Reading Mode: The Active Art of Sitting Still

Anyone who thinks reading is a lazy activity because you're not moving, couldn't be more mistaken. How long can you stay in the same position with a book resting on your lap? Or lying on your side, holding your book upright? Just when you've finally found the perfect balance... it's time to turn the page.

And who decided that reading in a hammock is the ultimate way to relax? Holding up a hefty novel while trying to keep your arms comfortably supported in the gaps of the hammock's netting? Not to mention the classic sideways roll you have to perform just to get out of the hammock without dropping your book. Give that a try!

So perhaps the people of ancient times weren't so wrong after all. From the moment the first words were inscribed on clay tablets more than 5,000 years ago, written texts were read aloud by the few people who could actually read them. And they did so while walking. Maybe that's not so surprising: a clay tablet could weigh anywhere between two and five kilos. (For comparison, today's e-readers weigh around 200 grams.) For centuries, reading silently was simply considered odd. It wasn't until the eighteenth century that quiet, solitary reading became the norm, whether in bed, at the table or curled up in a comfortable chair.

Scientists have tried to determine the ideal reading position. As is so often the case, the answer lies somewhere in the middle. The best reading position is the one that keeps changing. Any devoted reader of Ken Follett's historical novels—who isn't afraid of writing books well over a thousand pages long—could have told them that. So fidgeting, shifting your weight and turning over are all perfectly acceptable if they help you stay immersed in your book for longer.

Apparently, it's also good to get up and move around every now and then. But that advice clearly wasn't written with avid readers in mind. Imagine you've just become completely absorbed in the Afghanistan of ‘The Kite Runner’ by Khaled Hosseini, or you're caught up in a mystery unfolding in Prague, like ‘The Secret of Secrets’ by Dan Brown. Do you really have time to put your book down and stand up? More importantly, would it even cross your mind? No doubt the advice is scientifically sound. But for readers who are completely lost in a story, putting it into practice is close to impossible.

At Bed&Books, you're free to read in whatever way feels right to you: sitting on the balcony, stretched out on the sofa, or strolling along the path to the sea. In the end, it's not about finding the perfect reading position. It's simply about finding the next one.

Source: "Summer, lovely lazy reading. But what is the ideal lazy reading position?” by Wilma de Rek, de Volkskrant, 9 July 2026.