12 Best Reading Lamps Under $60 (Floor, Bedside and Clip-On)

Ask a crafter or an avid reader what lamp sits next to their chair and you'll hear this name a lot.

The Litespan puts out 850 to 950 lumens from a built-in LED, with three whites (warm 3000K, neutral 4000K and a crisp 6000K daylight) and a dimmer. The gooseneck bends and the head twists, so the light lands exactly on the page or the knitting. The LEDs stay cool, nice when the head sits close to your hands for an hour, and the base is weighted. It's the only pick over $50 here, and the one I'd buy for sewing or small print.

You're settled under a blanket and the light is too bright. With this one, you fix it from the sofa.

The remote changes the brightness from 10 to 100 percent and the white from a warm 2700K to 6500K, and it can switch the lamp off after 30 or 60 minutes, handy if you fall asleep mid-chapter. At 1,300 lumens it's bright, and the pole adjusts in height as well as the gooseneck. There's a touch switch on the lamp too, and it all comes in just under $50.

Two flat LED heads on goosenecks, 2,000 lumens between them, about $33. No other pick here gives that much light for the price.

Open the heads apart, up to 180 degrees, to light a whole sewing table, or point both at one spot for small print. A switch on the cord goes from 5 to 100 percent and from a warm 2700K to 6000K. Honestly, it looks like a work lamp: great in a craft corner or by a desk, less so in a pretty living room. The base is metal.

Gold, a beige shade and a swing arm: this is the reading lamp that looks like it came from a vintage shop.

The arm swings through 350 degrees, so you can pull the light over your chair and push it back against the wall afterward. A pull chain under the shade turns it on, no reaching down to the floor. At 61 inches it's shorter than most floor lamps, which suits a low armchair or a rocker, and the 8.4-pound base keeps it upright. It doesn't come with a brand name you'll know. For about $50, I'd still pick it for the look.

The arm has several joints, so you can bring the head out, down and over almost any chair or desk. That's the whole point of a swing arm lamp, and this one does it for about $40.

It's 72 inches tall, all metal, with a weighted base, and the LED bulb comes in the box, so you can use it the day it arrives. It's sold as an office lamp and looks a little like one: plain, black and practical. Next to a home office chair or a reading nook with nothing fussy around it, that's fine.

One lamp lights the room; the little arm lights your book. People call this a mother-daughter lamp, and it's handy in a family room where one person reads while the others watch TV.

Each light has its own switch, and the reading arm pivots to where you sit. Both bulbs are sold separately: a regular E26 bulb up to 150 watts for the top, up to 40 watts for the reading light (an LED of that rating is plenty). The cord is 5 feet. At about $27, it's the cheapest floor lamp here. For a lamp that's mostly about room glow, see my budget floor lamps.

A small metal lamp with a bendy neck, made to aim at a book instead of glowing at the room.

It takes a standard E26 bulb, so pick a warm one. The switch is on the base, easy to find in the dark, and the gooseneck lets you point the light at your side of the bed and keep it off your partner's. It's simple and about $20, which is less than most decorative bedside lamps. If you want something prettier for the nightstand, my table lamps under $60 have more character and less aim.

No room for a lamp at all? Stick this to the wall above the bed.

It mounts with adhesive or screws, plugs into an outlet, and has a gooseneck so the narrow beam falls on your book and not on the pillow next to you. You can dim it in 10 steps and switch from warm 3000K to cool white, and a timer can switch it off after 30 minutes. A USB port on it charges your phone. About $16 in black or white, and I'd pick it over any lamp for a nightstand that's really just a shelf.

The clip opens to 2.36 inches with grippy pads, wide enough for most headboards, a bunk bed rail or a shelf.

It has 36 LEDs spread across the head, so the light is even across a page. You get three colors, a deep amber 1800K for late at night, a soft 3200K for normal reading and 6000K for daytime work, plus five brightness levels and a 30-minute timer. The soft one is the everyday setting. For about $21, it's the easiest way to give a bed without a nightstand its own reading light.

Ten dollars, clipped to the book itself. If you read in bed next to someone who's asleep, this is the one.

Its 19 LEDs sit in a straight bar, so they light the whole width of the page. You get amber 1800K, a mixed 3400K and white 6000K, plus a dimmer from 10 to 100 percent. I'd leave it on amber at night. The 1200mAh battery lasts 12 hours at full power and up to 90 at the lowest, and it charges in about two hours. It also clips onto an e-reader.

It sits around your neck like a soft collar, with a small light at each end. Your hands stay free for the book, the knitting or the cup of tea.

Each side has its own switch, with three whites (3000K, 4000K and 6000K) and several brightness levels. The 90-degree beam is narrow, so the light stays on your lap and not on the TV or the person beside you. It charges over USB-C and lasts up to 80 hours on a low setting. At about $19, it's the one I'd hand to someone who knits in front of the TV.