# Recommend me books to help me sleep **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 23, 2018, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-books-to-help-me-sleep/821774 "2018-09-23T08:03:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mandala](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mandala/32/95_2.png) [@mandala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mandala)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2018, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-books-to-help-me-sleep/821774/1 "2018-09-23T08:03:48Z")
Been having a bit of insomnia lately. Too lazy to exercise. Cant focus enough to count sheep (cant get past 10). Don’t like electronic devices emitting radiation at night. So, I have decided to explore the immense potential of books to help me snooze. Recommend me dense, impenetrable, and/or boring books. I would appreciate books with pictures, preferably in black-and-white. I am thinking animal husbandry journals, lab manuals, and the like. Older the better - love keeping myself outdated. No philosophy or literature-heavy stuff please - it just pisses me off. Suggestions? BTW, what was the most boring book you ever read? ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2018, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-books-to-help-me-sleep/821774/2 "2018-09-23T14:49:49Z")
_Atlas Shrugged_ ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2018, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-books-to-help-me-sleep/821774/3 "2018-09-23T14:56:59Z")
Sorry no books to recommend but there are some great podcasts that work very well. My go to, free: [https://shazzie.com/free-sleep-app-for-everyone/](https://shazzie.com/free-sleep-app-for-everyone/) ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2018, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-books-to-help-me-sleep/821774/4 "2018-09-23T15:05:44Z")
[This book](https://www.amazon.com/Rabbit-Who-Wants-Fall-Asleep-ebook/product-reviews/B014TE1FLU/ref=cm_cr_dp_d_srvw_btm?ie=UTF8&reviewerType=all_reviews&sortBy=recent#R1JZ4BYX7ULQP5) for kids apparently puts a lot of parents to sleep as well. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2018, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-books-to-help-me-sleep/821774/5 "2018-09-23T15:22:58Z")
Back in high school, I couldn’t read more than a couple pages of _Moby Dick_ without falling asleep. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2018, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-books-to-help-me-sleep/821774/6 "2018-09-23T20:12:21Z")
Montaigne essays will do it for me. ---
**Author:** ![Alpha\_Twit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alpha_twit/32/265_2.png) [@Alpha\_Twit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alpha_Twit)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2018, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-books-to-help-me-sleep/821774/7 "2018-09-23T20:24:40Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > Back in high school, I couldn’t read more than a couple pages of _Moby Dick_ without falling asleep. seconded I always found _Readers Digest_ to be very relaxing. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2018, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-books-to-help-me-sleep/821774/8 "2018-09-23T20:52:44Z")
While I enjoyed reading _Guns, Germs, and Steel_ Diamond’s follow on book _Collapse_ just bored me to sleep over and over. I’d read a page or two, if that, and would find myself drowsy. So my rule of thumb: Find a book you liked okay by an author whose subsequent book was far less successful. Read that one. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2018, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-books-to-help-me-sleep/821774/9 "2018-09-23T23:56:44Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > Back in high school, I couldn’t read more than a couple pages of _Moby Dick_ without falling asleep. Beat me to it. ---
**Author:** ![Isosleepy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/isosleepy/32/479_2.png) [@Isosleepy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isosleepy)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2018, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-books-to-help-me-sleep/821774/10 "2018-09-24T03:12:22Z")
“Options trading: the hidden reality” by Charles Cottle. It is a rapidly working sleep-inducer. Oddly enough, it is also possibly one of the best books ever written on options trading. I’m better for having read it, but it took me a long long time. And I read about 3 books/week when not on vacation. ---
**Author:** ![pohjonen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pohjonen/32/423_2.png) [@pohjonen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pohjonen)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2018, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-books-to-help-me-sleep/821774/11 "2018-09-24T03:16:40Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > Back in high school, I couldn’t read more than a couple pages of _Moby Dick_ without falling asleep. Seconded. “Call me Ishmael”… zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2018, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-books-to-help-me-sleep/821774/12 "2018-09-24T03:19:18Z")
I know you specified books, but podcasts are recommended by a fair amount of sleep doctors. Key things on a podcast: 1. no annoying adds 2. can’t be too interesting but enough to kinda grab your interest 3. Avoid the hosts that sound like they just did a whole lot of meth. Boring monotone is much better For example, I’m a home brewer. There’s a podcast called basic brewing radio. Host and sidekick are my generation, make jokes I get, the subject matter can range from mildly related to something I’m really interested in, they general speak in a monotone, no adds, etc. Some of the programs that I really want to fully hear can take up to 10 repeats before I get through them since I fall asleep part way thru. It’s perfect for me and inducing sleep for me. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2018, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-books-to-help-me-sleep/821774/13 "2018-09-24T03:19:34Z")
Some heavy histories of the civil or revolutionary wars. Thick with dates, maps and hundreds of footnotes. Guaranteed. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2018, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-books-to-help-me-sleep/821774/14 "2018-09-24T03:38:22Z")
> [@China\_Guy](#): > > 1. Avoid the hosts that sound like they just did a whole lot of meth. Boring monotone is much better [https://www.sleepwithmepodcast.com](https://www.sleepwithmepodcast.com) This guy is boring as hell. ---
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2018, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-books-to-help-me-sleep/821774/15 "2018-09-24T03:45:00Z")
Podcasts with boring hosts **in a foreign language in which you can’t understand a word** - gold mine. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Civil\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d78d45/32.png) [@Civil\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Civil_Guy)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2018, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-books-to-help-me-sleep/821774/16 "2018-09-24T03:48:35Z")
All I have to do is have a notebook nearby where I can write about whatever profound thoughts I’m having at the moment. Works like a charm. I bore the heck out of me. ---
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2018, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-books-to-help-me-sleep/821774/17 "2018-09-24T03:50:53Z")
**The Emperor’s New Mind** by Roger Penrose. Fascinating but like walking in a swimming pool full of marbles. Or just get some math textbooks ---
**Author:** ![Alpha\_Twit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alpha_twit/32/265_2.png) [@Alpha\_Twit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alpha_Twit)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2018, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-books-to-help-me-sleep/821774/18 "2018-09-24T04:27:44Z")
> [@DavidwithanR](#): > > Or just get some math textbooks I’ve got a copy of [THE HISTORY OF MATHEMATICS](https://www.amazon.com/History-Mathematics-Carl-B-Boyer/dp/0470525487/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1537763074&sr=8-1&keywords=history+of+math) you can have. It’s less interesting than it sounds. Maybe [100,000 digits of Pi](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAYF2cYM_os) Opinions vary but I’ve never manged to get through anything by Victor Hugo. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2018, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-books-to-help-me-sleep/821774/19 "2018-09-24T05:35:54Z")
I had great luck with _Remembrance of Things Past/Swann’s Way._ Could not get more than a couple of pages in without feeling quite sleepy. It was my bedtime read for years. Just lulled me right to sleep. Yes it’s a literary classic, so not what you asked for–or what you asked not for. But hey, if it works… Also, both my husband and I had trouble reading the whole Dr. Seuss classic _The Sleep Book_ to our kids without falling asleep our own selves. We would attempt to skip pages. Uh, by accident. Our kids would catch it. But by the end they were sleepy too. If we made it to the end. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2018, 9:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-books-to-help-me-sleep/821774/20 "2018-09-24T09:46:23Z")
Anything by Thomas Pynchon. mmm [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-books-to-help-me-sleep/821774.md?page=2)