Boring Books for Bedtime Readings to Help You Sleep
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.
A Select Collection of Valuable and Curious Arts, Part 1
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://www.patreon.com/boringbookspod Buy Me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/d5kcMsW Read “A Select Collection of Valuable and Curious Arts” at...
Sailing Alone Around the World, by Captain Joshua Slocum, Part 1
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 World” at Project Gutenberg: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/6317 Music: "Ocean Tapping,” by PC III, licensed under CC BY <...
The Railway Travellers' Handy Book, Part 1
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 “The Railway Travellers’ Handy Book” at the Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/railwaytraveller00unse Music: "Healing,” by Lee Rosevere, licensed under CC BY, https://leeros...
The Architecture of Country Houses, by A.J. Downing - Part 1
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 Country Houses” at the Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/architectureofco00down/mode/2up Music: "Heaven Be Here,” by PC III, licen...
The Aeneid, by Virgil, Translated by John Dryden, Part 1
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 Gutenberg: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/228 Music: "Boring Books for Bedtime,” by Lee Rosevere, licensed under CC BY, https://leerosevere.bandcamp.com <...
The Book of Werewolves, by Sabine Baring-Gould, Part 2
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.org/ebooks/5324 Music: "Dream Colours,” by Lee Rosevere, licensed under CC BY, https://leerosevere.bandcamp.com If you'd like to suggest a...
The History of Bread, by John Ashton, Part 4
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 Bread” at Project Gutenberg: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/53219 Music: "Peace,” by Lee Rosevere, licensed under CC BY, https://leerosevere...
Travels with a Donkey in the Cevennes, by Robert Louis Stevenson, Part 2
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 in the Cevennes ” at Project Gutenberg: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/535 Music: "earth 2 earth,” by PC III, licensed under CC BY If you'd l...
The Prince, by Niccolo Machiavelli, Part 2
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/1232 Music: "Dream Colours,” by Lee Rosevere, licensed under CC BY, https://leerosevere.bandcamp.com If you'd like to suggest a copy...
Studying Art Abroad and How to Do It Cheaply, by Abigail May Alcott Nieriker, Part 1
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 Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/studyingartabroa00nier Music: "Peace,” by Lee Rosevere, licensed under CC BY, https...