Boring Books for Bedtime Readings to Help You Sleep

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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.

Recent Episodes
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Recent Reviews
  • AlisonBecca
    Sleep training
    She really has trained my brain to fall asleep. I love this podcast.
  • zck289
    top sleep pod for me
    every now and the voice tonality & pacing can throw me off… but overall it’s my go-to sleep podcast. the book choices are great! i cue up the nature, history, and geography ones and i’m smooth sleeping most of the time :) i usually fall asleep quickly, and on the occasion that i don’t it’s still a soothing journey
  • Stout Caleb271
    Love it
    It helps me fall asleep every night.
  • YnotBloom
    Never fails to bore me to sleep.
    Discovered this podcast about a year ago. Occasionally, my brain rush won’t let be sleep. When listening to this podcast, I rarely , if ever, make it to the end of one! Great tool in my non-pharmaceutical arsenal of nighty-night toolbox.
  • anickt
    This works!
    The overall presentation is exactly what I was looking for and very effective at making me relax and fall asleep. Thank you!
  • ❤️🦋🥐🍪
    I love this so much 🌺🌸
    I used to not be able to sleep most nights no matter what podcast I tried. There is no advertising which is amazing! Also this podcast is boring on purpose people 😒 its meant for sleeping 😴. The only suggestion I have is to make the music a bit quieter. Other than that it is perfect 🤩! I fall asleep almost every time.
  • .d.rock.
    Use to wind ⬇️
    I use this to wind down when my mind is rushing and or stressing but when I what to fall asleep some time the mumbling is just not like sleepily enough but otherwise it’s a AWESOME sleep pod thank you so much for making this you had the AWESOMEST India of making this Adios Mi amigos/a
  • Travisl1675
    Great
    Listen every night and hardly ever hear the back half of an episode
  • dogepopcat
    Great podcast for sleeping 😴
    Thank you so much for making this podcast! I am an 11 year old boy who used to get 4 hours of sleep a day until I found this podcast! This helps me fall asleep every time. I feel like I could fall asleep right n— 😴💤. Note to haters: stop 🛑 sharing your negative opinions about this podcast! All it does is get fans angry! If you don’t like the podcast then don’t listen. Don’t go through all the trouble of starting fights. (Looking at you Andrei Virvnov)
  • kiwikero
    Never lets me down
    I have had trouble falling asleep for my entire adult life, and while various things have worked for a time, nothing has lasted. So far this podcast has knocked me out every single night. They’re soothing, somehow boring and intriguing at the same time, and—I cannot stress this enough—have NO ADS. No jarring voices or music to interrupt the relaxation. I am so grateful to have found this podcast. Now I’m off to sleep…
  • Andrei Vironov
    Just ASMR and music
    If, like me, you find the cloying, pornographic tones of ASMR make you want to scream, then this is not for you. Regular podcasts, (where people speak with purpose) make me sleepy but then they have ads that shout at you suddenly. This podcast tries to be sleep-inducing but it is just aggravating. The music is unnecessary. The reader seems to think that making hushed love to the microphone is soporific - it isn’t.
  • 🙁😟😟😡
    Very nice
    😌 relaxing✨
  • AudieArn
    Absolute Perfection in a Sleepcast!
    I have tried them all, multiple times. This is the gold standard and it owes this to the incredibly soothing voice and delivery of the narrator in combination with gentle-ish books that can actually be quite interesting! Sometimes I actually try to stay awake to hear them, but that lulling narrator works her magic and soon I am in a deep sleep. I write this as a hardened insomniac who has tried everything. I’m very grateful to this podcast— thank you so much!!!
  • Pig879
    Great!
    I rated it three stars because when I listen to it, I can hear these glitchy/fuzzy sounds in between every few words, I’m not sure what is, but it’s annoying. Over all, it’s really good podcast.
  • Kimneu
    Just What I Needed
    Perfect for calming your mind to fall asleep listening to boring content and the most soothing voice. It’s like sitting in a lack luster lecture and allowing yourself to give in to nodding off.
  • MIUEeea
    perfect
    everything about this podcast is perfect 💚💚💚
  • —--Anonymous——
    Da G.O.A.T. Podcast
    Da best! Too good!
  • Entiendomasquehablo
    Soup fans
    My five year old loves this podcast but will only listen to the book of household management part 10 on repeat. She only wants to hear about the soups. But… it works and for that I am very grateful.
  • Spenswah
    Stop searching
    You’ve arrived at *the* best sleep cast! Spent a lot of time (and sleepless nights) looking for a sleep cast. Some had readers with grating voices and rhythms. Others’ content was painfully boring. Handy’s voice and cadence is superbly soothing - warm, comforting, and gentle. The readings she curates are equally superb. Topics - and the range of them - are interesting engaging enough to quiet my brain chatter but dusty enough to overstimulate my thoughts. Enjoying the topics is a HUGE help in relieving my bedtime anxiety. I genuinely look forward to new episodes or looking through past episodes for topics that suit my mood.
  • fhcgijvgfgzfg
    Amazing
    I have never heard the end of an episode. 100/10
  • Sydviciousbish
    Thank you so much
    This podcast helps me so much to sleep. Your voice is so soothing to sleep. I love how plain you sound so I don’t have anything to be surprised about. You are my go to every night
  • Miniplen
    Boring in a Good Way
    I love this podcast because it does two things: 1) It helps me fall to sleep. 2) It helps me fall back to sleep when I wake up in the middle of the night and my brain decides it wants to have a talk.
  • Billf511
    Boring Books for Bedtime
    Falling asleep can be the hardest part of my day. Sharon Handy has saved my sanity. She has the most boring (and I mean this as the HUGEST compliment ever!), soft, calming voice ever! The Sears catalog, Emily post… I’ve tried lots of podcasts to help me sleep, but BBfB is the very best!
  • Dchbjcdbwn
    It helps me go to sleep
    Approved
  • tnsmkymtns
    Interesting and not too boring
    I know these stories are suppose to be boring but they are also interesting. I usually fall asleep before one is finished so end up listening to the same ones each night until I finish an entire story. Thanks for doing this podcast!!
  • Emaudrey
    Sears catalog readings help me 💤🥱
    My boyfriend and I love this podcast we listen almost every night to have an easy sleep. Our favorites are the sears catalog readings. I wish there were so many more we listen to those few the most. All of these are amazing, thank you for giving us a piece of calm at the end of the day ❤️
  • Kawast
    Perfect way to fall asleep
    Sharon clearly takes care in the books she chooses, and has a uniquely soothing voice! I look forward to listening every night, and to falling asleep fast!
  • S.E.Bush
    Ideal Qualities to a Restful Bedtime Sleep Podcast
    It’s obvious that you have given a great deal of thought to making this a successful podcast. Your soft, well modulated but not robotic voice shares readings in a healing, restorative manner. And I love your well chosen tooics. Often, I drift off listening to an interesting reading and must come back to it during the daytime to catch up on the entire story! If we knew one another, I’m sure we’d be friends. 🙏 thanks and blessinga. Sandra
  • shajav
    Nice
    Cool podcast Dani approved ☺️😌
  • Akmerch422
    I think I love it!
    However it’s hard to judge as I have always drifted off to sleep within 10 minutes off having this on!
  • Amewx
    Perfect
    There are a lot of sleep podcasts, but this is the only one that works for me. The books chosen are just interesting enough to make me want to listen for a minute, let go, and fall asleep. Too boring and I keep thinking about my day, too interesting and I’m up listening, so it’s a delicate balance. Thank you.
  • PodcastListenerEmily
    Good concept, thankful it’s accessible
    Good stuff!
  • strokleður
    5 stars
    wow
  • 5suace
    5+ stars
    Such a sweet and soothing voice, I fall asleep to this podcast every night! 🖤
  • EnamelT
    Best sleepy podcast evah
    Great selection of mildly interesting boring books. My favorites are the ones where the preface goes on for half an hour… well, maybe it goes longer but I’m asleep by then.
  • Fluffster Normalpaws
    Fun fun fun
    I cannot rave enough. I can’t even. Where to begin the raving. This is so fun!! I don’t listen to it at bedtime, just for getting thru the day. It’s kind of interesting and funny and a window into the past. That’s the coolest part. It’s like time travel! Thank you so much 😄💕👍
  • Cache :)
    Perfect for sleep
    Me and my siblings love to listen to the podcast, the calming voice, the books, just everything is right, i hope for nothing but the best to you and the listeners, Goodnight 😊
  • TheCozyPlantFriend
    Outstanding Sleep Podcast
    This show is criminally underrated! I’ve been listening to various sleep pods for 3 years now, and this particular narrator does a phenomenal job. Many other shows get overly “breathy” and the reader’s voice comes across as being rather aggressive. Boring Books really sounds like a parent gently reading you a bedtime story, her voice is so smooth and soft. And the pieces read on the show are great for falling asleep. My personal faves are the old “scientific” books, because much of these obscure theories are not factually correct, it gives your brain a very tangled tangent to follow right to sleep.
  • BrianHR
    I love this podcast
    I listen most middle-of-the-nights and her soft voice lulls me back to sleep.
  • elizabethayes
    Definitely recommend for tinnitus, insomnia, nightmares, all your sleep ailments.
    This podcast really helps to lull me to sleep, I don’t do well with silence and tv/radio can be too jarring. But this is just buttery smooth reading and I enjoy the selections they pick too.
  • GoGophersUMN
    More Sears Catalog!
    Never in my life did I think I would be listening to a narration of ye olde Sears catalog so I could fall asleep. Please do more! They are by far the best!
  • RNBren13
    Sweet dreams at last
    Sharon reads perfectly with a nice pace for lulling me sleep. I never make it through the whole episode. My favorites are The Book of Household Management, The Sears and Roebuck Catalog, Emily Post and Charles Darwin.
  • E Hart C
    Great for bed 💤🛌
    This podcast is perfect if you have trouble sleeping. The narrator’s voice is very relaxing and always helps me fall asleep.
  • aerials22
    A Miracle
    I have had chronic insomnia for 15 years - progressively needing more and more OTC and prescription medication. But my mind would just keep going, and I couldn’t stop thinking. Then a friend introduced Boring Books to me 3 weeks ago, and well, I have had a good nights sleep ever since! I’m slowly weaning myself off meds, too! I am so grateful, thank you!
  • moo.m.evans
    Sleep without stress!
    Anxiety no longer keeps me up until the early hours of the morning thanks to this podcast, easy to focus on for a time to quiet my thoughts, but I also don’t care enough about it to stay awake for it. Side note:I’ve also noticed my dog goes to sleep faster when it’s playing!
  • CrazyMamaBee
    Brilliant! Selection of readings is a delightful hodgepodge
    Highly recommend. My favorite are the Sears & Roebuck catalogs. 📚📘📗📕
  • Ella_Loves_Cheesecake
    ❤️
    Love it ❤️❤️❤️ my personal favorite isEtiquette
  • oscar hardwood
    It’s so easy to sleep
    These podcasts are so good but still got nightmares
  • Colors 4 all
    Best episode!
    There is no better book than “The Book of Household Management” to put me straight to sleep with a smile! Thank you!
  • UnKoWn 72
    You have not lived until you have tried this
    Amazing wow and yessssssss
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