Could you take a photo of your current set-up? Maybe your lamp is too far away from your bed.

The bedside lamp should be tall enough so that the light falls on the book. I've seen a lot of lamps that are simply too short, and the light doesn't fall where you need it.

Also, increase the wattage of the light bulb, or check out the new LED bulbs. It could be that you just need more light from your existing lamp.

In addition, you need a lamp shade that will allow the light to fall on the book. Metal or lined shades that throw the light up and down might not be the best choice. You want something that will let the light out all around, not focus it in a specific area.

Or get a Kindle or tablet and the lighting won't matter. I love my Google Nexus.

Not all Kindles have lighting -- mine doesn't!

We use these lamps as night stand lamps. We like that they adjust so we can throw the light or diffuse it as needed.

My kindle, no light either. I love the directional lamps. Light should come from behind, not in front anyway. This lamp can be positioned so you can turn over and not have to dedicated to only one side.

hmm, thanks guys. some conflicting info here. Taller? from behind?

Maybe I need taller lamps, but I hate seeing the bulb shining in my eyes.

The main lamp I have is a three-way touch lamp, which I love, but really doesn't give enough light I guess.

And I love my kindle, too, but sometimes I want to read an actual book or magazine.

I'm very picky about my reading lamps; can't stand not having enough light and trying to read in the dusk. For years I had a great floor lamp that contained 4(!) bulbs; there were three mounted at one level and then a fourth above. I used to turn them all on to read and it was great.

However, I donated that one to my daughter because now I have a wall mounted swing arm sconce in my bedroom and it's changed my life :). Seriously, it is perfect for reading in bed: I have it mounted on the wall at a level that's just above the top of my headboard and centered over my bedside table. When I pull it out for reading, it throws good strong direct light onto my book, and then I just fold it back for sleeping and during the day.

I think I got it from Pottery Barn,so below is a link that may not be the exact model, but is very similar.

Good luck and happy reading.
Ann

Here is a link that might be useful: Swing arm sconce lamp

We have these:

ttp://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/70169694/

Mounting the lights in the center of the bed (they have a mounting panel as well as the clip) means I can read and the light is directed away from the SO.

lazygardens - Could you post a photo of them in your room. I don't understand how or where they mount. This would be perfect for me. We have tall bedside table lights, but they do not cast enough light over my books and magazines...even if I pull the lamp over towards the bed. Also, pulling the lamps over means that they stay crooked all the time and never get pushed back in place.

When we built our home, I had an overhead spotlight installed to not only cast light on a painting over our bed, but also for reading. A wall switch is mounted near DH's side of the bed. He refuses to turn it on for me and does not like the light coming from above. I love it! I have tried to change sides of the bed with him, but we did not like that.

For a future home, I'll take runninginplace's suggestion for the swing arm lamps, but for now, your clip-on sounds like a good solution for me.

i got this - it works with e-reader, hardback, paperback, and it's plenty light both in weight and lighting to read by:

They mount about in the middle of the head of the bed (no headboard ... just a wooden frame around it) and stick up imn the middle like bug antennae

You could do the same with wall-mount lights in the center of the bed, aimed toward the edges.

We have these and they work well for reading in bed. However, it's a pain to turn them off, since my arms don't stretch like Gumby's!

Just something to consider if you do eventually go with wall-mounted lamps!

Here is a link that might be useful: Pottery Barn Arc Lights

Ok, okay, I thought this post was about how to look one's best for gentleman callers. : )

Candles, by the way, and not too many of them.

you can read a book in candlelight? oh, wait . . .

;)

Sasafras - I have tried the clip onto reading material lights before. They seem to get in the way of my page turning, fall off often, or are too heavy. I have one on my Kindle which works fine.

Thank you, Lazygardens. We have a headboard.
I mentioned the lights to DH last night and he did not like the idea. I may have to sneak and buy something like the clip on lights in my below link.

I wish I could find them in gold or bronze instead of black to match the bedroom better. And how do you turn them on and off?

Here is a link that might be useful: Clip on lights

There is switch on the cord somewhere.

Make sure it's in reach from the bed.

My bedside tables are the same height as the top of my mattress. My lamps are 30" tall, with 100 watt bulbs in them. My eye sight is not great, especially after a day of looking at the computer screen and my lamps give off wonderful light. One thing that helps is the bottom of the shade is 18inches in diameter and allows a lot of light to shine out.

If you make sure your lamps are tall enough and are at least 100Watts you should have great light to read by.

Saw this on the web today from HGTV.

I use a regular size table lamp with a 3-way bulb. It's perfect.

I have these because they are adjustable both for height and for the angle of the lamp head, so you can adjust them for reading or otherwise.
The shades are little, which is nice, and I got an led bulb from Ikea which is small so you can't see it under the shade, but it's great light.

Here is a link that might be useful: Pottery Barn Adair Bedside Lamps

sas95 - can you share more about your lights. What kind of bulbs do they have?