Best reading light for a bedside table?

I don’t know about light fixtures (the lamp is built into my night stand), but I use a pink light bulb like this: http://www.homedepot.com/p/Feit-Electric-60W-Equivalent-Pink-Spiral-CFL-Light-Bulb-BPESL13T-PK/203258798  Very warm color and no blue light to screw up your sleep.

My wife and I really like Holtkoetter reading lamps.  They’re not cheap but they’re very well made and stylish.  They’re dimmable halogen lights–the dimming feature is handy when one of us wants to stay up reading when the other wants to sleep.  I had one of their table lamps (I think in the series currently called Lighting for Aging Eyes) on my bedside table for several years and when we remodeled the bedroom a couple years ago we installed Holtkoetter swing-arm wall sconces.  Also have one of their swing-arm floor lamps as a reading lamp in the living room.  Apart from the cost, the only down side I’ve found is that the halogen lights aren’t particularly energy-efficient and do get pretty warm.  The bulbs last a long time though. [I see they now have some LED lamps as well.]

The Rocketek LED Desk Lamp is a good option. You have the option of 3 color temperatures – cold, daylight, warm (warm light is better for night time use) and 5 brightness levels. It runs off a USB charger adapter. I use one and feel it is solidly built, nicely designed, and the price is great for what you get.

I like IKEA’s Magnarp. The reason is that it is small, cheap, does not create glare, and does not ever shine directly into your eyes. With a 10 watt compact fluorescent bulb, the light is warm and flicker-free, bright enough to read by from anywhere in the bed, but dark enough to let me fall asleep without having to turn it off. And you don’t have to lie in any particular position, the always light is comfortable and usable. And it costs $12. The base on this particular model has metal edges can scrape the top of your nightstand, but that is easy to fix with little sections of small-diameter vinyl tubing, like used in an aquarium, slit to grab the metal edge, one bit to each corner to create feet. And any small lamp with a shade that surrounds or nearly surrounds the entire bulb would work (the flaring conical shades in traditional table lamps do NOT work, because from some angles the bulb might shine directly into your eyes from under the shade.) You might need one of those gooseneck pinpoint LED lamps if your sleeping partner cannot tolerate any light at all, but they make a glaring, contrast-y light that I find uncomfortable. The book page will be bright but the room will be pitch black around it, because your eyes have adjusted to the light on the page. And your pupils will have to constantly dilate and contract each time you look up from the page. 

I use my iPhone to read epubs and PDfs. No lamp required.  And it doesn\'t disturb someone who is trying to sleep next to you.

I guess you could consider the phone\'s backlighting a type of lamp.

For reading in bed at night, you should choose one with warm white light color (light color temperature of about 2700K – 3500K). This is something we very often ignore, but it is important to reduce the risk of blue light affecting your sleep. The light should also allow you to adjust the light intensity (brightness level) – you don’t want it too bright in the bedroom, nor will you want it so dim you can’t read.

I’d recommend one of the desk lamps by Taotronics (the $30 budget TT-DL13 or the $60 high end Stylish Metal Table Lamp), or the $70 Lightblade by Lumiy. They all have a wide range of light color temperature and brightness levels. The Stylish Metal even has a timer – you can set it to turn off after 60 minutes, which I think many bed readers would get a kick out of that. You can check the detailed information about the lamps here: https://www.hookedtobooks.com/best-desk-lamps/