Boring Books for Bedtime Readings to Help You Sleep

In our annual celebration of Darwin Day, let's enjoy a relaxing read from this foundational text of science. This time, we finally get to natural selection, what it is, what it isn't, and why birds are so very, very pretty.   Help us stay ad-free and 100% listener-supported! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/boringbookspod Buy Me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/d5kcMsW   Read "On the Origin...

Let's continue the infamous voyage of HMS Bounty, which so far isn't too exciting. This time, lots of latitude and longitude marking, Fletcher Christian gets a promotion, we see a whale, and the attempt to round Cape Horn is...something less than successful.   Help us stay ad-free and 100% listener-supported! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/boringbookspod Buy Me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee...

Let's relax and sleep to advice about the latest fad, bicycling! We learn the art of efficient pedaling, passing safely, and climbing a hill with power and ease. Don't forget to pack your butter sandwiches.   Help us stay ad-free and 100% listener-supported! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/boringbookspod Buy Me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/d5kcMsW   Read "Bicycling for Ladies" at Projec...

Tonight, we relax and sleep with knowledge about Earth's magnetism, why the sky is blue, how rainbows happen, and the origin of auroras that paint northern and southern skies. Lovely!   Help us stay ad-free and 100% listener-supported! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/boringbookspod Buy Me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/d5kcMsW   Read "Astronomy for Young Folks" at Project Gutenberg: https...

In tonight's relaxing read, we cover the philosophies of Buddha, Confucius, and Lao Tse, then swing back to the origins of the Roman Empire, all in less than an hour. Short history indeed!   Help us stay ad-free and 100% listener-supported! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/boringbookspod Buy Me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/d5kcMsW   Read "A Short History of the World" at Project Gutenber...

Let's fall asleep to more about nature's supreme relaxers—cats! This time, we learn about the trainability of cats, the traits of three longhair breeds, and a tale about a deaf cat with a happy ending.   Help us stay ad-free and 100% listener-supported! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/boringbookspod Buy Me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/d5kcMsW   Read "Our Cats & All About Them" at Projec...

Let's kick off 2024 with another sleepy stroll across the sands of time to ancient Egypt. This time, we unravel the labyrinth of Saqqara, see how pyramids changed, and head to the vaunted Valley of the Kings. Dreamy!   Help us stay ad-free and 100% listener-supported! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/boringbookspod Buy Me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/d5kcMsW   Read "Manual of Egyptian Ar...

Let's set aside the commercial noise of the holidays and relax with this walk through the forest, appreciate the glories revealed by winter, and consider the turning of the year through the rhythms of life. Lovely!   Help us stay ad-free and 100% listener-supported! Everyone who supports us in December will be entered into our multi-prize Holiday Giveaway at the end of the month. Hurrah! Patreon:...

Let's head back to 1945 and see what's on everyone's Christmas list from Sears. This time, toys for the little scientist, holiday decorations, sporting gear, magazines, and the dream of every young man . . . slacks!   Help us stay ad-free and 100% listener-supported! Everyone who supports us in December will be entered into our multi-prize Holiday Giveaway at the end of the month. Hurrah! Patreon:...

Let's fall into a sweet sleep with more from the world of fine candy-making. This time, we learn to craft classy treats like Coconut Potatoes, Boston Chips, Baby Cream, and Strings of Comfort. I am not making any of those up.   Help us stay ad-free and 100% listener-supported! Everyone who supports us in December will be entered into our multi-prize Holiday Giveaway at the end of the month. Hurrah...

Let's relax with detailed instructions for the arts of gilding, silvering, and the making of curious inks and secret messages, all of which involve more muskrats, honey, and wolf's teeth than one might expect.   Help us stay ad-free and 100% listener-supported! Everyone who supports us in December will be entered into our multi-prize Holiday Giveaway at the end of the month. Hurrah! Patreon: https...

Let's wrap up Listener Request Month with the chronicle of the first solo sailing voyage around the world. Sail to sleep aboard the Spray as our captain builds his ship and starts an adventure most only dream of.   Help us stay ad-free and 100% listener-supported! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/boringbookspod Buy Me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/d5kcMsW   Read "Sailing Alone Around the...

Let's continue Listener Request Month with this delightfully thorough guide to train journeys. From reading a timetable to choosing the right portmanteau and hiring someone to throw gravel at your window, every practicality is considered.   Help us stay ad-free and 100% listener-supported! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/boringbookspod Buy Me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/d5kcMsW   Read...

Let's continue Listener Request Month with this guide to country buildings, by which I mean a treatise on the morality of housing, the meaning of beauty, and the art of proportion. Whatever it is, it's relaxing!   Help us stay ad-free and 100% listener-supported! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/boringbookspod Buy Me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/d5kcMsW   Read "The Architecture of Countr...

Let's kick off Listener Request Month with this classic, our first full "verse" offering. Scheming gods, shipwrecks, and heroic speeches, it's everything you want from an epic you just pretended to read in school.   Help us stay ad-free and 100% listener-supported! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/boringbookspod Buy Me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/d5kcMsW   Read "The Aeneid" at Project G...

Let's slip into spooky sleep with more about the origins of the werewolf, including Scandinavian berserkers and greedy nobles. Your brain will quietly howl with boredom.   Help us stay ad-free and 100% listener-supported! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/boringbookspod Buy Me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/d5kcMsW   Read "The Book of Werewolves" at Project Gutenberg: https://www.gutenberg....

Let's relax with more carby goodness as we learn about naughty bakers, how flour is made, and the terrible reputations of millers. Also, charts of chemical percentages, and I mangle some Chaucer. What *can't* bread do?   Help us stay ad-free and 100% listener-supported! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/boringbookspod Buy Me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/d5kcMsW   Read "The History of Brea...

Let's continue this sleepy journey through the mountains of France and encounter cantankerous farmers, lovely vistas, and the legendary Beast of Gevaudan, which ends rather anti-climactically, as legends so often do.   Help us stay ad-free and 100% listener-supported! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/boringbookspod Buy Me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/d5kcMsW   Read "Travels with a Donkey...

Let's drift off to more from this classic of politics. If you aren't backstabbing and being backstabbed, are you even governing? Not in 16th-century Europe, apparently!   Help us stay ad-free and 100% listener-supported! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/boringbookspod Buy Me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/d5kcMsW   Read "The Prince" at Project Gutenberg: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/12...

This week, we pack a trunk and head to Europe to practice art on a budget, learn where to live economically, who to study with, and the importance of taking your oldest underwear.   Help us stay ad-free and 100% listener-supported! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/boringbookspod Buy Me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/d5kcMsW   Read "Studying Art Abroad and How to Do It Cheaply" at the Inter...

Let's run away to the country and relax with more from this guide to the simple life, which seems to involve an inordinate amount of weeding. Also, blackberries of unusual size!   Help us stay ad-free and 100% listener-supported! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/boringbookspod Buy Me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/d5kcMsW   Read "Ten Acres Enough" at Project Gutenberg: https://www.gutenber...

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! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/boringbookspod Buy Me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/d5kcMsW   Read "Etiquette" at Project Gutenberg: https://gutenberg.org/ebook...

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 Me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/d5kcMsW   Read "How to Produce Amateur Plays" at Project Gutenberg: https:...

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% listener-supported! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/boringbookspod Buy Me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/d5kcMsW   Read "The ABC of Relativity" at Project Gute...

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: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/d5kcMsW   Read "Our National Parks" at Project Gutenberg: https://w...