Published by Sharon Handy
Boring Books for Bedtime is a weekly, ad-free, AI-free 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 balance 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.
Listen on Apple Podcasts46 min
Let's kick off a new theme month I'm calling The Wayback Machine, in which we relax with works that have slipped out of rotation for a few years. First, it's back to the beehive, with the rearing of queens, the mathematical superiority of the hexagon, and how the weirdness of royal jelly…proves religion? Way to combine your interests, Reverend. 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 Hive and the Honey-Bee" by Rev. L.L. Langstroth at Project Gutenberg: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/24583 Music: "earth 2 earth," by PC III, licensed under CC BY If you'd like to suggest a copyright-free reading for soft-spoken relaxation to help you overcome insomnia, anxiety and other sleep issues, connect on our website, https://www.boringbookspod.com .
57 min
Let's relax and sleep with one of the most spectacularly dull books ever written on the art of running meetings. This time, amendments, appeals, laying things on the table, and forming committees. It's like a tone poem of boring bureaucracy. Perfection! 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 "Robert's Rules of Order" by Major Henry M. Robert at Project Gutenberg: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/9097 Music: "Calling to Other Worlds" by Lee Rosevere, licensed under CC BY, https://leerosevere.bandcamp.com If you'd like to suggest a copyright-free reading for soft-spoken relaxation to help you overcome insomnia, anxiety and other sleep issues, connect on our website, https://www.boringbookspod.com .
58 min
Let's ride the sands of time to sleep as we learn more about manor life in the year 1300. This time, the construction of St. Aliquis, its "modernized" defensive fortifications, and how status is measured by who gets two armrests and The Good Bed. Same as it ever was, really. 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 "Life on a Medieval Barony" by William Stearns Davis at Project Gutenberg: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/46455 Music: "Dream Colours" by Lee Rosevere, licensed under CC BY, https://leerosevere.bandcamp.com If you'd like to suggest a copyright-free reading for soft-spoken relaxation to help you overcome insomnia, anxiety and other sleep issues, connect on our website, https://www.boringbookspod.com .
44 min
Let's journey to sleep with science as we learn more about Einstein's radical new theory of relativity, why geometry is physics when it comes to space-time, and how light spectrums reveal directions of travel. Is it difficult to understand? Eh, it's all relative. 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" by Bertrand Russell at Project Gutenberg: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67104 Music: "Boring Books for Bedtime" by Lee Rosevere, licensed under CC BY, https://leerosevere.bandcamp.com If you'd like to suggest a copyright-free reading for soft-spoken relaxation to help you overcome insomnia, anxiety and other sleep issues, connect on our website, https://www.boringbookspod.com .
53 min
Let's celebrate the sparkliest time of the year with more from this detailed guide to fireworks. This time, rules about their manufacture, the lackadaisical habits and accidents that led to those rules, good factory design, and why mixing potash and sulfur is…not a good idea. Boom! 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 "Pyrotechnics: The History & Art of Firework Making" at Project Gutenberg: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/64922 Music: "Peace" by Lee Rosevere, licensed under CC BY, https://leerosevere.bandcamp.com If you'd like to suggest a copyright-free reading for soft-spoken relaxation to help you overcome insomnia, anxiety and other sleep issues, connect on our website, https://www.boringbookspod.com .
50 min
Let's conclude our month of travels with more from this helpful yet somewhat snarky guide to riding that newfangled device, the steam train. This time, advice for the journey itself, including how to read a book, have a chat, fall asleep, rush the snack bar, and avoid losing your head out the window. All aboard 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 "The Railway Traveller's Handy Book" at the Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/railwaytraveller00unse Music: "Healing" by Lee Rosevere, licensed under CC BY, https://leerosevere.bandcamp.com If you'd like to suggest a copyright-free reading for soft-spoken relaxation to help you overcome insomnia, anxiety and other sleep issues, connect on our website, https://www.boringbookspod.com .
49 min
Let's continue our pleasant plod to sleep with more from Mr. Stevenson and Modestine as they make their way through the mountains of France. This time, quite a lot of philosophizing about the lasting nature of belief, getting along, sleeping outdoors, and the poetry of stars. The donkey says nothing. 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 in the Cevennes" by Robert Louis Stevens at Project Gutenberg: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/535 Music: "earth 2 earth," by PC III, licensed under CC BY If you'd like to suggest a copyright-free reading for soft-spoken relaxation to help you overcome insomnia, anxiety and other sleep issues, connect on our website, https://www.boringbookspod.com .
51 min
Let's continue our sail to sleep through a month of travel readings with more from this wonderful wander through the South Seas. This time, another interesting fellow passenger, notes on linguistics, a scary reef crossing, and…the island version of a kegger? Cheers! 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 "Faery Lands of the South Seas" by Hall & Nordhoff at Project Gutenberg: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/54479 Music: "Ocean Tapping," by PC III, licensed under CC BY If you'd like to suggest a copyright-free reading for soft-spoken relaxation to help you overcome insomnia, anxiety and other sleep issues, connect on our website, https://www.boringbookspod.com .
52 min
Let's continue our sojourn to sleep through a month of travel readings with more from Charles Dickens and his tour through Italy. This time, we conclude our visit to Genoa, have a strange experience with puppets, an even stranger visit to Marseilles, and consider that things are often more beautiful seen from a distance. Truth 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 "Pictures from Italy" by Charles Dickens at Project Gutenberg: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/650 Music: "Peace," by Lee Rosevere, licensed under CC BY, https://leerosevere.bandcamp.com If you'd like to suggest a copyright-free reading for soft-spoken relaxation to help you overcome insomnia, anxiety and other sleep issues, connect on our website, https://www.boringbookspod.com .
51 min
Let's sail to sleep with the first read of our new theme month, Travels! This time, we return to an epic journey around the world in a handmade boat, and wrestle with Cape Horn, seasickness, and williwaws. Also, the benefits of carpet tacks and the kindness of strangers. Useful! 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 World" by Captain Joshua Slocum at Project Gutenberg: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/6317 Music: "Ocean Tapping," by PC III, licensed under CC BY If you'd like to suggest a copyright-free reading for soft-spoken relaxation to help you overcome insomnia, anxiety and other sleep issues, connect on our website, https://www.boringbookspod.com .
58 min
Let's celebrate our 400th (!!!) episode with more from one of your sleepiest favorites from 1897. This time, thanks to a Patreon poll, we're shopping for that most useful of newfangled devices, the sewing machine. Singer has nothing on Sears, according to Sears, especially with a three percent discount for cash. It's a bargain of 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 Music: "Heaven Be Here," by PC III, licensed under CC BY If you'd like to suggest a copyright-free reading for soft-spoken relaxation to help you overcome insomnia, anxiety and other sleep issues, connect on our website, https://www.boringbookspod.com .
53 min
Let's relax in the wayback machine with more from the religious history of England. This time, Saint Bede recalls Saxon double-dealings, divine healings, the Pelagian heresy, and the somewhat cowardly companions of Saint Augustine, who get politely yelled at by the pope. Miraculous! 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 "Ecclesiastical History of England" by The Venerable Bede at Project Gutenberg: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/38326 Music: "Boring Books for Bedtime" by Lee Rosevere, licensed under CC BY, https://leerosevere.bandcamp.com If you'd like to suggest a copyright-free reading for soft-spoken relaxation to help you overcome insomnia, anxiety and other sleep issues, connect on our website, https://www.boringbookspod.com .
45 min
Let's take a relaxing trip back to Scotland and explore geology through the details of a single boulder. This time, glacial effects, the cyclical nature of formations, life in the past, and ideas about how an ocean boulder ended up in a river valley. So much lovely speculative imagery to delight your dreams! 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 Story of a Boulder" by Archibald Geikie at Project Gutenberg: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/66703 Music: "Calling to Other Worlds" by Lee Rosevere, licensed under CC BY, https://leerosevere.bandcamp.com If you'd like to suggest a copyright-free reading for soft-spoken relaxation to help you overcome insomnia, anxiety and other sleep issues, connect on our website, https://www.boringbookspod.com .
1 hr 3 min
Let's relax with the conclusion of this most remarkable book of geological theory. This time, a plea to scientific advancement and nation-building in the form of an expedition to the Earth's interior, an outline of the voyage, and a glowing portrait of Captain Symmes and his genius. Well, at least he tried, I guess? 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 "Symmes' Theory of Concentric Spheres" by John Cleves Symmes at Project Gutenberg: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/54329 Music: "Boring Books for Bedtime" by Lee Rosevere, licensed under CC BY, https://leerosevere.bandcamp.com If you'd like to suggest a copyright-free reading for soft-spoken relaxation to help you overcome insomnia, anxiety and other sleep issues, connect on our website, https://www.boringbookspod.com .
52 min
Let's finish our theme month of "Long-time Favorites" with more from this surprisingly relaxing guide to running powered farm machinery. This time, starting a gas engine, how to hook up a newfangled gadget called a battery, and the many parts of your threshing machine. To the fields! 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 "Farm Engines & How to Run Them" by James H. Stephenson at Project Gutenberg: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/43867 Music: "Exit Exit," by PC III, licensed under CC BY If you'd like to suggest a copyright-free reading for soft-spoken relaxation to help you overcome insomnia, anxiety and other sleep issues, connect on our website, https://www.boringbookspod.com .
54 min
Let's continue our theme month of "Long-time Favorites" with more from this quickstep march through the history of our world. This time, the revolutionary teachings of Jesus, the rise of the Christian church, barbarian hordes, and the final fall of the Roman Empire, all in less than hour. Short 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" by H.G. Wells at Project Gutenberg: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/35461 Music: "Cosmic Tingles," by Lee Rosevere, licensed under CC BY, https://leerosevere.bandcamp.com If you'd like to suggest a copyright-free reading for soft-spoken relaxation to help you overcome insomnia, anxiety and other sleep issues, connect on our website, https://www.boringbookspod.com .
55 min
Let's continue our theme month of "Long-time Favorites" with this most favored work of all things home and comfort. This time, recipes for fish, along with interludes about the life and habits of particular species, and a poem about hermit crabs, because of course there is. Anchovy and carp and cod, oh my! 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 Household Management" by Isabella Beeton at Project Gutenberg: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/10136 Music: "Boring Books for Bedtime," by Lee Rosevere, licensed under CC BY, https://leerosevere.bandcamp.com If you'd like to suggest a copyright-free reading for soft-spoken relaxation to help you overcome insomnia, anxiety and other sleep issues, connect on our website, https://www.boringbookspod.com .
50 min
Let's kick off a theme month I'm calling "Long-time Favorites" with more from this journey to map the world's highest peak. This time, we experience more flowers and fields, the start of monsoon season, and some very leaky tents as we search for our next base camp. Onward and upward! 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 "Mount Everest, the Reconnaissance of 1921" by C.K. Howard-Bury at Project Gutenberg: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/39421 Music: "Boring Books for Bedtime," by Lee Rosevere, licensed under CC BY, https://leerosevere.bandcamp.com If you'd like to suggest a copyright-free reading for soft-spoken relaxation to help you overcome insomnia, anxiety and other sleep issues, connect on our website, https://www.boringbookspod.com .
56 min
Let's relax and sleep with more from this classic of economic theory. This time, the wages of labor, the backroom collaboration of owners to undercut those wages, and the importance of paying more than subsistence for national success. Wait, what? 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 Wealth of Nations" at Project Gutenberg: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/3300 Music: "earth 2 earth" by PC III, licensed under CC BY If you'd like to suggest a copyright-free reading for soft-spoken relaxation to help you overcome insomnia, anxiety and other sleep issues, connect on our website, https://www.boringbookspod.com .
45 min
Let's relax and sleep as we conclude this guide to cozy home building. This time, water and sewer piping, the need for ventilation, why fireplaces are lovely but kind of useless, and the best design for your cesspool. The charming life indeed. Patreon supporters, look for your full book recording of "Cottages" coming very shortly! Because some nights, you just need a good, long bit of 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 "Cottages; or, Hints on Economical Building" at Project Gutenberg: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67922 Music: "Heaven Be Here," by PC III, licensed under CC BY If you'd like to suggest a copyright-free reading for soft-spoken relaxation to help you overcome insomnia, anxiety and other sleep issues, connect on our website, https://www.boringbookspod.com .
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Apple Podcasts rankings supplied by Mato Topic Intelligence Platform.
Observed July 31, 2026.
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