There’s nothing quite like curling up somewhere cosy – perhaps with a snug blanket and hot drink – to get lost in a good book. For many people, reading for pleasure is an evening activity and a way of unwinding and calming the mind after the busyness of the day. Perhaps you like to settle down in an easy chair with soft lighting, candles or, in winter, a roaring fire. You might enjoy sitting out in your garden on a warm summer’s evening and reading as dusk falls. Or maybe you look forward to getting under the covers with a book taken from the to-read pile on your bedside table. Whatever your preference, sleep experts agree that reading is a gentle activity that, for some, can aid a good night’s sleep.
Make it personal
Neil Stanley, from Hampshire in the UK, is director of sleep science at sleepstation.org.uk and co-author of A Sleep Divorce: How to Sleep Apart, Not Fall Apart. He says that while much is written about so-called good sleep hygiene – from choosing the right pillow or lighting to using essential oils like lavender or taking a hot bath before bed – getting a good night’s rest doesn’t have to be complicated or require an elaborate routine. ‘All you need is a body that is relaxed enough to sleep and a mind that is quiet enough to sleep,’ he says.
What that looks like is individual, but there’s no denying that human beings need sleep. It allows the body to rest after the day’s activities, as well as undergo repair, such as rebuilding tissues and recovering from injuries. It also restores mental energy and provides downtime for the brain to do important work, reinforcing memories and reorganising and restructuring itself – known as neuroplasticity. Neil says that while the much-lauded aim of getting eight hours of sleep a night won’t suit everybody – because everyone’s requirements are individual – most people need somewhere between six and 10 hours: ‘Your focus should be getting the sleep you need. If you feel awake, alert and focused during the day, then you’re getting enough sleep.’
Don’t overcomplicate it
Sleep experts tend to suggest that people do only two activities in bed – sleeping and intimacy. That means no lounging if the intention isn’t to sleep, no TV and no eating. The one exception that Neil makes to this rule is reading, revealing that he likes to read for several hours in bed each evening before switching out the light. ‘It distracts the mind from the cares and worries of the day,’ he says. ‘Reading isn’t a passive activity – you have to concentrate and become involved in the book. If you aren’t paying attention, then you aren’t reading, so it’s the ultimate wind-down. You’re aiming for a relaxed body and a quiet mind for sleep, and books do that.’
He adds that it’s also useful for those prone to the type of insomnia that causes wakefulness in the middle of the night: ‘You can’t quieten your mind by lying in the dark with racing thoughts or tossing and turning. Try sitting up, turning the lamp on and reading until you feel sleepy again.’ And if you still don’t drop off, enjoying a peaceful night with a good book is better than getting stressed about not sleeping, which will raise your cortisol levels and make you feel frazzled before you even start the new day.
Keep it pleasurable
In December 2019, a group of 991 people took part in The Reading Trial, an online randomised programme run by research portal The People’s Trial, which posed the question: ‘Does reading a book in bed make a difference to sleep, in comparison to not reading a book in bed?’ Members of the public were invited to take part via social media campaigns and asked to either read a book at bedtime – or not – for seven days, while noting their sleep quality.
The trial concluded that the former improved sleep quality, with 42 per cent of those in the group who read at bedtime and finished the trial saying they slept better as a result. This might be because while activities such as watching TV and scrolling social media disturb the production of melatonin – a natural hormone that helps manage the sleep-wake cycle – reading can decrease cognitive arousal by steering your focus towards one relaxing activity. Neil’s co-author, Jennifer Adams, from Brisbane, Australia, is an avid reader and says she always reads in bed before switching off the light: ‘It’s part of my bedtime ritual and it feels like my little escape at the end of the day.’
Your reading of choice depends on personal preference. Jennifer likes to delve into a good novel whereas Neil enjoys historical non-fiction and biographies. One thing they agree on is that your reading matter should be chosen for pleasure, because it interests you and provides a form of mental escapism, and shouldn’t be related to work or anything that’s likely to trigger overthinking. For example, because Neil is a sleep researcher, he avoids reading about sleep science at night. If you find watching the news causes anxiety, you might be wise to avoid current-affairs magazines at bedtime.
Linda Murray runs independent bookshop Books Paper Scissors in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and says she can’t get to sleep without a book. ‘It’s a form of self-soothing,’ she says. ‘These days, a lot of people have forgotten how to do that because they spend so much time looking at screens.’ Linda even keeps a book of short stories on her bedside table for those times ‘when I’ve just finished a book and I’m not quite ready for sleep yet’. She adds: ‘If I don’t read at bedtime, I can’t get my mind to switch off. I find it hard to calm my mind without it.’
Find your spot
For many bookworms, reading in bed is the ideal – you’re perfectly positioned to reach over and turn off the light when you start to feel sleepy. But if you prefer to keep your bed as a space for sleeping only, you can also enjoy a pre-bedtime read in another quiet location. Emma Whitehall is a bookseller at The Bound, in Whitley Bay, north-east England, and author of young-adult titles including Clockwork Magpies and, most recently, Heretical. She says: ‘I sit on the sofa with my reading lamp and my cat, Nina, asleep somewhere nearby. I read for about 45 minutes before going to bed and it’s the part of my day when everything is quiet and peaceful. It definitely helps to quiet my mind before sleep.’
You might, of course, share a bed with a partner who doesn’t appreciate you sitting up reading beside them. In their book, Jennifer and Neil discuss the case for couples sleeping in separate bedrooms to improve their sleep quality. In fact, one of the reasons Jennifer enjoys sleeping apart from her husband Fraser is that it enables her to read in bed. ‘He’s a lark and I’m an owl, so he goes to bed much earlier than me,’ she says. ‘Reading in bed is the way I fall asleep, so when I’m in a separate room I know I won’t disturb him with the light or the noise of the pages turning.’ You can also buy reading lights that clip onto the cover of a book, so the pages are illuminated but the rest of the room remains dark, as another way of reading without disturbing a partner or child who shares the room.
Whether you choose to read in bed or in an easy chair as part of your evening wind-down, a book at bedtime might help to improve your sleep. On occasion, it could be that a plot is so gripping it has the opposite effect – you can’t put it down. If this happens and you find yourself totally engrossed in a book into the small hours, Jennifer has one tip: ‘Enjoy it. We don’t want puritanism – life is for living. The occasional disturbed night because you’re reading a fantastic book is fine, as long as it doesn’t happen every night.’
Chapter and verse
Top tips for night-time reads
- Choose wisely. If you want a good night’s sleep, select material that’s engrossing and provides an escape – nothing work-related.
- Set the scene. Whether it’s a cold winter’s night or a balmy summer’s evening, you could opt for something atmospheric to match your setting.
- Consider genre. If you’re easily spooked, a murder mystery or ghost story might be best avoided. Think about what you need to soothe your state of mind.
- Use soft lighting. You want to be able to see the words without straining your eyes, but the room shouldn’t be so bright that it disrupts melatonin production. A reading lamp works well.
- Short stories. If you keep a book of short stories on your bedside table, you’ve got something else to read if you finish your book before you feel sleepy.