Power outage reading
Best Books to Read During a Power Outage (and How to Read for Days Without Power)
What governments say to pack for a blackout, why a paperback or a pre-loaded e-reader beats your phone, and how to choose a book for a night without power.
The short answer
The best book for a power outage is one that doesn't depend on the grid: a paperback, or an e-reader charged and filled before the outage (Amazon lists weeks of battery per charge). Pick something absorbing but calm, read it aloud by torchlight if you're not alone, and keep your phone's battery for emergencies. Governments everywhere say the same thing about the rest of the kit: water, food, light, a battery or crank radio and a charged power bank for at least 72 hours, and several explicitly include books and games.
Also for: United Kingdom · United States
What governments recommend
| Country | How long | Books or games on the list? | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | Several days | "Books, games, puzzles or other activities for children" | Ready.gov |
| United Kingdom | 3 days | Not listed; warns you may lose mobile signal | Be Ready |
| European Union | At least 72 hours self-sufficiency | — | European Commission |
| Germany | 10 days ideally, 3 days helps | — | BBK |
| Japan | 3 days minimum, ideally a week | — | 首相官邸 |
| Sweden | At least a week | "Spel, kortlek, böcker, pussel" (games, cards, books, puzzles) | MCF |
Sweden's civil defence agency goes furthest: it says culture, diversion and having fun things to think about matter even in hard times, and names play, music and community as sources of resilience.
A reader's outage checklist
| ✔ | Item | Why |
|---|---|---|
| ☐ | Water, food, torch, radio, power bank | The official basics come first |
| ☐ | One paperback per reader | Zero power needed |
| ☐ | E-reader charged | Weeks of battery (see below) |
| ☐ | Books downloaded to the device | E-books in the cloud can't be opened offline |
| ☐ | Head torch or small lamp | Hands free, no candle |
| ☐ | Large-print setting saved | Easier reading in poor light |
Water and food
Every government list starts here. The US asks for a gallon of water per person per day; the UK, 3 litres for drinking; Japan, 3 litres; Germany's BBK at least 1.5 litres to drink plus 0.5 for cooking. Choose food that needs no fridge.
Light and power
Use torches rather than candles. Keep the power bank for the phone. If you read on a device, use one whose battery is counted in weeks, not hours.
E-readers, phones and the battery maths
Amazon's own device list gives the battery figures: the current Kindle Paperwhite lasts up to 12 weeks, Kindle Colorsoft up to 8 weeks, and the basic Kindle up to 6 weeks on a charge (Amazon: Identify your Kindle e-reader). The Paperwhite product page explains that the 12-week figure assumes about half an hour of reading a day with wireless off and the light at setting 13 (Amazon Kindle Paperwhite). Weeks, not hours, is the point. A phone is your lifeline in an outage; an e-reader isn't, so reading on it costs you nothing you need.
A phone, by contrast, is your link to alerts and family when networks are up, and its battery is the one you most need to protect. Read long books elsewhere.
Download first. Open every book you might want once while you're online, so it's stored on the device.
Choosing a book for a night without power
What works in the dark is different from what works on a beach:
- Absorbing, not frantic. A story that pulls you in without spiking your pulse.
- Short chapters or a single long evening. Easy to stop when the radio has news.
- Good aloud. Clear voice, not too many characters to track.
- Something to talk about after. It turns a stressful evening into a shared one.
Classics people reach for include short, quiet novels and story collections; the right one is the one your household will actually finish.
Three novels written for a quiet night
We'll be honest about our interest: this site belongs to Simran Mehta's The Train Between Worlds, three standalone adult literary novels set on a train where every door costs a true memory. They're the kind of book that suits a dark, quiet house. All three are on Kindle and free to borrow with Kindle Unlimited; Books Two and Three are also in paperback.
- The Train Between Worlds (Book One). You wake on a train with no name, no past and a ticket that reads Destination: Unknown. The site calls it the most dreamlike of the three, "more unsettling than sad". Kindle only, free to borrow with Kindle Unlimited. Read on Kindle
- The Memory Fare (Book Two). Six years after her daughter vanished, Cora Marsh finds her handwriting on a luggage tag and boards a train where every door costs one true memory of June. About 24,000 words, "a long evening", and the saddest of the three. Kindle · Paperback
- The Forty-Year Passenger (Book Three). A standalone where new readers can start, built around notebooks recording four hundred and eleven people. Kindle · Paperback
Readers with special needs
E-readers let you enlarge text and adjust the front light, which helps older readers in a dim room. Reading aloud includes anyone who can't read small print by torchlight. Medication and medical equipment plans come before any of this.
Sources
- Ready.gov Build A Kit: https://www.ready.gov/kit
- GOV.UK Be Ready: https://beready.campaign.gov.uk/be-ready-for-emergencies/
- European Commission, Preparedness Union Strategy (26 March 2025): https://commission.europa.eu/topics/preparedness_en
- BBK Bevorraten: https://www.bbk.bund.de/DE/Warnung-Vorsorge/Vorsorge/So-koennen-Sie-sich-vorbereiten/Bevorraten/bevorraten.html
- 首相官邸 災害への備え: https://www.kantei.go.jp/jp/headline/bousai/sonae.html
- MCF Grunder i hemberedskap: https://www.mcf.se/sv/rad-till-privatpersoner/hemberedskap---preppa-for-en-vecka/grunder-i-hemberedskap/
- Amazon, Identify your Kindle e-reader: https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=GK33S847NN4V6Y83
Put a book in the kit
Water, light, radio, power bank, and one good novel. Start with The Train Between Worlds.
FAQ
Questions about reading in a power cut
What is the best thing to read during a power outage?
A paperback, or an e-reader charged and filled with downloaded books beforehand, so your phone's battery stays free for emergencies.
Do governments recommend books in an emergency kit?
Ready.gov lists books, games and puzzles for children, and Sweden's MCF lists games, cards, books and puzzles.
How long does an e-reader last without power?
Amazon lists up to 12 weeks for Kindle Paperwhite, 8 for Kindle Colorsoft and 6 for the basic Kindle on a charge, based on about 30 minutes of reading a day with wireless off.
Can I download Kindle books during a blackout?
Usually not; without power, Wi-Fi and often mobile data are down. Download them before.