I envy people who go to bed and drop straight off to sleep then don’t move for eight hours until they awake the next morning refreshed, rejuvenated and irritatingly bloody chirpy!
I go to bed, list the things I forgot to do that day, list the things I need to do the next, wonder if I’ve upset anyone, think about what I can do to make up for any faux pas whether real or imaginary, wonder if I locked the back door, think about world peace and if there are aliens and if there are do they look like us and if so is Tom Cruise one?
Anyway, sleep is something that arrives when it feels like rather than at bedtime and I often end up reading into the wee hours; thank goodness science says reading is a good thing.
Reading (real books, your e-readers with backlights are a no no) has been proven to relax and de-stress you, helping you to fall asleep more easily; so if you’re like me and you struggle to drift off, move your bedtime forward an hour and take one of these 10 Books for Insomniacs to bed with you.
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle – Haruki Murakami
A beautiful book that floats between dreams and reality; Toru Okada has lived a blameless but boring life and now it’s been turned upside down as he embarks on a bizarre journey, guided (however obscurely) by a succession of characters, each with a tale to tell.
Buy The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle US
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Madeleine Is Sleeping – Sarah Shun-lien Bynum
Beautifully poetic prose lead you through a fantasy land that is inextricably intertwined with the reality of life for Madeleine, a young French girl who falls into a coma like sleep. Her dreams are vivid, occasionally erotic, often grotesque, and always blurring into the real world where her family resides.
Einstein’s Dreams – Alan Lightman
Einstein’s Dreams is a fictional collage of stories where he imagines many possible worlds. In one, time is circular, so that people are fated to repeat triumphs and failures over and over. In another, there is a place where time stands still, visited by lovers and parents clinging to their children. In another, time is a nightingale, sometimes trapped by a bell jar. A fascinatingly beautiful book that will gently lull you off to sleep.
The Reluctant Fundamentalist – Mohsin Hamid
Another beautifully written novel The Reluctant Fundamentalist is a book that will feel like you’re the one being read to. With its intelligent, narrative prose it is the perfect bedtime companion.
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Delights & Shadows – Ted Kooser
Read yourself to sleep with these poetic lullabies that will leave you feeling all warm and fussy inside. My personal favourite;
A Winter Morning
“A farmhouse window far back from the highway
speaks to the darkness in a small, sure voice.
against this stillness, only a kettle’s whisper,
and against the starry cold,
one small blue ring of flame.”
The English Patient – Michael Ondaatje
The story of Hana and her enigmatic patient, an Englishman, badly burned and with no memory of who he is and with nothing but a copy of The Histories by Herodotus, covered with hand-written notes describing a painful and ultimately tragic love affair. A perfect bedside companion book.
The Ocean At The End of the Lane – Neil Gaiman
Perhaps not one for the fearful, this is one of my favourite books from Neil. Our narrator is in an epic battle against the forces of dark and his only allies are three woman, one of whom remembers the Big Bang and another who claims her duck pond is an ocean. A modern day fable that just needs fluffy pillows and a cup of cocoa to make it perfection.
Buy The Ocean At The End of the Lane US
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The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas – John Boyne
Short enough to be read in one night, this is a stunningly written novel written through the eyes of a child caught up in Nazi Germany. If you read through to the end I guarantee you will have to go and check on your own children and kiss their sleeping faces in gratitude.
Buy The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas US
Buy The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas UK
One Hundred Years of Solitude – Gabriel García Márquez
A liltingly lovely tale that tells the story of one mythical town’s history through seven generations of the unforgettable Buendía family. Blending fantasy and reality this novel is a must have for anyone’s nightstand.
Buy One Hundred Years of Solitude US
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Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance – Robert Pirsig
Everybody needs a copy of this book; a father and son’s month long motorcycle trip becomes a journey of enlightenment through the father’s discussions on what is good what bad and how we can differentiate between the two, read this and have your very own ‘chautauka’.
Buy Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance US
Buy Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance UK
Good night and sweet dreams.
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