To distract herself and feel somewhat in control of her life,
Susannah keeps to-do lists (evidence that her brain is healing even more) and begins studying for the GRE. She also starts reading the extremely long novel
Infinite Jest, and keeps a running list of all the words she has to look up. Many of the words are obscure, but somehow also relate in some way to her illness or recovery. Despite this, Susannah tells the reader she remembers nothing about the novel.