Excellent plan of attack! Repair knowledge is totally key, do you have a DIY bike repair space in your area? 

Winter cycling yes!! Here are my tips (credentials from Canada):

-it's a mental game--it's not as bad as you think it will be and it's also really badass. I set firm limits so I don't have to ride when it'll make me truly miserable (<-25C or very icy roads are mine) but I do my absolute best to ride the rest of the time.
-Fenders and rain pants are v necessary. I got my rain pants from Costco.
-If you can operate your bike in mittens, mittens over gloves is the way to go. I've had v expensive winter cycling gloves but I always inevitably lost them and my fingers still froze.

good luck!!

Just put a hold on Akata Witch--excited! Thanks for sharing that!

Ooh, what were your issues with Magicians? I definitely didn't think it was without flaw--it just really pulled me in!

I feel the same, I find I read far more sci-fi than fantasy even though I like them equally just because appealing sci-fi seems to cross my path more often. I think the last fantasy books I read that pushed the same buttons for me was the Magicians trilogy by Lev Grossman, though it's got a male protagonist.

Also I realized I forgot to include Super Sad True Love Story which I just finished. The snappy dialogue/deluge of passing references reminded me sooo much of Douglas Adams, who I enjoy but can only take it small doses. I liked SSTLS okay but I personally don't enjoy it when authors spend a lot of time with detailed descriptions of a "physically repulsive" character's flaws. I'm generally okay with unlikable main characters (and I'm not speaking about judging real-life physical traits but am referring to the way they're coded in these books) but Lenny's constant references to his nostril hair or disgusting feet or whatever reminded me of how in A Confederacy of Dunces' it seemed like every other sentence was about the main character's yellow eyeballs.

Book twins! I'm not sure whether I should bother getting Ancillary Sword--have you read it? And any other fantasy recs along the lines of Uprooted?

Ah I'm reading Let's Talk About Love: A Journey to the End of Taste by Carl Wilson from the same books that changed my life list! BoMY was another one that jumped out at me from the writer's description but they don't have it at my local library so I'm going to have to keep an eye out for it elsewhere. I really recommend Let's Talk About Love from what I've read so far, though!

Recipe please please please!

I'm currently "working from home" as I recover from surgery and I've read NINE books in about as many days--some were graphic novels though. The list:

Ancilliary Justice, Ann Leckle - liked it, but not as much as I expected to, maybe I'm just not a complicated-politics-in-my-scifi person (though I loved Dune and Foundations so???)
Uprooted, Naomi Novik - blazed through it! Got it on a Toast recommendation
This is How You Lose Her, Junot Diaz - a reread, totally held up.
The Seven Good Years, Etgar Keret - Looooved it, I was expecting a more straight-up memoir but it's basically a collection of super short vignettes which he is a MASTER of.
The Playboy, Chester Brown - didn't love it, plus there was a weird appendix of disclaimers and justifications (including a discussion of his preferred masturbation styles??) at the end that left a bad taste in my mouth.
I Never Liked You, Chester Brown - liked this one a lot more
Boy, Snow Bird - Helen Oyeyimi - loved it but wasn't super satisfied with the ending
Empire State, Jason Shiga - Liked it a lot, endearing main character
Love and Rockets, Jaime Hernandez - one of the 'new stories' ones, didn't love it as much as usual, the stories were a bit disconnected and hard to follow. I recently read The Love Bunglers though which is FANTASTIC and really well structured so maybe it was just a hard act to follow.

Also I'm currently reading Let's Talk About Love: A Journey to the End of Taste by Carl Wilson and I want to give a copy to everyone I know.

thoughts on these books/recommendations for new things based on this list? Still pretty homebound for another week or so, please help me not go stir crazy!

This is a late response but I also have a dermoid cyst about the same size (well, 6-9cm) that might have to be removed--I'm seeing a gyno in a month because socialized medicine, and also my family doctor didn't think it was urgent, and I originally got it looked into because it was causing pain but then that stopped so now I don't even think about it most of the time? I'm also nervous about the prospect of getting it removed--I had an unrelated surgery in my lower abdomen two years ago so my doctor warned me that the scar tissue from that might make a surgery more difficult.

But that earlier surgery was laproscopic and I was totally up and running again two weeks later (like, carrying large pieces of furniture around and taking a spontaneous last minute flight to see a friend) so if that's the way it goes then you're in luck! The first week was hard mainly because my lower abdomen surgery meant using my ab muscles to sit up or sneeze/laugh/cough were very painful. I don't know if that would also be the case for pelvic surgery, though. I don't know if this is what you're into, but I loved having a big book of NYT crossword puzzles/sudoku for when I wanted something a little more interactive than reading/watching things. Also during my recovery, I had friends coming to see me which was lovely, but I also got a little tired of having to explain about my health situation over and over and having that be the only topic of conversation. I liked it much better when friends who knew the drill would come over just to play some cards or something.

Stay strong, you'll be fine!