I don’t think your bed or a dining room chair are the best places to read. My understanding has always been that you should never do anything in bed other than sleep, including read, watch TV, etc. (of course, there are exceptions for “recreational activities”, if you know what I mean). Your body is conditioned to sleep when you get into bed for a reason, and that is that our bodies need as much sleep as we’re able to give them in this workaday world. When you start doing other things in bed, like reading, paying bills, watching TV, etc., you’re actually reconditioning your body NOT to fall asleep when you get into bed. This disrupts your body’s ability to fall asleep as quickly as possible, thus reducing the amount of sleep you get, including the much needed REM sleep, which leads to a much poorer quality of sleep overall. No, reading in bed is a definite no-no.

Sitting upright in a dining room chair is also inadvisable, for the obvious reasons: A hard backed chair (uncomfortable) in the middle of a room that is made for socializing (disruptions). Losing yourself in a good book should have ALL of your attention. It shouldn’t have to compete with spine-realignment or your sibling/spouse/roommate coming in to make a sandwich and tell you about his/her day (boring!). Nope, dining room chair is out, also.

Sitting under a tree or on a park bench is also inadvisable for the same reasons: Uncomfortable and potentially distracting (swap a hungry roommate for Momma Duck leading her line of 8 little ducklings to the water and I promise you’ll be watching them for the rest of the afternoon). Similar distractions abound on the lake and at the beach (although “beach distractions” can be far more entertaining!). No, the outdoors are definitely “out”, too (again, sorry about the pun).

I suggest looking at this another way. Instead of trying to find an existing spot and seeing if it works as a good place to read, CREATE a spot, made for no other reason than to read. Find a spot in your home and/or office that provides the desirable amount of privacy and quiet (total, if possible), then place a “reading chair” there, one whose sole purpose in life is to cradle your body in total comfort, allowing you to lose yourself in your book. I suggest some sort of recliner or “chaise lounge”, that will keep your body at an angle where your forearms are as close to horizontal as possible while you’re holding your book, allowing your blood to circulate easily. Your hands can be slightly higher or lower than your elbows, but not too much. Too low and you’re leaning forward to read (bad). Too high and blood circulation to your hands will diminish (worse). If you’ve ever been lying flat, holding your book above you, and your hands suddenly go numb, you know what I mean. Having your body at a 45-degree angle accomplishes this, and adding the comfiness (sp?) of a recliner (or a chaise lounge if you need more firmness) only adds to the comfort.

The downside of this, of course, is transportability. If you are on your lunch break, and want to finish the last chapter of Moby Dick, for instance, (spoiler alert: The whale did it!) you can’t very well drag your Barcalounger out to the park to finally find out who the heck “Ishmael” is. However, the passenger seat of your car can do in a pinch. Park in a non-distracting location (facing a brick wall, for instance), then move the seat as far back as it will go, recline the seatback to a 45-degree angle, and raise the front part of the seat bottom, if possible (if your car’s seat doesn’t raise that way, a pillow under your knees will suffice). The objective is to get your body at that 45-degree angle, with as few possible distractions around you.

Use these tips, and I promise you hours of uninterrupted, comfortable reading.

So, to sum up: Bed = bad. Reclining to a 45-degree angle in a comfortable chair or the passenger seat of your car with a pillow under your knees and as few distractions as possible = good.

Okay, I may need to work on my “summing up”…