Reading before Bedtime

[vivalarevolución]

So this week, I have made an effort to read before I went to sleep.  In addition to my brain appreciating the high quality fiction, I seem to be sleeping better than other before bed activities such as surfing the interwebs or chatting with my roommates.  I wake up easier, and start the day in a happier mood.  Anybody else have a similar experience?  Is there some sort of science behind this personal phenomenon?

[tp4tissue]

So this week, I have made an effort to read before I went to sleep.  In addition to my brain appreciating the high quality fiction, I seem to be sleeping better than other before bed activities such as surfing the interwebs or chatting with my roommates.  I wake up easier, and start the day in a happier mood.  Anybody else have a similar experience?  Is there some sort of science behind this personal phenomenon?

reading is hypnotic and equivalent to watching tv, in that there is Generally very little brain activity..   (this is assuming you KNOW how to read, and are not still learning to read)

Obviously there's a difference between a math book  /  story book..

[katushkin]

Well apparently there is a theory where no activities involving "blue light" (computers, phones, TV) for like 1/2 hours before bedtime gives you a better night's sleep

[osi]

reading at night makes me so sleepy. I still wake up like an ******* everyday so I don't think it helps me there :/

lol

[Lastpilot]

Going to sleep in a new Bugatti usually helps me sleep better.

[SpAmRaY]

Yeah I've always read viewing a computer, tv etc causes to much stimulation and it isn't good to do before bedtime. But neither is drinking diet mt dew and I do both...I buy books to read and just pile them up....maybe one day.

[dorkvader]

reading is hypnotic and equivalent to watching tv, in that there is Generally very little brain activity..   (this is assuming you KNOW how to read, and are not still learning to read)

Obviously there's a difference between a math book  /  story book..

Interesting: reading for me is highly visual, rather than watching TV which isn't.

I read before bed just about every night, and my sleep quality is highly variable. I suspect that in my case there are other factors that weigh on it more.

[HoffmanMyster]

Going to sleep in a new Bugatti usually helps me sleep better.

I find that I also wake up better as well.

[Grim Fandango]

I always read before bed. The only problem I have that I can get so into it that I go to sleep too late.

Currently reading "Words of Radiance" by Brandon Sanderson. I really like reading these kind of epic fantasy series before bed. Though it is not the only genre that I read.

[eth0s]

Yes, the blue light thing is real.  Don't play video games or watch TV before bed.  Reading is excellent before bed.  But make sure you read something dry and boring.  Biographies and non-fiction books are excellent for this purpose.  But, whatever you read, DO NOT read Stephen King's "The Shining" before bed.  You will be too sh!t-scared to sleep. 

[dorkvader]

I always read before bed. The only problem I have that I can get so into it that I go to sleep too late.

Currently reading "Words of Radiance" by Brandon Sanderson. I really like reading these kind of epic fantasy series before bed. Though it is not the only genre that I read.

best book!

[iri]

this paper on deterministic parallelism is surely hypnotic.

[paicrai]

... wank?

[C5Allroad]

Reading in general. I will read tons of threads before I fall asleep. I'm still a complete ass when I wake up though. After I eat, I'm okay lol.

[paicrai]

anyone tried listening to music before sleep? is rly gud

[Grim Fandango]

I always read before bed. The only problem I have that I can get so into it that I go to sleep too late.

Currently reading "Words of Radiance" by Brandon Sanderson. I really like reading these kind of epic fantasy series before bed. Though it is not the only genre that I read.

best book!

Awesome, someone else who likes this series!

I randomly bought The Way of Kings one day and instantly loved it. Ordered the second book after I was only about 100 pages in.

[Harrowed]

When I was teenager I read very often before bedtime but when I got older it transferred into late night computer sessions which wasn't that good thing. I think it caused some disturbed sleep and insomnia. During this year I've transferred to reading again and I think it has improved my sleep a lot.

By the way it's pretty funny to think that when I was teenager I mostly read only novels - and not just fantasy and science fiction, I read lots of crime fiction too. I think I read all Agatha Christie's works at some point when I was around 13-15 and later everything from Henning Mankell. And what do I read now when I'm on my twenties? Comic books.

[fohat.digs]

I have almost always read before bedtime and that means from the mid-1960s on.

Depending on time-exhaustion-mental state-inebriation, whatever, the time period could be anywhere from 10 minutes to 2 hours.

As a general rule, these days, I read a moderately challenging book for about 20 minutes. Deeper books are more engrossing but simultaneously quicker to tire and confuse the reader. And you probably lose the last few sentences-paragraphs-pages as you fall off.

I recommend higher-quality yet lower-level novels for bedtime. Science Fiction and Steampunk work great.

[davkol]

anyone tried listening to music before sleep? is rly gud

Depends on genre. I tried binaural beats at one point and it helped me fall into deep sleep, but felt a bit annoying. I eventually replaced this sort of sound by chillout/ambient OSTs and it's worked great, but anything catchy/complex rather stimulates me, which is something I obviously don't want.

I used to read and tried listening to audiobooks, but it annoyed me that I didn't know the next day, at which point I lost track.

[Oobly]

I always read before sleep. Helps me the most when I'm not yet tired, the act of reading while lying down seems to help me get of to sleepyland.

The last couple of years I read ebooks from my Galaxy Note and now Note 2. Seems to be just as good as a "normal" book, even though I'm reading from a screen. Usually my wife switches off the light before I'm done, so I use a Screen Filter app to reduce the brightness and use light coloured text on dark background. Makes little enough light that it doesn't bother her and remains readable for me without causing eyestrain. Love my Note 2. 

[Melvang]

I must be the odd ball here again as well as other topics found here on GH.  I find reading more stimulating mentally than TV.  Even when reading fiction.  But I tend to read Stephen King, Jeffery Deaver, R.A. Salvotore (Dark Elf books).  I gets my imagination going into overdrive.  Watching a movie on the other hand, out like a light.  The two best things that help me sleep better are having a fan pointing at me regardless of the temp.  And having to learn to sleep on an aircraft carrier with the catapult track running right through the berthing.  Imagine a 12 ton block of steel running down a steel track with no wheels, bearings, or rollers at 160 mph and slamming into another solid steel block.  If you can sleep through that, you can sleep though the tornado in The Wizard of Oz.

[nubbinator]

I always read before bed up until the point I can't keep my eyes open.  I've done it ever since I was a kid.  I have to be careful though since some book make me not want to put the book down.

[rowdy]

I read before bed (or actually after I get into bed).

Twitter first.

Then I check App of the Day.

Then I look for some new wallpapers (although their app hasn't shown anything new for a long time - I think everyone's moved to a different app or something).

After that I might read a chapter or so of a story, although most nights I am late to bed and don't really have time to do what I do anyway.