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Nodding Off: The Science of Sleep from Cradle to Grave
Sleep is vital to the way we learn, remember and forget, to how we feel about family and partners, our wellbeing, and our mental and physical health. It is essential for life itself. In Nodding Off , renowned sleep researcher Alice Gregory explores every aspect of sleep, from the different stages of sleep and how our sleeping patterns change throughout our lives, to what happens when things go wrong and getting some shut-eye becomes more of a trial than a pleasure.
Using cutting-edge findings in the field, Gregory tackles the big questions, such
- How do things that happen before we are even born affect our sleep?
- What sleep problems should raise a red flag in children?
- How do genes influence the way we sleep?
- What are the consequences of sleep problems in the elderly?
- Why are scientists turning to sleep disorders such as sleep paralysis to try to understand paranormal experiences?
Most of us spend a large portion of our lives asleep without ever thinking about why we do this. Nodding Off lifts the lid on this mysterious and universal past time. It examines all of the biggest sleep secrets, and Professor Gregory provides solutions to some of the common sleep problems that people suffer throughout their lives.
Using cutting-edge findings in the field, Gregory tackles the big questions, such
- How do things that happen before we are even born affect our sleep?
- What sleep problems should raise a red flag in children?
- How do genes influence the way we sleep?
- What are the consequences of sleep problems in the elderly?
- Why are scientists turning to sleep disorders such as sleep paralysis to try to understand paranormal experiences?
Most of us spend a large portion of our lives asleep without ever thinking about why we do this. Nodding Off lifts the lid on this mysterious and universal past time. It examines all of the biggest sleep secrets, and Professor Gregory provides solutions to some of the common sleep problems that people suffer throughout their lives.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published August 14, 2018
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426 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews
February 28, 2021
This book is about the importance of sleep: the functions it fulfils for us, how that changes throughout our life cycles, and the consequences of not getting enough. It has a wealth of citations, and most of it was unsurprising to me, suggesting it's a reasonable synthesis of the current state of our knowledge.
However, and this is a really big but, I lost count of how many times Gregory proclaims something and then admits in the next sentence or a footnote that it was a 'small study' and hadn't been replicated in other studies, especially when she says it hasn't been replicated in larger studies. The fact that she made it sound like these things were facts, when actually it was that shaky, gave me pause about more or less everything she said.
You can't make big claims from small, underpowered studies. That's just not how it works. They can be a testing ground, a starting point, but there's no way you should be presenting them as fact in a pop-science book where people might actually think these are tried and tested facts, even if you explain the study is small. People just don't grasp the significance of that (or rather, the fact that it's probably not significant!).
I've also definitely had more engaging pop-science reads lately; Sue Armstrong comes to mind. Sleep can be a fascinating topic, but I found myself nodding off over Nodding Off.
However, and this is a really big but, I lost count of how many times Gregory proclaims something and then admits in the next sentence or a footnote that it was a 'small study' and hadn't been replicated in other studies, especially when she says it hasn't been replicated in larger studies. The fact that she made it sound like these things were facts, when actually it was that shaky, gave me pause about more or less everything she said.
You can't make big claims from small, underpowered studies. That's just not how it works. They can be a testing ground, a starting point, but there's no way you should be presenting them as fact in a pop-science book where people might actually think these are tried and tested facts, even if you explain the study is small. People just don't grasp the significance of that (or rather, the fact that it's probably not significant!).
I've also definitely had more engaging pop-science reads lately; Sue Armstrong comes to mind. Sleep can be a fascinating topic, but I found myself nodding off over Nodding Off.
October 1, 2018
This book might not have a WOW factor (I mean, it is about sleep after all), but it earns its five stars. Gregory's prose is a dinner party mix of facts, anecdotes, and sleep studies. What I found most impressive is the way Gregory presents the sleep studies. Rather than use the studies to make bold claims, Gregory immediately recognizes their flaws to the reader. This study had a small sample size; this study checked for correlation but not causation; other studies have failed to replicate the results, and so on. But those flaws are not presented in a negative light. Gregory turns them into advertisements to tease the future of sleep science. It's almost as if she's saying, "So we thought this might be true, and a few studies tried to figure it out. There's not enough of them to say anything for certain, but it is definitely something that we are continuing to explore!". I've read quite a few non-fiction books that easily put the argument in argument. Gregory's book is the first I've seen to be content to just keep the conversation going.
July 28, 2018
As someone who has never slept well, I've kind of casually browsed a lot of stuff to do with sleep and healthy sleep and how to get more etc for many many years. This felt like it didn't tell me anything I hadn't already come across, but I guess it was a decent collection of a bunch of info all in one place. I also felt like it had a way heavier focus on children's sleep and as a result how to parent children in ways that encourage health sleep than I was expecting. Half of it felt almost like a parenting guidebook.
January 28, 2021
Do you sleep well? I love talking about sleep and it's been a few months since I last read a book about one of my favourite non fiction topics. It was great timing then when a copy of Nodding Off - The Science of Sleep by Professor Alice Gregory arrived in the mailbox, and I decided to pick it up for the Non Fiction November reading challenge.
The author approaches sleep by breaking it down by age, beginning with babies, children and teenagers, moving on to adults and new parents and finishing up with older adults together with some hints and tips.
In this manner, the author touches on a number of interesting topics along the way like sleepwalking, restless leg syndrome, teeth grinding and night terrors etc. however they weren't covered in any great detail.
Where Splitting by Amanda Ellison went into considerable medical detail to the point of being too scientific for this reader, Nodding Off was the opposite. It touched on fascinating topics like sleep paralysis and exploding head syndrome, but didn't provide enough information, leading me to put the book down and search elsewhere in order to satisfy my curiosity.
Regular Carpe Librum readers will know one of my favourite sleep topics is the fact that human beings used to sleep twice in one night, experiencing a period of wakefulness between the first and the second sleep. I was surprised - and pleased - to see Alice Gregory quoting from one of my favourite books At Day's Close: Night in Times Past by A. Roger Ekirch when discussing this topic. But given she's an expert in the field of sleep and has been researching sleep for almost twenty years, I was disappointed she didn't have anything further to add on the phenomenon.
Nodding Off - The Science of Sleep by Alice Gregory is recommended for readers new to the topic of sleep and those seeking a general overview about that which is crucial to our health and well-being, sleep. Do you sleep well?
* Copy courtesy of Bloomsbury *
The author approaches sleep by breaking it down by age, beginning with babies, children and teenagers, moving on to adults and new parents and finishing up with older adults together with some hints and tips.
In this manner, the author touches on a number of interesting topics along the way like sleepwalking, restless leg syndrome, teeth grinding and night terrors etc. however they weren't covered in any great detail.
Where Splitting by Amanda Ellison went into considerable medical detail to the point of being too scientific for this reader, Nodding Off was the opposite. It touched on fascinating topics like sleep paralysis and exploding head syndrome, but didn't provide enough information, leading me to put the book down and search elsewhere in order to satisfy my curiosity.
Regular Carpe Librum readers will know one of my favourite sleep topics is the fact that human beings used to sleep twice in one night, experiencing a period of wakefulness between the first and the second sleep. I was surprised - and pleased - to see Alice Gregory quoting from one of my favourite books At Day's Close: Night in Times Past by A. Roger Ekirch when discussing this topic. But given she's an expert in the field of sleep and has been researching sleep for almost twenty years, I was disappointed she didn't have anything further to add on the phenomenon.
Nodding Off - The Science of Sleep by Alice Gregory is recommended for readers new to the topic of sleep and those seeking a general overview about that which is crucial to our health and well-being, sleep. Do you sleep well?
* Copy courtesy of Bloomsbury *
July 17, 2018
Superb book. Will definitely highly recommend that my students read this book (and learned quite a lot of new research findings and principles to incorporate into my course presentations). I was expecting that this book would disappoint as it follows the popular nonfiction book, Why We Sleep, by Dr. Matthew Walker. However, I personally find Nodding Off to be even more evidence-based and fascinating. Love the way the book walks through the science of sleep using the context of the developmental lifespan. Excellent advice and perfect balance of science and humor.
Thanks to the publisher for allowing me to read the advance net galley of this book.
Thanks to the publisher for allowing me to read the advance net galley of this book.
September 3, 2018
There were some interesting facts here and I think it was organized pretty clearly, but sleep is still largely an unknown - that's the main thing I come away with. Maybe it's silly to read a single book to try to find all the answers about a topic but I didn't really learn too much I didn't know and you sort of expect more when a book has so many sources cited and is so research-based.
One interesting theory brought up in this book as that "different behavioral states [sleep vs wake] allow for energy to be allocated optimally to vital biological processes." Here's the study with more info if you're interested.
My main purpose in reading this book was to see if I can do anything to help my toddler sleep at night, especially as I begin the weaning process and she has less of a crutch to lean on. It seems like the MOST helpful thing you can do is to make the bedtime routine consistent - this helps children fall asleep earlier and more quickly, wake up less often, and sleep longer overall. Also: "there was a dose-response relationship - this means that the more often a child had a bedtime routine, the better that child slept." - So if you temporarily fall off the bedtime routine wagon, just try, try again.
Also, for sleep tips in general:
Sleeping in on the weekends (social jetlag) is bad (correlated with obesity and metabolic dysfunction - your body can't figure out how to regulate itself when you keep throwing off the schedule, I guess).
Don't pull all-nighters for school because sleep deprived people perform at around the 9th percentile of non-sleep-deprived people. (Effects of Sleep Deprivation on Performance: A Meta-Analysis)
Interrupted sleep is just as problematic as hardly getting any sleep - this is one fact you should take into account if you are working with someone who just came back to work after having a baby. This was honestly the main thing that gave me trouble. I was so exhausted I was having crazy rollercoaster emotions and couldn't do anything complex for awhile. I kept trying to push myself but I was already too tired to think.
One interesting theory brought up in this book as that "different behavioral states [sleep vs wake] allow for energy to be allocated optimally to vital biological processes." Here's the study with more info if you're interested.
My main purpose in reading this book was to see if I can do anything to help my toddler sleep at night, especially as I begin the weaning process and she has less of a crutch to lean on. It seems like the MOST helpful thing you can do is to make the bedtime routine consistent - this helps children fall asleep earlier and more quickly, wake up less often, and sleep longer overall. Also: "there was a dose-response relationship - this means that the more often a child had a bedtime routine, the better that child slept." - So if you temporarily fall off the bedtime routine wagon, just try, try again.
Also, for sleep tips in general:
Sleeping in on the weekends (social jetlag) is bad (correlated with obesity and metabolic dysfunction - your body can't figure out how to regulate itself when you keep throwing off the schedule, I guess).
Don't pull all-nighters for school because sleep deprived people perform at around the 9th percentile of non-sleep-deprived people. (Effects of Sleep Deprivation on Performance: A Meta-Analysis)
Interrupted sleep is just as problematic as hardly getting any sleep - this is one fact you should take into account if you are working with someone who just came back to work after having a baby. This was honestly the main thing that gave me trouble. I was so exhausted I was having crazy rollercoaster emotions and couldn't do anything complex for awhile. I kept trying to push myself but I was already too tired to think.
September 4, 2018
Excellent book on the science of Sleep! Alice Gregory clearly knows what she is talking about, and whilst the book is full of scientific studies, it is thoroughly engaging. I strongly recommend this book to anyone interested in understanding why we spend so much of our lives asleep. As a parent of three relatively small children I was fascinated to learn more about how and why our sleep patterns change as we though our live span. Thoroughly enjoyable and insightful read!
April 25, 2019
I skimmed the last half of this. While the topic interests me and I had high hopes, the science wasn't well presented and the narrative elements weren't strong enough on their own. Might be good as a quick look for specific ages but otherwise... disappointed.
January 7, 2023
Niestety nie dowiem się z tej książki za dużo o tym jak lepiej spać. Bardziej o tym jakie procesy zachodzą podczas snu i co na niego wpływa oraz ile powinniśmy spać w danym okresie życia. Dużo powtórzeń wiedzy poprzez całą treść książki.
March 3, 2025
This book felt completely underwhelming for 2025. I believe it was released in 2012, I can see how it might have felt more impactfult then. I think my expectations of the book were also way off which led to more disappointment. If you are expecting some quick tips and tricks on how to sleep better, this is not the book for you. To be honest, i made it to page 50, then skipped to chapter 6, then chapter 9. Everything being talked about felt really obvious and every page left me going "okay, what do I do about it?"
May 15, 2018
We spend approximately a third of our lives sleeping, and Alice Gregory discusses how sleep affects our mental and physical health, work performance, family relationships, and more. Sleep can be comforting or elusive (picture a frustrated individual tossing and turning at night, unable to settle into a comforting and restorative slumber). Whether someone is in pain, has kids who do not sleep well, is worried about job-related matters, or is addicted to electronic devices, he or she may end up sleep-deprived and unable to function properly during the day.
Gregory, who has a PhD and has written many scholarly papers about sleep, admits that there is still a great deal that we do not understand about this subject. Nevertheless, she presents intriguing ideas based on a host of studies that scientists have conducted over the years. Most of us know that the need for sleep changes as we age. The author discusses why we sleep differently as babies than we do as toddlers, teenagers, adults, and senior citizens. She focuses on various parts of the brain that affect sleep, different types of sleep (such as REM), and various sleep disturbances, including insomnia, night terrors, sleepwalking, narcolepsy, and even hallucinations.
"Nodding Off" is an entertaining and informative book about a topic that affects us all, but it may be too technical and detailed for the average reader. Gregory presents reams of data that touch on the possible ways that genetics, circadian rhythms, light, and our environment may affect our ability to sleep soundly. What is clear is that sleep remains a problem for many; pills and supplements are not a cure-all; we should ban televisions, cell phones, and other electronics from the bedroom; and carefully thought-out bedtime routines may help us enjoy more restful nights. Gregory urges us to consult our physicians if we have physical or emotional issues that adversely affect our ability to sleep. Sleeplessness or disturbed sleep can impair our aptitude for learning and remembering, disrupt households, and cause fatal accidents. "Nodding Off" does not provide many definitive answers, but it does introduce readers to promising areas of research.
Gregory, who has a PhD and has written many scholarly papers about sleep, admits that there is still a great deal that we do not understand about this subject. Nevertheless, she presents intriguing ideas based on a host of studies that scientists have conducted over the years. Most of us know that the need for sleep changes as we age. The author discusses why we sleep differently as babies than we do as toddlers, teenagers, adults, and senior citizens. She focuses on various parts of the brain that affect sleep, different types of sleep (such as REM), and various sleep disturbances, including insomnia, night terrors, sleepwalking, narcolepsy, and even hallucinations.
"Nodding Off" is an entertaining and informative book about a topic that affects us all, but it may be too technical and detailed for the average reader. Gregory presents reams of data that touch on the possible ways that genetics, circadian rhythms, light, and our environment may affect our ability to sleep soundly. What is clear is that sleep remains a problem for many; pills and supplements are not a cure-all; we should ban televisions, cell phones, and other electronics from the bedroom; and carefully thought-out bedtime routines may help us enjoy more restful nights. Gregory urges us to consult our physicians if we have physical or emotional issues that adversely affect our ability to sleep. Sleeplessness or disturbed sleep can impair our aptitude for learning and remembering, disrupt households, and cause fatal accidents. "Nodding Off" does not provide many definitive answers, but it does introduce readers to promising areas of research.
September 21, 2018
Not quite what I was looking for, but I was able to skip the chapters about babies and adolescents to get to the adult and advice information. Funny thing is that I read this until 1 am one night this week, trying to make myself go to sleep, and it didn't happen.
Plenty of footnotes and research involved, but her tone was conversational which made it an easy read. She is British, so, you know, everything is spelled wrong. ;)
I did learn about about CBT-I, which I had never heard of, as a treatment for adult insomnia, so that is something I'm going to look into. She also, like my personal doctor, hates sleeping pills and self-medicating to sleep, so I guess my dr knows what he's talking about. I've always thought reading helps me go to sleep, but she mentions that it might not, since my brain spins quite a bit when I'm processing that information. Meditation might be more of what I need.
Plenty of footnotes and research involved, but her tone was conversational which made it an easy read. She is British, so, you know, everything is spelled wrong. ;)
I did learn about about CBT-I, which I had never heard of, as a treatment for adult insomnia, so that is something I'm going to look into. She also, like my personal doctor, hates sleeping pills and self-medicating to sleep, so I guess my dr knows what he's talking about. I've always thought reading helps me go to sleep, but she mentions that it might not, since my brain spins quite a bit when I'm processing that information. Meditation might be more of what I need.
June 23, 2018
Sleeping. What a great concept as I don't sleep for more than four hours a night since I was a child. Finally a book with some great tips to help. What causes sleeplessness? Is it caffeine, is the room too warm, artificial light, etc? Maybe all the above. Why do we need to sleep? It appears that getting sleep gives the body and the brain a chance to restore themselves. It lets the body make certain hormones at night. Sleep health gives damaged or dying cells a chance to repair and reproduce. The author brought up a subject that I have often wondered about. If there were a pill that you could take to make you feel normal and healthy without any sleep, would you take it? I definitely would take it. I received this book from Net Galley for an honest review and no compensation otherwise.
July 23, 2018
Alice Gregory's book "Nodding Off" is a great book and for those interested in sleep-themed books, I'd make reading her book a priority. Gregory includes a myriad of facts that most readers will be surprised to learn (and they'll appreciate finding out!) The author organized her subject material in an easy-to-follow and logical fashion. Her writing style is clear and doesn't bog down the reader with too much erudite information. It's an awesome read and it won't put you to sleep!
June 24, 2019
This is a great book for those who would love to study sleep on a scientific level. I love to study everything at that level so I found this very intriguing. Learning and understanding sleep better can help you to get better sleep too! This book was very well laid out with many reputable studies and I greatly enjoyed it!
August 15, 2018
The author was able to provide information on the changing habits of sleep from infancy to being elderly without boring the reader. I was intrigued to learn about the different sleep disorders and the times that they can develop in the lifespan. Very informative and interesting read!
September 19, 2018
This was a really interesting look at sleep. Learned quite a lot about how sleep changes from infancy to old age and how poor sleep can impact your physical and mental health.
July 8, 2018
I received a copy from NetGalley; this is my honest review. #NoddingOff #NetGalley
-This is mainly for the scientific people. I've read 25% and already there were at least 50 different surveys and follow-ups and papers from other researchers. The author also uses big words which are not for me, especially since my dictionaries cannot help (A GWAS meta-analysis in children...). See what I mean?
-A few interesting point but haven't been proven by the author: 1. Sleep deprivation can make teens behave as if they have ADHD; 2. The time of day someone takes their final breath might be explainable; 3. Newborns haven't developed a "clock" so they are not "ticking" on a 24-hour beat.
-A few points I gathered: 1. Most people want to "train" their babies to sleep certain hours, which is cultural (not natural). 2. Others may want to let a child cry until it falls asleep (no way). And the last but not least 3. When putting a child in bed while sleepy it will then learn to fall asleep on its own (so not true).
-The other side of this is: Feeding and coddling before putting to bed, co-sleeping. I never regretted doing this with my children and they are now mature, responsible adults with professions.
-The author explains how our need changes with age. I haven't seen that with myself or my children. All four of us need 10-12 hours per night. My husband needs around 4-6 hours. We are all adults now and we still sleep the same amount. Fortunately my youngest son found a spouse who sleeps as much as he!
-This is mainly for the scientific people. I've read 25% and already there were at least 50 different surveys and follow-ups and papers from other researchers. The author also uses big words which are not for me, especially since my dictionaries cannot help (A GWAS meta-analysis in children...). See what I mean?
-A few interesting point but haven't been proven by the author: 1. Sleep deprivation can make teens behave as if they have ADHD; 2. The time of day someone takes their final breath might be explainable; 3. Newborns haven't developed a "clock" so they are not "ticking" on a 24-hour beat.
-A few points I gathered: 1. Most people want to "train" their babies to sleep certain hours, which is cultural (not natural). 2. Others may want to let a child cry until it falls asleep (no way). And the last but not least 3. When putting a child in bed while sleepy it will then learn to fall asleep on its own (so not true).
-The other side of this is: Feeding and coddling before putting to bed, co-sleeping. I never regretted doing this with my children and they are now mature, responsible adults with professions.
-The author explains how our need changes with age. I haven't seen that with myself or my children. All four of us need 10-12 hours per night. My husband needs around 4-6 hours. We are all adults now and we still sleep the same amount. Fortunately my youngest son found a spouse who sleeps as much as he!
June 22, 2018
Since I tend to like sleep and dream books that are in the metaphysical genre, I had reservations about reading Nodding Off. I was afraid I would find it too dull and scientific. Fortunately, while it does mention lots of studies, it's not a dull and dry look at sleep at all. It's not the most exciting book on the topic, mind you, but it covers so many aspects of sleep; including the sleep needs and characteristics of age groups; that it was easy to stay awake while reading each chapter.
There's probably nothing about sleeping that is not mentioned in Dr. Gregory's work. She asked a profound question in the final chapter, too--if there was a pill invented that provided you with all the benefits of sleep without ever having to sleep, would you want to take it? Would you want to stay awake 24 hours a day for the rest of your life? Just reading that question made me want to go to sleep, and I wasn't even sleepy before I read it. :)
(Note: I received a free e-copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher or author.)
There's probably nothing about sleeping that is not mentioned in Dr. Gregory's work. She asked a profound question in the final chapter, too--if there was a pill invented that provided you with all the benefits of sleep without ever having to sleep, would you want to take it? Would you want to stay awake 24 hours a day for the rest of your life? Just reading that question made me want to go to sleep, and I wasn't even sleepy before I read it. :)
(Note: I received a free e-copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher or author.)
July 22, 2025
I first want to commend the author for not jumping to conclusions on anything. She presents data about studies and includes limitations about the studies. She acknowledges that other studies come to different conclusions. She emphasizes that individuals react very differently to certain conditions. This book is not a page turner; rather, it is a very detailed exploration of how important sleep is to our physical and mental health and how difficult it is for so many of us to get satisfactory sleep.
This is the antithesis of "I took Relaxium and it worked the first night and it will work for you." There are no easy answers.
As an aside, this is written in British English. I read a lot of military history written by Brits as well as mysteries. I am used to many British terms. This book had some new ones for me: "kip" for nap, "cot" for crib, and some others I have forgotten already.
This is the antithesis of "I took Relaxium and it worked the first night and it will work for you." There are no easy answers.
As an aside, this is written in British English. I read a lot of military history written by Brits as well as mysteries. I am used to many British terms. This book had some new ones for me: "kip" for nap, "cot" for crib, and some others I have forgotten already.
July 9, 2018
Nodding Off is a refreshing, intelligent read on the science of sleep throughout one's life.
Straightforward explanations, international experts' insightful observations, and fascinating case studies make this stand apart from similar books.
The book is structured around the life-course explaining how sleep changes across the different stages of life, how it seems closely linked to various other psychological issues, and the various things that can go wrong with it along the way. There are pointers to expert literature for anyone who would like to be able to understand the science in more detail.
As a parent I found the section on children's sleep particular useful as it summarised all the various techniques you can use with young children. It provided insight into how valid the techniques are from a scientific perspective, but without any prejudice as to which technique is best.
Straightforward explanations, international experts' insightful observations, and fascinating case studies make this stand apart from similar books.
The book is structured around the life-course explaining how sleep changes across the different stages of life, how it seems closely linked to various other psychological issues, and the various things that can go wrong with it along the way. There are pointers to expert literature for anyone who would like to be able to understand the science in more detail.
As a parent I found the section on children's sleep particular useful as it summarised all the various techniques you can use with young children. It provided insight into how valid the techniques are from a scientific perspective, but without any prejudice as to which technique is best.
March 3, 2022
Not at all what I thought I'd be getting into.
It didn't really read as a diverting book about some aspect of science ... it was more of a cross between a manual for parents, and a synopsis of current (some non-confirmed) science experiments. It was also very, very dense, and as I plodded through the seemingly endless sections on sleep in babies, in toddlers, in youngsters, in teens, etc., I kept wondering when it would get good.
And then it basically ended, with 30% notes, etc., at the end.
(5* = amazing, terrific book, one of my all-time favourites, 4* = very good book, 3* = good book, but nothing to particularly rave about, 2* = disappointing book, and 1* = awful, just awful. As a statistician I know most books are 3s, but I am biased in my selection and end up mostly with 4s, thank goodness.)
It didn't really read as a diverting book about some aspect of science ... it was more of a cross between a manual for parents, and a synopsis of current (some non-confirmed) science experiments. It was also very, very dense, and as I plodded through the seemingly endless sections on sleep in babies, in toddlers, in youngsters, in teens, etc., I kept wondering when it would get good.
And then it basically ended, with 30% notes, etc., at the end.
(5* = amazing, terrific book, one of my all-time favourites, 4* = very good book, 3* = good book, but nothing to particularly rave about, 2* = disappointing book, and 1* = awful, just awful. As a statistician I know most books are 3s, but I am biased in my selection and end up mostly with 4s, thank goodness.)
June 9, 2019
Nodding Off covers the Science of Sleep over the whole gamut of sleep situations. It talks about different disorders, why babies sleep terribly, why teenagers need so much sleep, and how your sleep evolves over the years. Sleep is important, but we still don’t quite know the reason why. All we have are hypotheses and theories that a lot of researchers agree upon. The author Alice Gregory is very British. As an American, I don't know how I feel about terms like 'nappy.' Off the top of my head, I can't think of any other British slang she uses in the book. I enjoyed it quite a bit and found it to be very relatable.
August 4, 2019
Brief introduction on sleep structure and functions hypothesized.
The book is structured by the stages of life-explains how sleep pattern changes with age, hypothesized reasons for such changes, some of the sleep problems prevalent at the stage of the life.
Basically, there's still a lot not known about sleep- it's hard to study sleep (quality) in our scientific methods (there's lots of hypotheses, but no clear conclusions on many aspects of sleep). There are some guideline for helping to facilitate good quality sleep.
The book is structured by the stages of life-explains how sleep pattern changes with age, hypothesized reasons for such changes, some of the sleep problems prevalent at the stage of the life.
Basically, there's still a lot not known about sleep- it's hard to study sleep (quality) in our scientific methods (there's lots of hypotheses, but no clear conclusions on many aspects of sleep). There are some guideline for helping to facilitate good quality sleep.
May 16, 2022
I wanted to like this. I gave it my best, but there are issues I have with this book. While the anecdotes are mildly interesting, there is a troubling reliance on small studies for such an important subject as sleep. It is one thing to bring attention to small fringe studies, but another to focus on these studies even with a disclaimer. It feels like more attention was put to these unusual studies to maintain the young reader’s attention.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 26, 2019
I decided to read this after wondering what on earth all the data from my smart watch meant. I got sucked in from the first chapter and was intrigued to learn more about the sometimes elusive, sometimes luxurious thing we call sleep. I now feel better prepared for the next time my teenagers whine about why we still enforce a bed time and may be encouraged to get a bit more shut eye myself.
September 17, 2021
A basic science book about sleep and sleep disorders at various developmental phases in life. Interesting to read, but it has a limited amount of scientific fact woven into it, so depending on what you are looking for it may or may not be the book for you.
May 28, 2018
Gregory takes a look at sleep from infancy to old age. She's British, but she's uses enough American studies to give this wide appeal.
February 13, 2019
Informative.
June 16, 2020
Good information on how to improve sleep and why it is important.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews