We all have a few very important pieces of furniture in our homes and offices. Beds, couches, table and desks are the first things that come to mind, but that list should really include a good reading chair. Whether it’s in your living room, your office, your bedroom or your library (if you have enough space for one of those)—hell, even if you’re using it to catch up on TV and not actually reading—you need a reading chair that you can retreat to and turn off the outside world. These are our favorites for doing exactly that.
CB2 Black Woven Leather Chair
We don’t know when everyone decided that reading chairs were required to have arms and a high back, but we don’t think it’s all that necessary. Half the time the arms are so low you can’t comfortably use them anyway, and the high backs force you to sit like you’re working through an archaic posture exercise with a ruler taped to your back. Sometimes you just want to sink down and back to feel like you’re floating when you’re tearing into a bucket list book—for all those occasions there’s the wider-than-normal Black Woven Leather Chair from CB2. It’s also designed and built with that sumptuous black leather and chrome-finished metal that works with any decor. $499
Joybird Soto Concave Arm Chair
There’s a reason Joybird continues to be one of our favorite online furniture stores—they make great pieces of furniture with modern twists on classic designs. The Soto Concave Arm Chair is a perfect example of what the affordable furniture house does so well. This handmade chair takes all the hallmarks of a traditional Danish mid-century design and tweaks them just enough to be completely unique while still feeling familiar. It also doesn’t hurt that this chair is built-to-order, which means you have over seventy different options when it comes to fabric or leather color and wood type. $749
Eero Saarinen Womb Chair Reproduction
Eero Saarinen—the Finnish American architect, industrial designer and fellow student of Charles and Ray Eames best known for his neo-futuristic style—originally designed the Womb Chair in the late 1940’s while working with the Knoll furniture company. The original request from Florence Knoll was for “a chair that was like a basket full of pillows – something she could really curl up in.” This is a faithful recreation of the aptly named chair—we can’t say we recall being in the womb, but this thing really does envelop you in a number of positions—built to the original specifications with a fiberglass shell surrounded by high-density foam wrapped in luxurious wool upholstery and supported on a polished stainless steel base. $1,118
Restoration Hardware Aviator Chair
There’s just something about this chair that makes us want to climb aboard with a glass of whiskey and a book we’ve been trying to tackle for ages. Maybe it’s the obvious inspiration from World War II fighter planes with the metal and supple leather. Maybe it’s the fact we could see it working perfectly as a chair in a lair where plans for world domination are hatched. Maybe it’s the low seat combined with the raised sides and the raked back that would make us feel like the famous “Blown Away Guy” from that classic Maxell commercial. One thing’s for sure: the Restoration Hardware Aviator Chair makes a statement. $1,421
Room & Board Dalton Custom Recliner
The Room & Board Dalton Custom Recliner is the grown up, more sophisticated cousin of the traditional American recliner. The simple and sleek profile of the chair camouflages a lever-less design that still allows to you get as close to horizontal as you’d want to be without climbing into bed and the myriad of fabric options allow you to customize this mid-century styled piece for any home, office, or living room. Whether you want a reading chair for a short book or the next American great, while still having the option to comfortably count some sheep should you desire, the Dalton Recliner is the way to go. $1,799
Hans J. Wegner CH468 Oculus Chair
Hans J. Wegner has been described as everything from the “chair-maker of chair-makers” to “the driving force behind ‘Danish Modern’ design.” If we’re being completely honest, you could put any one of his 500 chair designs in your home and be better off because of it. If it’s our money though, we’re picking the CH468 Oculus Chair. Named for the Latin word for “eye,” this deep seat chair combines the angular and the curvaceous with comfort and durability to create a piece as striking as it is fun to sit in for hours. $3,990
Eames Lounge Chair
The Eames Lounge Chair is, well, the Eames Lounge Chair. You know it. You love it. It’s beautiful, ubiquitous and still incredibly unique. In continuous production for more than half a century, the Eames Lounge Chair designed by Charles and Ray Eames for Herman Miller is the bar that all other lounge or reading chairs are judged against. Not only is it one of the most iconic pieces of furniture ever produced, it’s also one of the most comfortable. With that said, it also comes with a price tag higher than most of our first cars, so it’s not for everyone. $4,960
Arne Jacobsen Egg Chair
In our opinion, no list of great reading chairs would be complete without an egg chair. If you’re going to invest in an egg chair—we’re talking seriously invest here because these things aren’t cheap—you should accept no substitutes and splurge on the almost six decades old design of Arne Jacobsen. It was originally designed for the lobby and reception areas of the Royal Hotel in Copenhagen, so class and style go without saying. If you’re not looking to drop close to $20k on this iconic piece of Danish design you can pick up a non-leather version for almost ten grand less. $17,696
