59 Books Like The Promise of Sleep

Leonardo da Vinci was arguably the most creative person who ever walked the earth. He is known by many as an artist but his most impressive contributions came in the form of inventions. Imagine in the fifteen hundreds conceptualizing tanks, automatic weaponry, and parachutes. He was so far ahead of his time that people thought he was crazy.

The subtitle to this insightful book is Why you Can't Always do What You Want to do.. and What to Do About It. The author says that in our instant soup society you're encouraged to do more, be more, have more, and achieve more. Technology enables us to accomplish more faster. No matter how quickly society moves, however, human beings still have to be ready before they can make certain changes. And really, you can't hurry change. You might have to try on the change several times before you're accustomed to the way it feels. Amazingly, even if you don't know you're ready to change, your subconscious will know.

Changes made the easy way are effortless. You often find yourself thinking, saying, and doing things that would have been unthinkable even the day before. Changes made the hard way can be difficult, unpleasant, and even frightening. You might feel as… show more.

The authors ask, "Why is it that a decent person like you, someone you would invite home for dinner, is plagued by the feeling that you will never get it all done? Do you think you invented the word frantic? Your life," they say, "is not a series of little boxes to be checked off as you complete tasks. Life is rough, sweet, sticky, hot and cold, even messy, and enjoyable."

To rearrange your life and get what you want done, they contend that you need a clear picture of your life as it actually is today. Diagramming helps; start with yourself in the middle and add spokes and branches in all directions that define and illustrate your inter-connectedness. Then, when you stand back and look at the pattern, you are viewing your life as it is today, with all of its important facets. All, that is, except for some… show more.

Yes, this book stuck with me. I had it sitting there for a year and turned to it after a terrible breakup. Many of the quotes I read were so meaningful that I began my own book of quotes that I copied down so I could return to them when I needed healing or to be reminded of certain understandings that struck home.

One that I really liked was when he said you shouldn't blame anyone else for their actions. Instead, they see things as follows: "Their soul required them to act that way." It takes away blame and makes you think of the soul, its development, the unfolding of the soul, and its purpose and mystery.

I think it takes away the feeling of ownership of another person. No one owns anyone else. In that sense, allowing and understanding they are free is very free. In that thinking, no… show more.

I love this book because I am a very prolific dreamer. Dreams intrigue me, and I am fascinated by all aspects of what happens in the brain when we sleep. I found myself completely engaged in the compassionate stories based on the author’s (neurologist and sleep physician) case studies of his patients.

This book helped me to explore what happens to our brains at night. I discovered that even if they're fully asleep, some people go sleepwalking or even sleep driving! And some people act out their dreams to a terrifying extent. I loved reading about the neuroscience of nightmares, dreaming, and nighttime hallucinations—and what they can tell us about the workings of our brain.

The Rested Child puts a different spin on parenting challenging kids. Chris Winter is a neurologist and sleep specialist who has seen countless situations where bad behavior is a symptom of sleep problems. He writes that irritability, ADHD, mood disorders, obesity, and diabetes are only a few of the possible manifestations of sleep disorders. Winters makes some great recommendations, including reassuring kids about “bad sleeps.” Everyone has nights where they don’t sleep so well, he writes, and that’s okay. Because sleep is so important, you want your kid to feel confident and optimistic about their sleeping, not worried. He has some surprising advice, including strongly recommending against sleeping medications of every kind, and advocating for a later start to school, especially for kids from about eleven years old and up.

The “Breath Guy” has studied with some of the world’s most well know breathing experts and authorities, and he has become one of the world’s leading practitioners of breathwork. He incorporates movement and posture and stretching into breathing practices. He has put together a collection of powerful breathwork exercises that will help you awaken your energy and your body and will also help you up-level your emotional and psychological health. He offers some simple breathing tests to check your skills, and he gives us several morning rituals, afternoon boosters, stress busters, and evening calmers. And he has included a great 21-day program to optimize your day-to-day breathing so that you feel great and perform at your best.

The Good Sleeper was recommended to me by a mom in my neighborhood who instantly noticed that I was struggling with my new role. While my daughter was keeping me up most of the night, her baby was actually sleeping for sustained periods of time in his crib. Sure enough, after reading this book, I was finally able to understand the science behind what was happening with my baby and how I could best meet her needs. I read and reread each chapter as I tried the strategies until I found the right ones for my child. It’s no exaggeration to say that getting sleep changed my world! Pass this book along and give a new parent the gift of sleep.

As an avid student and practitioner of sleep, I was always looking for a book on sleep science, both for myself and my Happiness Engineering students. There just wasn’t one—until Matthew Walker’s book came along. And it’s great! From a real sleep scientist! And he’s funny! With great hair! 

Joking aside, this is the essential text on how sleep works and why we need it so badly. If I spend a third of my life doing something, I’d sure want to know the proper technique. Even more important, it made me super aware of the paramount importance of sleep to health. This is one of my top-recommended books ever. I got my sleep religion through it and hope you do, too.

This fantasy novel is about a girl who can’t cope with the lack of attention she’s receiving since her baby brother was born. He is very ill and has to use an inhaler so Merel’s parents are always tired and don’t notice her. The story is engrossing and heartwarming as Merel has become so angsty that she refuses to sleep and does nothing but scream. Eventually, she loses the ability to sleep at all. During a trip to a fantasy land to try to get her lost sleep back so she can be normal, Merel learns to accept her family and to feel affection for her baby brother. The story deals with regression about a new sibling in a fascinating way.