Books like A Short History Of Nearly Everything

[allthedramamick]

I listen to this Bill Bryson book on Audible whilst I go to sleep every night - I've got insomnia and it's the perfect level of interesting, but not so much that I can't sleep, and it doesn't matter if I miss a bit! It's weirdly comforting & I love the narrator.

Wondered if anybody knew of anything similar. Non-fiction, can be history/ science/ politics/ society etc., very broad rather than on a specific topic.

Bonus points if the Audible narrator is any good! I enjoyed The Body by Bill Bryson too, and Sapiens, so anything along those lines would be great.

Thank you!

I really enjoy the Time Travellers Guide to Medieval England - Ian Mortimer audiobook for going to sleep purposes! Just the right amount of interesting, but not enough to keep you awake for ages! There are other books in the series too, Elizabethan, Restoration and Regency.

The Planets by Andrew Cohen and Brian Cox has a wonderfully calming audiobook narrator, so that might fit the bill. Its a non fiction tour of the solar system.

Forces of Nature by the same authors and same narrator is equally good - all about weather and natural events.

Try the Get Sleepy podcast, it’s exactly what you describe.

I enjoyed Jay Rayner's audiobooks - 'Last Supper' "The Man Who Ate the World' and 'Greedy Man in a Hungry World' - I find his voice very easy to listen to.

Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker is also good as a bedtime book!

Following.

Stephen Fry's autobiographies are great to fall asleep to. I also love listening to him read P. G. Wodehouse and Sherlock Holmes. My favourite is Brian Blessed reading his autobiography.

How about David Attenborough reading his book Life on Earth? It's great.

There must be a recording of Carl Sagan reading Cosmos. And I'm pretty sure Richard Dawkins has recorded quite a lot of his books. I think there's a recording of Hawking's Brief History of Time as well, if you want a brain stretch before bed. Have you tried Harari's sequel, Homo Deus? Oh, and Dawkins has recorded Darwin's Voyage on the Beagle.