Last month we all lost an hour of sleep. If you're like me, ever since daylight saving time started you've been heading to bed at what feels like a ridiculously early time, not drowsy in the least.
I try to think of this not as less time for sleeping, but as more time for reading.
A few weeks ago, I wrote about reading in bed, and it's clear from your many responses that you all have strong opinions about this, too — what to read, where to read.
"I read in bed every night," writes Carol Britt of Eden Prairie. "I am currently reading 'This Tender Land' [by William Kent Krueger]. Reading at night is my way of calming myself down and preparing for a good night's sleep."
Another reader (who asked not to be named) likes soothing books at night — "I'll read 'The Wind in the Willows,' Beatrix Potter, Maud Hart Lovelace, Alexander McCall Smith and the Bible," she wrote. "Our previous golden retriever would jump on the bed as soon as I started reading, and when he fell over asleep, I would usually do the same."
At the moment, Howie Smith of Minneapolis is rereading another soothing book — William Least Heat-Moon's "Blue Highways."
"It's taking me forever, which is perfectly fine," he writes. "His meandering journey is a perfect tonic to fall asleep to. I can only hope every night my dreams pick up where he leaves off and I journey around the back roads of America."
But Rita Berens of Mendota Heights cautioned that reading in bed can be detrimental to a good night's sleep. She went through a sleep study some years ago, which, she said, reset her sleep clock successfully.