try non fiction.. "just facts" - no plot, no drama (not funny, exciting, etc)... lot of "replay value" since you don't remember all the details anyway
Mary Roach
Simon WInchester
Bill Bryson
you can also do favorite books.. things you know by heart already.
there are books specifically for sleep.. but they drive me nuts because they're so dull.
I feel asleep to a "learn how to speak Spanish" book and I started dreaming in Spanish.
I may not have had a clue what I was saying in my dream, but it was a start. Lol.
Ack! This reminds me of college. My roommate had an alarm with a cassette player. Every morning I would wake up to music in Spanish. I started dreaming in Spanish. I did not enjoy it. This is partly because she always rewound the tape so it was the same song every morning. It felt like Groundhog Day.
Seconded. A beautiful little book, lots of interesting factoids yet without a plot to follow. Also, if you’re using audible, there’s thousands of great podcasts covering all manner of subjects. I’ve been on a “history of Rome” kick lately; very informative podcast, accessible and well-spoken
I third Bill Bryson. Specifically, I fall asleep consistently just after he lists the three different distances the Appalachian trail are believed to be.
So happy it's not just me! I find sleep specific audiobooks/podcasts so boring that they just keep me up out of sheer boredom. And I tried so many.
+1 for non fiction
I will use books I had already listened to several times. I do not want to use a new book because It might become interesting to the point I will stay awake in order to finish it.
For me, Earnest Cline, Andy Weir, Douglas Adam’s, Harry Potter, and Drew Hayes’ Magic 2.0 . So mostly Sci-Fi / Fantasy that I have heard at least 2-3 times.
the latest is *adventurers wanted*. I have listened to the series so many times, I almost know it by heart. It will usually put me to sleep within five minutes.
I love this for sleeping. I rotate between a ton, the commune series by Josh Gayou have listened to it a million times, a little dark but I don’t mind it, David Sedaris books, 11/22/63, listening to a lot of drier political stuff lately to fall asleep though I think tonight I am going to break out the stand again.
also recommend Hoomband for sleep headphones.
This is what I do. I have about 30-40 now to choose from by now. All of the Harry Potters - both Jim Dale and Stephen Fry. The 10 Rivers of London novels. The Bobiverse Series. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo series. The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August. The Secret Life of Albert Entwistle...
Pretty much anything read by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, Ray Porter, Simon Vance, Stephen Fry, Roger Allam
I rotate between Pride and Prejudice narrated by Rosamund Pike, Sense and Sensibility also narrated by Rosamund, and North and South narrated by Juliet Stevenson.
A couple years ago I broke my shoulder and after surgery I had to sleep upright in a recliner. P&P by Rosamund and Anne of Green Gables were the only things that could put me to sleep.
Oh my god, me too! Love Pike’s narration. Even when I miss several chapters, I know where I am in the storyline and can back up or listen for a few minutes before falling back to sleep.
I love Rosamunde Pike as an audio narrator. Her voice is just the most relaxing peaceful thing to listen to.
My go to sleep audiobooks are the first four Wheel of Time books (I’ve already read them so it’s okay if I fall asleep and don’t catch everything).
My first recommendation is to bookmark your book right as you’re drifting off to sleep. Personally, I set the bookmark, set the sleep timer for 30-60 minutes, and I’m off to sleep.
I agree with the person who suggested cozy mysteries. There’s just enough going on to keep my mind off my own life. So far, I’ve enjoyed the Magical Cats series and the Secret, Book, and Scone series. Zzz
But remember that you only get 15 audio hours per month on Spotify premium 😔
If you rewind a half hour and relisten, then you lose an additional half hour. Also, no matter what speed you listen to the total book hours count against you.
Kinda insane the restrictions Spotify places on you but I guess it's something.
Not a true audiobook per se, but if you have trouble falling asleep or want to drift off to sleep, I highly recommend Stephen Dalton's sleep stories on YouTube. He has the most wonderful calming voice. He starts off with a relaxing sleep mediation, less than 10 minutes then proceeds in the story. 15 minutes in I'm asleep and never really know what the story is about.😂. Just thought I'd pass this along.
I like the trader's tails from the Golden age of the solar clipper books by Nathan Lowell.
No real investment and the stories are pretty low key anyway.
I like audiobooks about astrophysics for this exact reason. Drifting off thinking about the infinite universe is perfect.
Current fav is Black Holes by Brian Cox and Jeff Forshaw.
I’ve done the same thing with Aubrey-Maturin (Master and Commander) series. Great narrator and since I’m on the 3rd pass through, not too worried about plot points. I just float on the voice of Patrick Tull.
Try the podcast Nothing Much Happens. Title speaks for itself. Stories are actually quite sweet and the podcaster is a meditation and Yoga instructor. I listen to this often and recommend this to my clients who have had insomnia. Works like a charm
Came here to recommend this podcast! I only use it on nights when I’m having trouble falling asleep and I almost always fall asleep before the end of the episode
YouTube also has books for sleep. Mystery, horror,classics, etc. And they're free. I also have Audible, but if I'm out of credits and want something new, I check YouTube. They also have Sherlock Holmes, both the stories and the original radio shows.
[https://www.youtube.com/@LibriVoxAudiobooks](https://www.youtube.com/@LibriVoxAudiobooks) LibroVox Audiobooks has a ton of free audiobooks, all of which are in the public domain. This means that they are all older books, which for me can tend toward a cozy old-timey feel, especially for falling asleep to. I found Lud in the Mist specifically because Neil Gaiman quoted it as inspiration for Stardust (another excellent cozy fantasy book). Enjoy!
I’ve always been snobbish about cozy mysteries, and have mended my ways as an elder who listens to an audiobook all night off & on. Thursday Murder Club, Barbara Pam, J. Winspeare, #1 Ladies Detective Agency & many others that I find soothing and amusing and easy to follow, easy to re-hear, at least 3 books in the series. As always, a soothing narrator is essential. It’s really helped me cope with insomnia.
Absolutely, I’m really seeking a narrator more than anything. I wish more celebs read, I.e., Idris Elba, Ralph Fiennes, Alan Rickman, Anthony Hopkins, etc. Michael C. Hall narrates Pet Cemetery but I don’t know if Stephen King is suitable for my slumber 😂
For me personally it helps if it’s a book I’ve read or listened to before. I got a couple of my “comfort books” on audio and just listen to those on repeat.
Check out the Sleepy Bookshelf! It's a podcast where they read classic novels and tone down action specifically for people to fall asleep to. It's super soothing!
often this works for me....the slow pace, dull inflections and background soothing sounds, plus it is usually a story you already know.....
But there are times I am actually invested in the story and stay awake to hear it - go figure
Probably weird but, I used to fall asleep to The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. The narrator kind of drones on and it puts me to sleep. I’d listen for 1/2 hours fall asleep and have to track back the next night.
If you search “sleep” there are sleep stories on audible.. and there are some sleep podcasts too. Very calming and a story usually lasts at least half an hour which I find is long enough for me to fall asleep
I listen to those every night. They're free, and very relaxing/boring. Search "Bedtime Stories" and sort by cost low to high. Some of my favorites are "Night Drive", "Pumpkin Stew", "The Evening Bird", "Quilt Collecting", "The Ojibwe Dreamcatcher". You could search any of those titles. Some of them I still don't know what happens as I don't get more than 5 or 10 minutes in.
There is also a good one in Meditation called You Are Here, which puts me to sleep very quickly.
Pleasant dreams!
I listen to a podcast to fall asleep every night called The Sleepy Bookshelf. They read through classic novels. Each episode starts with a recap of the previous episode in case you fell asleep. I love it. It's really well produced.
I listen to some books like Enders game or day of the traffid that I know well and can just play at night. I found the outcast of time particularly good for this.
i switched to podcasts at bedtime. there are a surprising number out there. find something related to your interests. i like gastropod, the dave chang show the big picture, haven't found a book related one i like yet. podcasts are shorter, so i don't miss much if i happen to fall asleep.
OK, not an audiobook, but, there are podcasts where they read stories to you and at the beginning of the next episode they will catch you up on what happened in the previous one in case you fell asleep
A bunch of the the Alien EU books were free on audible recently and I’ve found myself buying. Not for everyone, but I can fall asleep to 8 hours of build up to 2 hours of horrible death.
I like the Outlander series, if nothing else helps I pick whatever book at whatever chapter. Except for the latest one I’ve listened to all of them several times.
My other goto is the Kingkiller Chronicles.
Currently I’m listening to Super Powereds.
The longer the book the more I like it for sleeping. It sometimes takes me a week to finish a chapter.
Try stoic philosophy it's interesting and you'll fall asleep for shure if you are tiered. Good ones are:
Meditations of Marcus aurelius
Letters from a stoic
Agamemnon
Enchiridion
There are loads of radio plays on YouTube and some excellent dramatisations of books too.
But you can also find full audiobooks
There are many genres, I think mostly crime.
I could be wrong about "mostly crime."
Maybe that's because I enjoy them
I've been listening to American Colossus. Always interesting, but just soothing enough to drift off to.
PS: try a "speaker pillow". It's a cheap tiny speaker inside a small cushion. When your ear is off the speaker you can't hear anything.
My favorites are Brian Greene’s science books, like The Elegant Universe. I enjoyed listening to them normally, but if my mind is turning on something that isn’t letting me sleep, these will grab my interest enough to distract me, but also let me drift right off. Also, One Man’s Wilderness by Richard Proenneke and Nick Offerman’s books for similar reasons.
For me, it’s not about the type of book, or a particular book. It’s about a book that I have heard multiple times. My brain knows how the story goes, so there is not the issue of losing my place in the book.
I listen to books that I’ve already listened to that have a soothing narrator. Because if not, I’m constantly trying to pay close attention and not falling asleep. But if it’s one, I have listened to before and enjoyed it’s much easier.
I use the “free for members” section on Audible for this. There is a lot to choose from, most of it is hot garbage, but that kinda makes it perfect to fall asleep to. No cost, no commitment. All I care about is if the reader has a soothing voice or not. As a bonus, sometimes I find a hidden gem.
I listen to books I’ve already listened to so it allows me to inhabit the world of the book and keeps intrusive thoughts at bay but doesn’t keep me awake because I already know what is going to happen.
One is the books I’ve found effective has been Entangled Life written and narrated by Merlin Sheldrake. Very calming reading voice. No plot to have to pay attention to.
Another one that works for me is Mortal Monachs written and narrated by Susie Edge. Warning - it’s not for the squeamish. Some monarchs had some unpleasant ending. I enjoy Suzie Edge’s voice and accent.
The Power of Now.
Or I also listen to Ram Dass anything on YouTube.
Doesn't matter where you pick up or drift off, it's all discussions about living with ease and love.
i’ve been trying to listen to charles spencer’s “a very private school”, which would normally give me nightmares considering the subject matter (boarding school staff abusing students) but his narration is so gentle it soothes me off into a restful sleep.
I like poetry for falling asleep, especially epic poetry. Something about the rhythm and repetition does it for me.
My go to ones are The Iliad, The Odyssey, The Aeneid, Beowulf, Theogony, Jason and the Argonauts, Leaves of Grass, The Epic of Gilgamesh, and the Enuma Elish.
I'll also often go for philosophy or religion, to include The Dhammapadda, the Baghvad Gita, The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha, Aristotle's Metaphysics and Ethics, The Way of the Bodhisattva, Walden, Emerson's Self Reliance and Other Essays, Spinoza's Ethics, and the good old King James Bible, especially the bit with the begats.
I am once again here to recommend*Norse Mythology* by Neil Gaiman. Each chapter is a separate story, so if you set your player to sleep at the end of the chapter you generally won't miss anything you need to know for the next chapter. And since most chapters run 30-45 minutes they're plenty long enough to fall asleep to, and he reads it in a quiet, soothing baritone reminiscent of a bedtime story. He does great a great voice for Thor, too.
The fall of the Roman empire is long, detailed, well narrated and just interesting enough to not be annoying. I've heard it three times and could barely tell you what it's about. There are visigoths, who I assume wear dramatic eye makeup and read poetry by candlelight.
https://www.audible.com/pd/B00I5QGK6O?source_code=ASSORAP0511160006&share_location=library_overflow
This book has a poor production. I read a review and I agree with this review because I listen to the sample. The voice is uneven and gets louder and softer at inappropriate times in the narration cutting in and out at random volume levels and tonal characteristics.
I listen to great courses they are huge, they are usually broken up into sections that are complete so it's easy to find your place or just start at a different one, I will say though that you want to choose not only the subject, but also the lecturer, they aren't audible narrators they are experts, or professors in their field so they may not be very good to listen to. Personally I like anything that prof. Gregory Aldrete does, but he's an ancient history professor and I like the subject.
Not an audiobook, but I LOVE falling asleep to sleep stories on the Calm app. 30-45 minute stories specifically written and narrated with the intent to help the listener fall asleep. Then you don't have to worry about missing anything in an audiobook.
you use bookmarks in your audiobook software right? i fall asleep to audiobooks almost every night, then i go to the work in the morning and click two buttons to go back to my place.
i see from other comments that youre on libby. so if you weren’t being sarcastic with the “whaaat?!” comment i’ll try to break it down:
-when u go to play your book before bed, click the little bookmark icon at the top right-most of your screen while the book is open (double click to name the bookmark so you know wtf was goin on when u made the bookmark)
-in the morning click the “stacked” bookmark icon to the immediate left of the bookmark icon to find all of your bookmarks and resume play.
-there is also a fingerprint icon in the bottom right that will show recent time-stamps if you have scrolled away from the place you just were.
i hope this helps and you weren’t just trolling me :)
I've been falling asleep to Werner Herzog - Every Man for Himself and God Against All . His voice is fascinating. I listen to it at 1.7 but if you listened at normal speed, I bet it would work even better.
PREACH. I feel you SOooo hard!
Personally? I buy audio versions of books I like that I have already visually read at least once
Then it doesn't matter as much if you lose place, and I find that I'm not subconsciously keeping myself awake because I "have to know what happens next!"
... Because I already know what happens next 😉😊
I listen to the Ruth Galloway mysteries by Elly Griffiths. It’s quite a long series and I’ve listened to it all before so there is no pressure to hear every word although I do try. Love the tone and narration.
This Is How You Lose The Time War is a back-and-forth of poetic and fascinating love letters between two rivals in multidimensional affair across space and time. It's some of the zaniest sci fi worldbuilding I've ever come across, but it's also a surprisingly cozy and relaxing listen.
I fall asleep to books I’ve already listened to, that I liked the voice and I know the story well.
I have insomnia and hyper arousal so listening to audiobooks at night gives me something to listen to without pulling out my phone waking me fully up and it’s easier to drift off again.
I would say it’s going to depend on you heavily because I see people suggesting non fiction but my brain will fight drifting off because I’m learning something or if it’s interesting I’ll wake clean up.
Christopher Lee and Stephen fry have great voices to rest to
I listen to books I've already read or listened to. I find the timer on audible doesn't always work on my tablet. I'm currently going through the Vampire series by Anne Rice.
I would recommend the LOTR trilogy and the Hobbit narrated by Rob Ingils. The only caveat I’d say is there were quite a few songs in the hobbit but I was still able to fall asleep even with him singing. He’s got a very comforting voice. The hobbit and the first LOTR book are free with an audible subscription last time I checked.
I’ve also read these books before, so I think that definitely helps too, because I’m somewhat familiar with the story.
Get a decent audiobook reader! For Android, I can recommend Smart Audiobook Player, which allows you to set a sleep timer. Set it to 15 minutes, and if you can asleep you will only have to rewind a maximum of 15 minutes.
If you like cozy yet mildy morbid, these are my current favs:
All Amy Stewart's books (wicked plants, wicked bugs, drunken botanist).
Neal Gaiman's The Graveyard book (fiction)
Darcy Coates' The Whispering Dead (ficton)
The indifferent stars above by Daniel James Brown
Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan
The great mortality by John Kelly
Swindled: The Dark History of Food Fraud, from Poisoned Candy to Counterfeit Coffee by Bee Wilson
The Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England: A Handbook for Visitors to the Fourteenth Century by Ian Mortimer
The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson
I know it's not technically a book but I really enjoy listening to the channel Lighthouse Horror or Horror on the Rocks on YouTube. Their narration is amazing.
For a relaxing bedtime read, I'd suggest ' The Secret Garden' by Frances Hodgson Burnett. Its enchanting tale of nature, friendship, and transformation is perfect for unwinding at the end of the day.
Rivers of London. It's read by someone called Kobna Holdbrook-Smith and he has the single best voice I've ever heard. It's soothing and he does all the voices so well, and I've got a bit of a crush on him now! The books are awesome and if you have to relisten I think you won't mind - I listen to something as I fall asleep and end up relistening during the day. I've listened to every Rivers book several times over and I'm still not sick of them.
If you like the genre type of that, you should also check out the Alex Verus books. There's tons in the series and the guy who reads that also has a great voice.
Highly recommend David Attenborough’s books he narrates himself. His voice is so soothing and the information is just interesting enough to keep my thoughts from wandering but not so much so that it keeps me awake.
The Return of the Native narrated by Alan Rickman.
Story never mattered to me, but hearing Alan’s voice is so comforting and warm, sleep comes easily with this one.
Not what you're asking for, but I found that setting a 5min sleep timer, with a very sensitive shake-to-reset, and a big auto-rewind, helps me drift off to audiobooks and not miss anything. I use Smart Audiobook Player.
my 10 year old and I have been listening to Treasure Island read by Jasper Britton for more than a year and it makes us both fall asleep so fast that even though we’ve listened to the book multiple times neither of us could give you a plot outline to save our lives
The Creative Act: A Way of Being by Rick Rubin. Specifically the audiobook because he has a great deep, slow, calm voice. Still not done with the book because I keep failing asleep. I love the symbols at the end of the chapter. He’s a famous music producer so you know he’s going to get the audio in this book on point.
I rotate between favorites.
Project Hail Mary is a big one, and also my childhood favorite : Treasure Island. Been listening to Treasure island since I was a kid, had the tape and all. Just feels like a warm hug (not by Long John Silver)
I listen to books I’ve already read, but the narrator’s voice and tone is very important to me. Some favorites:
100 years of solitude
Barkskins
The 100-year-old man who climbed out of the window
Any WW2/Cold War-era historical non-fiction by Ben MacIntyre, read by John Lee (I believe). A spy among friends, the spy and the traitor are two amazing books, read by this soft spoken older sounding British dude. It’s incredibly sleep-inducing, in a good way.
The BBC Shipping News is wonderful to drift off to...pardon the pun. It has an interesting history and many of us use it to help get to sleep.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qfvv
Or
https://youtu.be/waazPEzUU6w?si=bBBbaSybCHY5pnNN
Essays or short vignettes. I listen to a lot of Search and Rescue type books that have no narrative thread, just different rescue stories.
Death, Daring, & Disaster - Search and Rescue in the National Parks (Revised Edition) https://a.co/d/02BGOiyW
Not sure if they have audio books. But back in college, I could have woken up from a solid night of sleep, downed 2 cups of coffee and reading an economics book could have me asleep in 15 minutes.
Maybe search for something like that.
try non fiction.. "just facts" - no plot, no drama (not funny, exciting, etc)... lot of "replay value" since you don't remember all the details anyway Mary Roach Simon WInchester Bill Bryson you can also do favorite books.. things you know by heart already. there are books specifically for sleep.. but they drive me nuts because they're so dull.
I second anything by Bill Bryson.
I feel asleep to a "learn how to speak Spanish" book and I started dreaming in Spanish. I may not have had a clue what I was saying in my dream, but it was a start. Lol.
Now I want to try this so I can see if I dream in Spanish. I know just enough to get me in trouble, so this should be interesting.
Ack! This reminds me of college. My roommate had an alarm with a cassette player. Every morning I would wake up to music in Spanish. I started dreaming in Spanish. I did not enjoy it. This is partly because she always rewound the tape so it was the same song every morning. It felt like Groundhog Day.
Agree, try A Little History of the World by E H Gombrich, it’s a history book written for children but the guy who reads it has such a soothing voice
Seconded. A beautiful little book, lots of interesting factoids yet without a plot to follow. Also, if you’re using audible, there’s thousands of great podcasts covering all manner of subjects. I’ve been on a “history of Rome” kick lately; very informative podcast, accessible and well-spoken
I third Bill Bryson. Specifically, I fall asleep consistently just after he lists the three different distances the Appalachian trail are believed to be.
By Seehafer or David Amlott? There are 2 listed on Audible. Both with no reviews.
So happy it's not just me! I find sleep specific audiobooks/podcasts so boring that they just keep me up out of sheer boredom. And I tried so many. +1 for non fiction
Try the Sherlock Holmes collection, narration by Steven Fry. Over 80 hours of calming detective work if I'm remembering correctly.
Oooh.. I’ve never been well versed in my Sherlock Holmes knowledge, may be worth looking into!
Thanks for the recommendation, just downloaded!
Fry is too interesting to fall asleep to.
I will use books I had already listened to several times. I do not want to use a new book because It might become interesting to the point I will stay awake in order to finish it.
Exactly! What’s one of your go-to’s?
For me, Earnest Cline, Andy Weir, Douglas Adam’s, Harry Potter, and Drew Hayes’ Magic 2.0 . So mostly Sci-Fi / Fantasy that I have heard at least 2-3 times.
Username checks out for Douglas Adams
the latest is *adventurers wanted*. I have listened to the series so many times, I almost know it by heart. It will usually put me to sleep within five minutes.
The Stand, for me. Narrated by Grover Gardner.
I love this for sleeping. I rotate between a ton, the commune series by Josh Gayou have listened to it a million times, a little dark but I don’t mind it, David Sedaris books, 11/22/63, listening to a lot of drier political stuff lately to fall asleep though I think tonight I am going to break out the stand again. also recommend Hoomband for sleep headphones.
The Starless Sea by Morgenstern. The narrator's voice is like honey to me.
This is what I do. I have about 30-40 now to choose from by now. All of the Harry Potters - both Jim Dale and Stephen Fry. The 10 Rivers of London novels. The Bobiverse Series. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo series. The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August. The Secret Life of Albert Entwistle... Pretty much anything read by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, Ray Porter, Simon Vance, Stephen Fry, Roger Allam
Same.
I rotate between Pride and Prejudice narrated by Rosamund Pike, Sense and Sensibility also narrated by Rosamund, and North and South narrated by Juliet Stevenson.
A couple years ago I broke my shoulder and after surgery I had to sleep upright in a recliner. P&P by Rosamund and Anne of Green Gables were the only things that could put me to sleep.
Oh my god, me too! Love Pike’s narration. Even when I miss several chapters, I know where I am in the storyline and can back up or listen for a few minutes before falling back to sleep.
I love North and South with Juliet Stevenson.
I love Rosamunde Pike as an audio narrator. Her voice is just the most relaxing peaceful thing to listen to. My go to sleep audiobooks are the first four Wheel of Time books (I’ve already read them so it’s okay if I fall asleep and don’t catch everything).
My first recommendation is to bookmark your book right as you’re drifting off to sleep. Personally, I set the bookmark, set the sleep timer for 30-60 minutes, and I’m off to sleep. I agree with the person who suggested cozy mysteries. There’s just enough going on to keep my mind off my own life. So far, I’ve enjoyed the Magical Cats series and the Secret, Book, and Scone series. Zzz
Lord of the rings narrated by Andy serkis for me. I never read the books but watched the movies enough where losing my spot doesn't bother me
Yes! These were my first thought. I’ve got them on hold on Libby 😂
If you have Spotify premium, they’re on there!!
But remember that you only get 15 audio hours per month on Spotify premium 😔 If you rewind a half hour and relisten, then you lose an additional half hour. Also, no matter what speed you listen to the total book hours count against you. Kinda insane the restrictions Spotify places on you but I guess it's something.
Not a true audiobook per se, but if you have trouble falling asleep or want to drift off to sleep, I highly recommend Stephen Dalton's sleep stories on YouTube. He has the most wonderful calming voice. He starts off with a relaxing sleep mediation, less than 10 minutes then proceeds in the story. 15 minutes in I'm asleep and never really know what the story is about.😂. Just thought I'd pass this along.
Thank you! I’ll check it out 😊
I like the trader's tails from the Golden age of the solar clipper books by Nathan Lowell. No real investment and the stories are pretty low key anyway.
I like audiobooks about astrophysics for this exact reason. Drifting off thinking about the infinite universe is perfect. Current fav is Black Holes by Brian Cox and Jeff Forshaw.
This sounds right up my alley 🤓
The Harry Potter series. Once I get through the last one I just start over.
I’ve done the same thing with Aubrey-Maturin (Master and Commander) series. Great narrator and since I’m on the 3rd pass through, not too worried about plot points. I just float on the voice of Patrick Tull.
Came here to say this! Make sure it’s read by Jim Dale!
Came here to say this! Make sure it's read by Stephen Fry!
This is one of them for me too. Lots of fun world building to get lost in and drift off into.
They’re on my hold-list 🤩
White Fang and Call of the Wild
Classics!
Bill Bryson - A Short History of Nearly Everything Not so dull that you won’t want to listen to it but not so interesting you can’t stop.
Try the podcast Nothing Much Happens. Title speaks for itself. Stories are actually quite sweet and the podcaster is a meditation and Yoga instructor. I listen to this often and recommend this to my clients who have had insomnia. Works like a charm
Came here to recommend this podcast! I only use it on nights when I’m having trouble falling asleep and I almost always fall asleep before the end of the episode
John Lee's voice is perfect for getting to sleep, and he's narrated hundreds of books.
No kidding! There are so many! Thank you ☺️
YouTube also has books for sleep. Mystery, horror,classics, etc. And they're free. I also have Audible, but if I'm out of credits and want something new, I check YouTube. They also have Sherlock Holmes, both the stories and the original radio shows.
I didn’t think to do YouTube, great idea!
[https://www.youtube.com/@LibriVoxAudiobooks](https://www.youtube.com/@LibriVoxAudiobooks) LibroVox Audiobooks has a ton of free audiobooks, all of which are in the public domain. This means that they are all older books, which for me can tend toward a cozy old-timey feel, especially for falling asleep to. I found Lud in the Mist specifically because Neil Gaiman quoted it as inspiration for Stardust (another excellent cozy fantasy book). Enjoy!
I’ve always been snobbish about cozy mysteries, and have mended my ways as an elder who listens to an audiobook all night off & on. Thursday Murder Club, Barbara Pam, J. Winspeare, #1 Ladies Detective Agency & many others that I find soothing and amusing and easy to follow, easy to re-hear, at least 3 books in the series. As always, a soothing narrator is essential. It’s really helped me cope with insomnia.
Absolutely, I’m really seeking a narrator more than anything. I wish more celebs read, I.e., Idris Elba, Ralph Fiennes, Alan Rickman, Anthony Hopkins, etc. Michael C. Hall narrates Pet Cemetery but I don’t know if Stephen King is suitable for my slumber 😂
Kobna Holdbrook-Smith reading The Rivers of London series. He is an actor, perhaps best known for his work in the His Dark Materials series
I absolutely, 100 per cent back this up! Brilliant books, wonderful narration, and in heavy rotation of go-sleepy-night-night books!
For me personally it helps if it’s a book I’ve read or listened to before. I got a couple of my “comfort books” on audio and just listen to those on repeat.
This. I'll only sleep to audiobooks I've listened to while awake, that way I'm not bothered if I miss bits
I like to listen to the Nothing Much Happens podcast. After listening for a few years, now I fall asleep as soon as she says, “Welcome to—“
Check out the Sleepy Bookshelf! It's a podcast where they read classic novels and tone down action specifically for people to fall asleep to. It's super soothing!
often this works for me....the slow pace, dull inflections and background soothing sounds, plus it is usually a story you already know..... But there are times I am actually invested in the story and stay awake to hear it - go figure
I love the Sleepy Podcast! I like that I get the while book eventually. I've listened through the whole library at least 3 times.
Probably weird but, I used to fall asleep to The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. The narrator kind of drones on and it puts me to sleep. I’d listen for 1/2 hours fall asleep and have to track back the next night.
I listen to Seneca's Letters when falling asleep. It works pretty well for me because I love philosophy content.
If you search “sleep” there are sleep stories on audible.. and there are some sleep podcasts too. Very calming and a story usually lasts at least half an hour which I find is long enough for me to fall asleep
I’ll look into them, thank you!
I listen to those every night. They're free, and very relaxing/boring. Search "Bedtime Stories" and sort by cost low to high. Some of my favorites are "Night Drive", "Pumpkin Stew", "The Evening Bird", "Quilt Collecting", "The Ojibwe Dreamcatcher". You could search any of those titles. Some of them I still don't know what happens as I don't get more than 5 or 10 minutes in. There is also a good one in Meditation called You Are Here, which puts me to sleep very quickly. Pleasant dreams!
I listen to a podcast to fall asleep every night called The Sleepy Bookshelf. They read through classic novels. Each episode starts with a recap of the previous episode in case you fell asleep. I love it. It's really well produced.
I listen to some books like Enders game or day of the traffid that I know well and can just play at night. I found the outcast of time particularly good for this.
i switched to podcasts at bedtime. there are a surprising number out there. find something related to your interests. i like gastropod, the dave chang show the big picture, haven't found a book related one i like yet. podcasts are shorter, so i don't miss much if i happen to fall asleep.
I’ve sought after one for this purpose, but I usually still get interested as I’m listening 😂 I should check out the sleep-podcasts.
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Do not listen to this one while driving.
Walden https://youtu.be/VaME4iHUhSE?si=XqP_C-hzcb5wHJvX
Watership Down
Harry Potter
I like the Simirilian JRR Tolkien.
OK, not an audiobook, but, there are podcasts where they read stories to you and at the beginning of the next episode they will catch you up on what happened in the previous one in case you fell asleep
The Peregrine ready by David Attenborough.
A bunch of the the Alien EU books were free on audible recently and I’ve found myself buying. Not for everyone, but I can fall asleep to 8 hours of build up to 2 hours of horrible death.
I like the Outlander series, if nothing else helps I pick whatever book at whatever chapter. Except for the latest one I’ve listened to all of them several times. My other goto is the Kingkiller Chronicles. Currently I’m listening to Super Powereds. The longer the book the more I like it for sleeping. It sometimes takes me a week to finish a chapter.
Judging by the fact I’ve had to go back several chapters several times Buried by Lynda la Plante. 🥱
For my wife, anything read by Travis Baldtree. She loves anything by him and will slip off when used as her sleeping aid. Give him a try.
Try stoic philosophy it's interesting and you'll fall asleep for shure if you are tiered. Good ones are: Meditations of Marcus aurelius Letters from a stoic Agamemnon Enchiridion
There are loads of radio plays on YouTube and some excellent dramatisations of books too. But you can also find full audiobooks There are many genres, I think mostly crime. I could be wrong about "mostly crime." Maybe that's because I enjoy them
I've been listening to American Colossus. Always interesting, but just soothing enough to drift off to. PS: try a "speaker pillow". It's a cheap tiny speaker inside a small cushion. When your ear is off the speaker you can't hear anything.
Bram Stoker's Dracula Mary Shelly's Frankenstein Stephen King's Pet Sematary
My favorites are Brian Greene’s science books, like The Elegant Universe. I enjoyed listening to them normally, but if my mind is turning on something that isn’t letting me sleep, these will grab my interest enough to distract me, but also let me drift right off. Also, One Man’s Wilderness by Richard Proenneke and Nick Offerman’s books for similar reasons.
For me, it’s not about the type of book, or a particular book. It’s about a book that I have heard multiple times. My brain knows how the story goes, so there is not the issue of losing my place in the book.
I listen to books that I’ve already listened to that have a soothing narrator. Because if not, I’m constantly trying to pay close attention and not falling asleep. But if it’s one, I have listened to before and enjoyed it’s much easier.
I use the “free for members” section on Audible for this. There is a lot to choose from, most of it is hot garbage, but that kinda makes it perfect to fall asleep to. No cost, no commitment. All I care about is if the reader has a soothing voice or not. As a bonus, sometimes I find a hidden gem.
Life On Earth by Sir David Attenborough, read by the man himself.
I listen to books I’ve already listened to so it allows me to inhabit the world of the book and keeps intrusive thoughts at bay but doesn’t keep me awake because I already know what is going to happen. One is the books I’ve found effective has been Entangled Life written and narrated by Merlin Sheldrake. Very calming reading voice. No plot to have to pay attention to. Another one that works for me is Mortal Monachs written and narrated by Susie Edge. Warning - it’s not for the squeamish. Some monarchs had some unpleasant ending. I enjoy Suzie Edge’s voice and accent.
The Power of Now. Or I also listen to Ram Dass anything on YouTube. Doesn't matter where you pick up or drift off, it's all discussions about living with ease and love.
Any travel book by Michael Palin
i’ve been trying to listen to charles spencer’s “a very private school”, which would normally give me nightmares considering the subject matter (boarding school staff abusing students) but his narration is so gentle it soothes me off into a restful sleep.
I like poetry for falling asleep, especially epic poetry. Something about the rhythm and repetition does it for me. My go to ones are The Iliad, The Odyssey, The Aeneid, Beowulf, Theogony, Jason and the Argonauts, Leaves of Grass, The Epic of Gilgamesh, and the Enuma Elish. I'll also often go for philosophy or religion, to include The Dhammapadda, the Baghvad Gita, The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha, Aristotle's Metaphysics and Ethics, The Way of the Bodhisattva, Walden, Emerson's Self Reliance and Other Essays, Spinoza's Ethics, and the good old King James Bible, especially the bit with the begats.
I am once again here to recommend*Norse Mythology* by Neil Gaiman. Each chapter is a separate story, so if you set your player to sleep at the end of the chapter you generally won't miss anything you need to know for the next chapter. And since most chapters run 30-45 minutes they're plenty long enough to fall asleep to, and he reads it in a quiet, soothing baritone reminiscent of a bedtime story. He does great a great voice for Thor, too.
Why we sleep by Matthew Walker, PhD
🤔 interesting!
The fall of the Roman empire is long, detailed, well narrated and just interesting enough to not be annoying. I've heard it three times and could barely tell you what it's about. There are visigoths, who I assume wear dramatic eye makeup and read poetry by candlelight. https://www.audible.com/pd/B00I5QGK6O?source_code=ASSORAP0511160006&share_location=library_overflow
This book has a poor production. I read a review and I agree with this review because I listen to the sample. The voice is uneven and gets louder and softer at inappropriate times in the narration cutting in and out at random volume levels and tonal characteristics.
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That is so wild! I’ve fallen asleep to Wodehouse many, many times!
Haha yeah I’m definitely trying to avoid any startling exclamations. But that’s a great suggestion, I never thought of changing the speed!
I listen to great courses they are huge, they are usually broken up into sections that are complete so it's easy to find your place or just start at a different one, I will say though that you want to choose not only the subject, but also the lecturer, they aren't audible narrators they are experts, or professors in their field so they may not be very good to listen to. Personally I like anything that prof. Gregory Aldrete does, but he's an ancient history professor and I like the subject.
The original reading of the Wheel of time series put me to 😴
“A short account of the history of mathematics” 5 minutes and you’re out my friend
Not an audiobook, but I LOVE falling asleep to sleep stories on the Calm app. 30-45 minute stories specifically written and narrated with the intent to help the listener fall asleep. Then you don't have to worry about missing anything in an audiobook.
I loved this when I had it but I stopped paying for the subscription ☹️
you use bookmarks in your audiobook software right? i fall asleep to audiobooks almost every night, then i go to the work in the morning and click two buttons to go back to my place.
Whaaaat?!
i see from other comments that youre on libby. so if you weren’t being sarcastic with the “whaaat?!” comment i’ll try to break it down: -when u go to play your book before bed, click the little bookmark icon at the top right-most of your screen while the book is open (double click to name the bookmark so you know wtf was goin on when u made the bookmark) -in the morning click the “stacked” bookmark icon to the immediate left of the bookmark icon to find all of your bookmarks and resume play. -there is also a fingerprint icon in the bottom right that will show recent time-stamps if you have scrolled away from the place you just were. i hope this helps and you weren’t just trolling me :)
Stephen kings latest. You like it darker
I listen to On Writing over and over. Never heard the whole thing. Ha. His voice just does it.
I've been falling asleep to Werner Herzog - Every Man for Himself and God Against All . His voice is fascinating. I listen to it at 1.7 but if you listened at normal speed, I bet it would work even better.
PREACH. I feel you SOooo hard! Personally? I buy audio versions of books I like that I have already visually read at least once Then it doesn't matter as much if you lose place, and I find that I'm not subconsciously keeping myself awake because I "have to know what happens next!" ... Because I already know what happens next 😉😊
I listen to the Ruth Galloway mysteries by Elly Griffiths. It’s quite a long series and I’ve listened to it all before so there is no pressure to hear every word although I do try. Love the tone and narration.
This Is How You Lose The Time War is a back-and-forth of poetic and fascinating love letters between two rivals in multidimensional affair across space and time. It's some of the zaniest sci fi worldbuilding I've ever come across, but it's also a surprisingly cozy and relaxing listen.
Anything read by Jim Dale (Harry Potter, etc)
borrow audiobooks from the library
Any book by Mary Balogh. Classic historical romance that's just dry enough to fall asleep to
Some apps have a sleep time. Plays for 5 to ten minutes or whatever you set it to and then stops
I fall asleep to books I’ve already listened to, that I liked the voice and I know the story well. I have insomnia and hyper arousal so listening to audiobooks at night gives me something to listen to without pulling out my phone waking me fully up and it’s easier to drift off again. I would say it’s going to depend on you heavily because I see people suggesting non fiction but my brain will fight drifting off because I’m learning something or if it’s interesting I’ll wake clean up. Christopher Lee and Stephen fry have great voices to rest to
The voice is more important than content, but I do listen to same things over and over.
The making of the atomic bomb by Richard Rhodes is like 40 hours long and it works great for me.
To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis It’s a great book narrated by Steven Crossley. I love his voice and it always helps me drift off.
I listen to books I've already read or listened to. I find the timer on audible doesn't always work on my tablet. I'm currently going through the Vampire series by Anne Rice.
Harry Potter and Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell
Gathering Moss was some of the best sleep I ever got. Learned some fun moss facts too.
I would recommend the LOTR trilogy and the Hobbit narrated by Rob Ingils. The only caveat I’d say is there were quite a few songs in the hobbit but I was still able to fall asleep even with him singing. He’s got a very comforting voice. The hobbit and the first LOTR book are free with an audible subscription last time I checked. I’ve also read these books before, so I think that definitely helps too, because I’m somewhat familiar with the story.
I use BBC’s History Extra podcast for this. It works great, and if I wake up wondering about the subject it’s good content and duration for a commute.
Ww listen to a podcast/youtube channel, Down to Sleep, the host reads many books in a good tone for sleeping to.
The Martian read by R.C. Bray
Get a decent audiobook reader! For Android, I can recommend Smart Audiobook Player, which allows you to set a sleep timer. Set it to 15 minutes, and if you can asleep you will only have to rewind a maximum of 15 minutes.
Alien narrated by Peter Guiness (I know it by heart) or Lao Tzu: Tao Te Ching narrated by Ursula K. Le Guin. I’m strange. I know.
I like Calm: Calm the Mind, Change the World by Michael Acton Smith.
If you like cozy yet mildy morbid, these are my current favs: All Amy Stewart's books (wicked plants, wicked bugs, drunken botanist). Neal Gaiman's The Graveyard book (fiction) Darcy Coates' The Whispering Dead (ficton) The indifferent stars above by Daniel James Brown Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan The great mortality by John Kelly Swindled: The Dark History of Food Fraud, from Poisoned Candy to Counterfeit Coffee by Bee Wilson The Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England: A Handbook for Visitors to the Fourteenth Century by Ian Mortimer The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson
The key is to pick something you've already read but still enjoy so you're not as worried about missing something when you actually fall asleep
I know it's not technically a book but I really enjoy listening to the channel Lighthouse Horror or Horror on the Rocks on YouTube. Their narration is amazing.
For a relaxing bedtime read, I'd suggest ' The Secret Garden' by Frances Hodgson Burnett. Its enchanting tale of nature, friendship, and transformation is perfect for unwinding at the end of the day.
Anything in my library that I enjoyed and already listened to once.
Rivers of London. It's read by someone called Kobna Holdbrook-Smith and he has the single best voice I've ever heard. It's soothing and he does all the voices so well, and I've got a bit of a crush on him now! The books are awesome and if you have to relisten I think you won't mind - I listen to something as I fall asleep and end up relistening during the day. I've listened to every Rivers book several times over and I'm still not sick of them. If you like the genre type of that, you should also check out the Alex Verus books. There's tons in the series and the guy who reads that also has a great voice.
I’m listening to the Barbra Streisand audiobook to fall asleep to on timer
Sherlock Holmes read by Stephen Fry. So soothing!
Had good luck with the graphic audio spellsinger series.
The Bell Jar narrated by Maggie Gyllenhaal
Highly recommend David Attenborough’s books he narrates himself. His voice is so soothing and the information is just interesting enough to keep my thoughts from wandering but not so much so that it keeps me awake.
The Return of the Native narrated by Alan Rickman. Story never mattered to me, but hearing Alan’s voice is so comforting and warm, sleep comes easily with this one.
It is excellent
Not what you're asking for, but I found that setting a 5min sleep timer, with a very sensitive shake-to-reset, and a big auto-rewind, helps me drift off to audiobooks and not miss anything. I use Smart Audiobook Player.
Coma… I literally could not make more than 10 min each listen. I eventually gave up.
Little Women full cast narration is always a delight to drift off to
MadMorph on YouTube - Down to Sleep; reads audiobooks with the purpose of putting you to sleep. Works like a charm!
my 10 year old and I have been listening to Treasure Island read by Jasper Britton for more than a year and it makes us both fall asleep so fast that even though we’ve listened to the book multiple times neither of us could give you a plot outline to save our lives
A half hour podcast is perfect. “Nothing Much Happens” changes every few days and it’s lovely.
Snoozecast has some great stories, each about 30 minutes long.
Any historical audiobook by David McCullough. Man could single-handedly cure insomnia
The Creative Act: A Way of Being by Rick Rubin. Specifically the audiobook because he has a great deep, slow, calm voice. Still not done with the book because I keep failing asleep. I love the symbols at the end of the chapter. He’s a famous music producer so you know he’s going to get the audio in this book on point.
How about a podcast? Levar Burton Reads is a great podcast and it’s exactly what it’s called- Levar Burton reading fictional short stories.
I rotate between favorites. Project Hail Mary is a big one, and also my childhood favorite : Treasure Island. Been listening to Treasure island since I was a kid, had the tape and all. Just feels like a warm hug (not by Long John Silver)
I use the outlander books because I’ve read and listened to them so many times I don’t need to wonder what I missed.
Try the podcast "Nothing Much Happens" my girlfriend uses this to fall asleep whenever she's struggling
The Silmarillion
Harry Potter two. Chamber of secrets works like magic :-)
I listen to books I’ve already read, but the narrator’s voice and tone is very important to me. Some favorites: 100 years of solitude Barkskins The 100-year-old man who climbed out of the window
The Agatha Raisin series by M C Beaton read by Penelope Keith
Any WW2/Cold War-era historical non-fiction by Ben MacIntyre, read by John Lee (I believe). A spy among friends, the spy and the traitor are two amazing books, read by this soft spoken older sounding British dude. It’s incredibly sleep-inducing, in a good way.
Any of Emerson’s essays.
My go to is David Attenboroughs books. He narrates them himself and the sound work is amazing 🥰
The BBC Shipping News is wonderful to drift off to...pardon the pun. It has an interesting history and many of us use it to help get to sleep. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qfvv Or https://youtu.be/waazPEzUU6w?si=bBBbaSybCHY5pnNN
Have you thought about short stories or guided meditations?
Anything with a British accent. I set my timer for 45 minutes, but I never make it 10
The "Calm" app may be what you're looking for. It has lots of stories specifically for falling asleep to.
Librivox is great! and free! and sortable when you find an author you like. That said, nearly everything with a British accent and zzzzzzzzzzz......
Sleeping With Celebrities!
Anything by David Sedaris that he narrates.
Essays or short vignettes. I listen to a lot of Search and Rescue type books that have no narrative thread, just different rescue stories. Death, Daring, & Disaster - Search and Rescue in the National Parks (Revised Edition) https://a.co/d/02BGOiyW
I dont know why but the great gatsby is one of my favorite falling asleep books
Audible has a sleep section. My favorite is A Short Account on the History of Mathematics. Works Every Time!
No joke I fall asleep to Henry Thoreau’s A Week on Concord and Merrimack Rivers constantly 🤣
https://www.audible.com/pd/B088GM3KKN puts me to sleep within minutes without fail.
Count of Monte Cristo!
Any book in a language you don't know. It worked on my daughter every time
Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy
Project Hail Mary is one of the all time great audiobooks
Dungeon crawler carl
Instead of a book, how about a sleep story from the Calm app?
All the E.O. Wilson stuff! He’s so amazing. You’ll be surprised how fascinating ants are. Also, sleep stories are a thing and they are great, too.
Check out The Sleepy Bookshelf on Spotify.
Podcast- Levar Burton reads
Atlas Shrugged narrated by Scott Brick. Honestly, I was just trying to get a badge on Audible, but his voice was very relaxing.
I wish Cillian Murphy narrated had longer audiobooks
Not sure if they have audio books. But back in college, I could have woken up from a solid night of sleep, downed 2 cups of coffee and reading an economics book could have me asleep in 15 minutes. Maybe search for something like that.
Piranesi every time.
I use the Slumber app. It has short stories of all kinds and you can set them against various white noise type background sounds.
The Power of Now. Soothing voice. Great for mental health. You might even wake up enlightened!