It’s simple really, yet I haven’t heard any of the many book content creators I follow talk about this! If you haven’t either, let me introduce you to the concept of the “Day Read” versus the “Night Read”.
What is a Day Read?
A day read is a book that takes more concentration. A book that requires a little more from you. It’s not a passive read but an active one.
- Maybe it has heavier themes
- Longer chapters
- More complex plot
- More characters, timelines, or POV narrators
- More literary or prose heavy
You can enjoy your day reads more because you have more energy. You can perhaps annotate and engage with the text better because it’s taking your full attention.
What is a Night Read?
In contrast, a night read is more relaxed. It’s a book with lighter themes. A book that requires less from you. You don’t want to be reading something dense, scary, unsettling or upsetting in bed. Otherwise, you take that negativity into sleep (or may struggle to sleep at all!).
- Shorter chapters
- Simpler plot and threads
- Bigger text / spacing on the page
- Maybe it’s for a younger audience
- Humorous or lighthearted in tone
These reads should feel easy to pick up even when you’re tired. They’re not going to ask too much of you, but they will entertain lightly. A passive good time!
Why segregate our reading this way?
- Minimises “wasted time” on reads that don’t suit your energy levels or mood
- Helps you engage better with books because you choose to read them at the right times/right environments
- Protects your mental health by not reading heavy content before bed
- Reduces likelihood of getting bored from one read
- Diversifies your reading
- Likely to increase your number of reads and not be slowed down
Suggestions for Day Reads from my shelf
- Soon Come by Kuba Shand-Baptiste – multi-pov, multi-timeline, some heavy themes like racism and exploitation
- Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke – social commentary satire, literary in tone, will take some thinking to fully appreciate
- Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stewart – heavy themes
- The Reformatory by Tanavarie Due – heavy themes, horror, social commentary
- The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett – literary
- My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell – heavy themes, literary, S.A. trigger warning
- Babel by R.F. Kuang – colonialism and imperialism, academic-leaning
- The Macabre by Kosoko Jackson – horror
Suggestions for Night Reads from my shelf
- A Spot of Bother by Mark Haddon – funny
- Paper Towns by John Green – young adult, funny, contemporary, simple plot
- Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop by Hwang Bo-Reum – cosy, relaxing, sweet
- Just One Damned Thing After Another by Jodi Taylor – funny though it does hop around timelines I think
- Dreadful by Caitlin Rozakis – funny, light-hearted, simple
- The House in the Cerulean Sea by T. J. Klune – found family, sweet, light
- The Reading List by Sasha Nisha Adams – light, heart-warming, found family
- The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi – funny throughout, light
There you have it folks. Happy reading!
Sincerely,
S. xx
S. R. Crawford 