Boring Books for Bedtime Readings to Help You Sleep

By Sharon Handy

What's Boring Books for Bedtime Readings to Help You Sleep about?

Boring Books for Bedtime is a weekly sleep podcast in which we calmly, quietly read something rather boring to silence the brain chatter keeping you awake. Think Aristotle, Thoreau, and whoever wrote the 1897 Sears Catalog—mostly nonfiction, mostly old, a perfect blend of vaguely-but-not-too interesting.

If you're on Team Sleepless, lie back, take a deep breath, and let us read you to rest.

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Etiquette, by Emily Post, P...

09.18.2023

Let’s relax with more from Mrs. Emily Post as she advises us on making calls, the art of social climbing, and the niceties of leaving one’s card. Truly a calling card for sleep! Help us stay ad-free and 100% listener-supported! ...

Boring Books for Bedtime Readings to Help You Sleep episodes:

09.18.2023 Etiquette, by Emily Post, Part 5 Let’s relax with more from Mrs. Emily Post as she advises us on making calls, the art of social climbing, and the niceties of leaving one’s card. Truly a calling card for sleep! Help us stay ad-free and 100% listener-supported! ...
09.11.2023 How to Produce Amateur Plays, by Barrett H. Clark, Part 1 Let’s relax and sleep with advice on staging a play, including roles behind the curtain, choosing actors, and blocking the action, courtesy of a scene from Oscar Wilde. The drama! Help us stay ad-free and 100% listener-supported! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/boringbookspod Buy ...
09.04.2023 The ABC of Relativity, by Bertrand Russell, Part 3 Let's relax with some sleep-inducing science and learn why space-time is neither space nor time, but so much more. If you’re not entirely sure what the “more” is, never mind. You’ll be asleep anyway. Help us stay ad-free and 100% ...
08.28.2023 Our National Parks, by John Muir, Part 3 Let’s continue our relaxing hike through Yellowstone National Park, marvel at geysers and hot springs, imagine prehistoric forests, and appreciate the beauty off the beaten path. Dreamy! Help us stay ad-free and 100% listener-supported! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/boringbookspod Buy Me a Coffee: ...
08.21.2023 The Book of Household Management, by Mrs. Isabella Beeton, Part 10 - Soups and More Soups Let’s learn more from Mrs. Beeton about vegetable soups and their ingredients, all of which will be ruined by hours-long boiling. Also, the Prince of Wales is honored with tiny turnip balls. Help us stay ad-free and 100% listener-supported! Patreon: ...
08.14.2023 The Hive and the Honey-Bee, by Rev. L.L. Langstroth, Part 3 Tonight, let’s relax with more from the fascinating world of bees and learn all about murderous queens, busy workers, growing larvae, and lazy drones. It’s all sweet honey for your sleepy mind. Help us stay ad-free and 100% listener-supported! Patreon: ...
08.07.2023 Mount Everest, the Reconnaissance of 1921, Part 3 Let’s continue our sleepy sojourn to Everest and enjoy the flowers of Tibet, pursue timid gazelles, visit monasteries, endure a mutiny and a tragedy, and fire some drunken cooks. Adventurous! Help us stay ad-free and 100% listener-supported! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/boringbookspod Buy ...
07.31.2023 Ecclesiastical History of Britain, by The Venerable Bede, Part 1 Let’s relax with the spread of Christianity in Britain, penned by a saint who was actually there. But first, a preface, an intro, and a biography of the blessed Bede! We do get to the history eventually, but you’ll probably ...
07.24.2023 Hand-book on Cheesemaking, by George Newell, Part 1 Let’s relax and sleep to more 19th-century know-how, and learn how to set up a cheese factory, get milk to curdle, and appreciate our buddy, lactic acid. Help us stay ad-free and 100% listener-supported! All supporters in July will be ...
07.17.2023 Our 250th Episode! Sears Roebuck and Co. Modern Homes Catalog, Part 1 Let’s take a relaxing shop through some of Sears’ lesser-known offerings—houses! From Craftsmans to cottages or an entire apartment building, it can all be delivered to you, guaranteed. Help us stay ad-free and 100% listener-supported! All supporters in July will ...
07.10.2023 The Natural History of Pliny the Elder, Part 2 Let’s return to Pliny’s relaxing opus and learn about the seasons, planting schedules, and the best time to buy a winter cloak so you don’t get price gouged. It’s all written in the stars! Help us stay ad-free and 100% ...
07.03.2023 Pyrotechnics - The History and Art of Firework Making, Part 1 Let’s relax and sleep with quiet thoughts on a loud art, including speculation on Eastern origins, deadly Greek fire, and every mention of fireworks in Europe for a thousand years (no, really). Help us stay ad-free and 100% listener-supported! All ...
06.26.2023 On Horsemanship, by Xenophon, Part 1 By listener request, let’s relax and sleep with this guide to the purchasing, care, and training of horses in Ancient Greece. To sum up, hooves are everything, and kindness counts. Good advice! Help us stay ad-free and 100% listener-supported! Patreon: ...
06.19.2023 The Art of Money Getting, by P.T. Barnum, Part 1 Let’s hear from the world’s greatest showman how to live a wealthy, happy life. Sleepy spoiler alert: do things you’re good at, don’t envy others, and spend less than you make. Talk about boring! Help us stay ad-free and 100% ...
06.12.2023 Symmes Theory of Concentric Spheres, Showing That The Earth Is Hollow, Part 3 Let’s continue with this sleepy theory about the Earth and how fish migrations absolutely, positively prove that it must be hollow. What other explanation could there be? None, says Symmes! Help us stay ad-free and 100% listener-supported! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/boringbookspod Buy ...
06.05.2023 Spices, Their HIstories, by Robert O. Fielding (Part 3–Conclusion) Let’s finish our tour of the sleepy world of spices, learn about grains of paradise (my favorite medieval spice), and reveal the connection between saffron and…crocodiles? Sure, why not. Help us stay ad-free and 100% listener-supported! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/boringbookspod Buy Me ...
05.29.2023 American Pomology, by Dr. J.A. Warder, Part 2 Let’s relax and sleep with more about apple history, creating hybrids, and the validity of Van Mons’ theories of propagation. Yeah, I don’t know either, but I guess he was big in Belgium. Help us stay ad-free and 100% listener-supported! ...
05.22.2023 Our Cats and All About Them, by Harrison Weir, Part 1 Let's relax with a subject near and dear to your reader’s heart—cats! Drift off to the intelligence of felines, the first cat show, and drama at the Cat Club. Scandalous! Help us stay ad-free and 100% listener-supported! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/boringbookspod Buy ...
05.15.2023 The Ethics of Aristotle, Part 2 Let’s return to Aristotle’s classic on the purpose of life. What’s it all for, anyway? No real answers here tonight, alas, but at least he can help us sleep through the confusion. Help us stay ad-free and 100% listener-supported! Patreon: ...
05.08.2023 Wild Flowers Worth Knowing, by Neltje Blanchan, Part 3 Let's return to the flower-filled fields of sleep and learn about insect-charming orchids, blistering buttercups, and pinks of the killing kind. Nature is a cruel mistress! Help us stay ad-free and 100% listener-supported! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/boringbookspod Buy Me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/d5kcMsW ...
05.01.2023 A Short History of the World, by H.G. Wells, Part 6 In more from this sleepy history, we take a tour of the glories of Greece and Persia, the brief blaze of Alexander, and the intellectual legacy of the Golden Age. Dreamy! Help us stay ad-free and 100% listener-supported! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/boringbookspod ...
04.24.2023 Harding's Lessons on Drawing, by J.D. Harding, Part 1 Let’s fall asleep to schooling in the fine art of drawing. We learn how to hold a pencil and draw a line, but only after the kind of lengthy introduction at which 19th century writers excelled. My favorite! Want to ...
04.17.2023 The Wealth of Nations, by Adam Smith, Part 2 Let’s sleep through the stress of Tax Day with more from this capital classic, learn the history of money, how diamonds are dumb, and why a cow’s worth of salt is…really too much salt. Want to support our equipment fundraiser? ...
04.10.2023 The 1916 Burpee's Seed Catalog, Part 1 Let’s take a sleepy browse through this marvelous catalog, just in time for spring. Vegetables, flowers, and novelties for the garden abound from America’s finest purveyor of plants. Want to support our equipment fundraiser? Here's the link! https://www.buymeacoffee.com/d5kcMsW/wishlist Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/boringbookspod ...
04.03.2023 Relaxation Rewind! The Voyage of The Bounty to the South Sea, by William Bligh, Part 1 In this remastered episode from the wayback, let’s take a relaxing trip aboard the good ship Bounty, which maybe you’ve heard of? It’s all breadfruit and bad weather (so far). Sleep ahoy! Help us stay ad-free and 100% listener-supported! Patreon: ...
03.27.2023 How to See the British Museum in Four Visits, by W.B. Jerrold, Part 2 Let’s return to the British Museum of the 19th century and complete our sleepy tour of birds of the world, from ducks to dodos. It’s case after case of curiosities for your tired mind! Help us stay ad-free and 100% ...
03.20.2023 Frye's Practical Candy Maker, by GV Frye, Part 1 Let’s relax into delicious dreams with this guide to confectionery. Learn the correct stripes for stick candy, the construction of “strawberry rock,” and the stages of sugar. Sweet! Help us stay ad-free and 100% listener-supported! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/boringbookspod Buy Me a ...
03.13.2023 Astronomy for Young Folks, by Isabel Martin Lewis, Part 7 Let's return to more sleepy science and ponder life on the moon, the makeup of meteorites, and the long, strange lives of comets as they wander through our universe. Spacey! Help us stay ad-free and 100% listener-supported! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/boringbookspod Buy ...
03.06.2023 Travels with a Donkey in the Cevennes, by Robert Louis Stevenson, Part 1 Let's begin a sleepy trip through the mountains of France, in which our novice author invents a sleeping bag, buys a donkey, and answers the question, “What could go wrong?” Help us stay ad-free and 100% listener-supported! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/boringbookspod Buy ...
02.27.2023 Relaxation Rewind! Biographical Sketch of Henry David Thoreau, by Ralph Waldo Emerson Let’s trip back in time two years ago (!!) and relax with this newly remastered paean of praise from one transcendentalist to another. We should all be so lucky to be spoken of like this. Help us stay ad-free and ...
02.20.2023 Etiquette, by Emily Post, Part 4 Let’s relax and sleep with more from Mrs. Post as she instructs us in the art of conversation, thinking before we speak, and avoiding unforgivable pretentiousness. Useful! Help us stay ad-free and 100% listener-supported! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/boringbookspod Buy Me a Coffee: ...
02.13.2023 On the Origin of Species, by Charles Darwin, Part 4 Drift to sleep with science as Darwin himself defines natural selection and the interconnectedness of all things. Also, we hear the archaic word “humble-bees,” which is adorable. Help us stay ad-free and 100% listener-supported! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/boringbookspod Buy Me a Coffee: ...
02.06.2023 The Problems of Philosophy, by Bertrand Russell, Part 2 This week let’s be lulled to sleep by deep thoughts about the nature of matter, and whether things exist if we’re not thinking about them. Who knows! It's philosophy. Help us stay ad-free and 100% listener-supported! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/boringbookspod Buy Me ...
01.30.2023 Manual of Egyptian Archaeology and Guide to Antiquities, Part 5 Let’s return to the sleepy sands of Egypt and learn all about tombs and pyramids. Secret passages, sarcophagi, and ghostly snacks will give your dreams something to feast on. Help us stay ad-free and 100% listener-supported! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/boringbookspod Buy Me ...
01.23.2023 Art in Needlework: Embroidery, by Lewis Day and Mary Buckle, Part 1 Let’s stitch our way to sleep with this handbook to the intricacies of embroidery. We’ll work our way through some basic stitches, learn a bit of history, and admire the art of craft. Help us stay ad-free and 100% listener-supported! ...
01.16.2023 The Principles of Chemistry, by Dmitri Mendeleev, Part 4 Let’s relax and sleep with more from a foundation of science. This time, we explore fundamentals of water, moisture, and the near-magical properties of solubility. Equations alert! Help us stay ad-free and 100% listener-supported! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/boringbookspod Buy Me a Coffee: ...
01.09.2023 The English Renaissance of Art, by Oscar Wilde, Part 1 Let’s relax with some aesthetic art ponderings from one of the greats of the late 19th century. It’s all Pre-Raphaelites and poetry, plus a poke at the English, as Wilde was wont. Help us stay ad-free and 100% listener-supported! Patreon: ...
01.02.2023 Faery Lands of the South Seas, by Hall & Nordhoff, Part 2 Let’s fight off winter’s chill with this relaxing return to the South Pacific. This time, we drift among Polynesian atolls, reflect on solitude, and learn about a friendly giant ghost dog. Dreamy! Help us stay ad-free and 100% listener-supported! Patreon: ...
12.26.2022 Relaxation Rewind! A Winter Walk, by Henry David Thoreau For this week of comfy pants and leftovers, let’s relax with a remastered fave and take a sleepy stroll through wintry woods. It’s a lovely meditation on a world asleep yet alive, and I hope you enjoy it. Help us ...
12.19.2022 The 1945 Sears Christmas Book, Part 1 Let’s relax and sleep with some shopping for the first Christmas after World War II. From fancy watches to educational toys and gaily wrapped vitamins, Sears has everything you need for a happy holiday. Help us stay ad-free and 100% ...
12.12.2022 The Book of Household Management, by Isabella Beeton, Part 9 - Soups and Ingredients Let’s curl up with a sleepy bowl of soup as the inimitable Mrs. Beeton walks us through recipes and the history of vegetables. If you aren’t boiling your carrots for three hours, are you even cooking? Help us stay ad-free ...
12.06.2022 In New England Fields & Woods, by Rowland Robinson, Part 1 This week, let’s relax and sleep amidst the snow-covered trees of New England, meditate on the hare, and enjoy the intricate histories written in a wood pile. It’s a particularly lovely one, friends. Enjoy! Help us stay ad-free and 100% ...
11.28.2022 Cassell's Book of Birds, Part 4: Parrots Continued Let’s relax and sleep with more about the clever parrot family, learn of celebrated chatty birds, and remind ourselves why getting a talking bird from a sailor isn’t always the best idea. Salty! Raffle Time! Everyone who supports us in ...
11.21.2022 Farm Engines & How to Run Them, Part 5 Let’s relax and sleep with more from this much-requested guide for engineers. This time, we answer a long list of frequently asked questions and learn all the ways to blow up a boiler. Useful! Raffle Time! Everyone who supports us ...
11.14.2022 Flatland, by Edwin A. Abbott, Part 3 This week, by multiple requests, let’s trip back into Flatland, hear about the mighty Circles, and take a confounding journey to Lineland. What is the “world” anyway? It’s just a matter of perspective. Raffle Time! Everyone who supports us in ...
11.07.2022 The ABC of Relativity, by Bertrand Russell, Part 2 Let’s relax and sleep with more mysteries of relativity, like the speed of light, why time isn’t time, and how a fake train robbery reveals that simultaneity doesn’t exist. Except when it does. Raffle Time! Everyone who supports us in ...
10.31.2022 The Book of Werewolves, by Sabine Baring-Gould, Part 1 Let’s relax and sleep with this totally true and accurate history of werewolves in ancient Greece, Rome, and the Norse sagas. Curiously, few actual werewolves get mentioned, but someone does get turned into a yarn spinner. Spooky! Help us stay ...
10.24.2022 Meditations, by Marcus Aurelius, Part 4 For our Four-Year Anniversary (wow!), let’s relax and sleep with more from Marcus Aurelius, including some thoughts about smelly armpits. Hey, personal diaries can't all be gems of wisdom. Help us stay 100% listener-supported and ad-free for all! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/boringbookspod ...
10.17.2022 Spices, Their Histories, Part 2 Let’s relax with more from one of our most requested books, hear the histories of ginger, mustard, nutmeg, and mace, and learn how to fake them all. Looking at you, naughty Connecticut! Help us stay 100% listener-supported and ad-free for ...
10.10.2022 Ten Acres Enough, by Edmund Morris, Part 2 We’re back from break! Let’s relax with more from a 19th century guide to running away to the country. This time, we buy a farm, fight peach worms, and praise the wisdom of wives, as one should. Help us stay ...

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