m off sick, I’ll watch movie series like “The Hunger Games”, like comfort movies,” Junior Hayden Kissell said. “The Hunger Games”, “Percy Jackson”, “Pirates of the Caribbean”, and any Marvel movie are the best to watch when you just want to pass the time on your days off.

For those who enjoy musicals, “La La Land” is a great movie that includes a wonderful cast, stunning cinematography and beautiful jazz pieces. It is a movie that may seem slow to some but will have some stopping to think at the end. 

What to Listen to: 

While being stuck at home you may have to get some assignments done, and it’s always more fun to work with music.

Sophomore Meagan Kelliher said, “I like to listen to A Tribe Called Quest, I like all their songs but Butter is my favorite because of its chill vibes”. 

“Good recovery music is the minecraft playlist and it’s also really good study music” Kelliher said. When stuck at home the school work may pile up so it’s good to get ahead of the game and start some of it at home. 

“I listen to Fleetwood Mac. It helps me to study, which you have to do if you are sick and missing school,” Kissell added. 

Drake has been a popular artist lately and if you want music with a more upbeat feel, his new album “Her Loss” is the best way to go. It is also a great time to listen to Zach Bryan’s new self-titled album in preparation for his tour that will be coming to the BJC in March. 

What to Read:

Reading can be a great inbetween of doing homework and giving your mind a break. Depending on what you are in the mood for there are many books you could opt for. 

The trilogy “The Inheritance Games” is packed with plot twists as it follows the life of Avery Grams as she inherits billions from a man she had never met before. She quickly becomes swept up in the lives and family drama of the man whose wealth she inherited. As she tries to figure out why she was given all of this, she begins to wonder if she will make it out alive. 

“Daisy Jones and the Six”, loosely based on the band Fleetwood Mac, explores the lives of a band in the 1970s. The booming age of music, festivals and the time of woodstock. It encompasses the love of music and life and the highs and lows that accompany both. It was also made into a show so after finishing the book, you can watch it be brought to life on Amazon Prime. 

“The Midnight Library” is for people who enjoy books that make them think or books that may need to be reread in order to truly understand. In the book, the main character dies and ends up in a library with books that help her live out every version of her life she could’ve ever imagined and it makes her think about her life in ways she never expected 

“The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo” is a book that pulls at the heartstrings as it recalls the story of Hollywood actor Evelyn Hugo and her determination to become one of the most famous actresses of her time. Doing whatever she can to climb to the top, even if that entails marrying 7 times. 

Even if you don’t have the physical copies of any of these books, you can find them for free here. Just look up the book and download it to the books app on a phone or tablet. 

No one ever likes being sick but hopefully the time off can be a little less boring if with these recommendations. So enjoy your time off and get better soon!