Poet Charles Simic, in a piece on the NYRB blog, shares his quest for the perfect bedtime reading strategy. Simic turns to books to settle his mind for the night, but must be careful with his choices:
I read only a passage or two, and at the most a page, because if I read more than that, I’m in danger of staying up half a night. All I require, to use a culinary term, is an amuse-bouche that leaves a pleasant aftertaste.
The full article contains some instructive passages that Simic considers good candidates for bedtime snacking, literarily speaking.