Thai Book Rest Review

The Verdict:  I can't read without my Thai bookrest.  Everyone is getting them for Christmas this year.  Myself included! 

About the Thai bookrest:  The Thai bookrest is a mini version of pillows made by villagers in northeast Thailand.  It is basically a stiff little pillow made from polyfiber.  It is shaped into a pyramid with a little fold out shelf that holds the book and holds pens and other reading and writing tools.  The whole thing is covered on the outside with 100% silk.  It has a sewn in cord bookmark that is nice and long and has pretty silver beads on the end. 

My Experience: A few years ago at Christmas time I was walking around Marshall Fields with a friend. While he was picking out a gift for his mom I wandered around the general area and found the Thai bookrest on a shelf with other reading supplies, such as bookmarks and reading glasses.  It looked interesting but when I saw the $50 pricetag I put it right back down and moved on.

But I couldn't stop thinking about what a cool product it is and how it would make reading so much easier for me.  I have small hands that are developing arthritis so it is hard for me to hold open large textbooks or thick hardcover and paperback novels.  I find myself contorting every which way trying to get comfortable when I read and knew that the Thai bookrest would be perfect. 

So I started looking online and found it on Levenger.com (see my review).  By then it was the off season so there was only one color left that I'm not really fond of (aqua) but I had to have it so I bought it and I'm so glad that I did.

The Thai bookrest has made reading much more pleasurable.  Before I got it I used to read and forget what I had read just moments later as I was thinking about how bad my hands were hurting or trying to prop up pillows just the right way so that I'd be comfortable.

With the Thai bookrest, I just open my book, prop it up on the fold out seat and it is balanced perfectly and at just the right angle.  I can place it on my lap, on a table, or on top of another table for upright reading or just right on my mattress or couch for reading while laying on my stomach.  So I no longer have to hold the book at all and only have to put a finger or two on the current page to keep the book open.  Larger books fall right open and stay open for hands free reading.

Although the pillow is firm and stiff, it is lightweight (1.5 pounds) so I can take it anywhere, and I do.  The integrated bookmark comes in handy as well.

The Thai bookrest seemsto be a seasonal item.  It has been unavailable all year but has not popped up again in the late Fall/holiday catalog in three lovely colors - sage green, cranberry, and purple. 

The only issue I have with this product is that it is 100% silk on the outside.  I make sure to wash my hands before reading but I have literally taken my bookrest everywhere with me so it is getting a little dirty and I wish I could clean it.  I may try one of the home dry cleaning kits to see if that will work.  It's not horribly grungy, but it could use a light cleaning.