LinenspaReading Pillow with Shredded Memory Foam- Back Pillow for Sitting in Bed, Reading, Gaming, Watching TV – Chair Pillow with Arms, Dorm Room Essentials, Stone

I am very pleasantly surprised and pleased with this pillow. I like to work in bed using a laptop desk, but our bed has no headboard so there is nothing to lean back on. I've tried cheaper pillows of this type that you can get at the local super-mart and they've always been such a disappointment - cheaply made, seams that came apart, filling that had no support, and fabrics that slid around making the whole thing pointless.This pillow arrived rolled and compressed but as anyone who's ever ordered a memory foam mattress knows you just need to let it free and leave it alone for a bit. I removed the packaging and laid it out for a few minutes, then sort of roughed it up and mashed the foam inside of it to break up larger clumps and redistribute it, then left it alone so it could warm up (it was delivered on a cold day and had sat out on the porch). When I checked on it a couple of hours later it was good to go!I'm not sure what kind of foam shreds are inside, they're not quite as squishy as memory foam but they are dense so they're not poly-fill and they're not open-cell foam like you'd find in upholstery. They compress well without losing much stability and spring back easily. When I'm using it, my body heat affects the shape of the foam and it makes it conform to my body (which is what makes me think of memory foam) The arm construction is better than many pillows on the market as they're attached separately and feel tighter in toward the body instead of being wide and making the pillow a dumpling shape that rolls over. The velour fabric is nice, I like the color and the pile is soft and long enough that the pillow doesn't slide when I lean back against it (hooray!). The seams are all double-stitched which gives me hope that they'll last.But how does it work? Pretty darned good! I mean, it is a pillow so there's a certain amount of squish to it, but I am able to sit up enough to type and work comfortably (in fact I am doing that right now as I write this review). If I find myself lounging a bit too much it's easy to sit up and pull the pillow back toward me from the bottom and it finds its shape. I like the handle on top as I use it to shake out the pillow before every use - it's already dilapidated from the last time I used it so I give it a quick shake and smoosh any filling around if the arms are lacking or there isn't enough of a base. It's very easy to do. Personally I put a squishy bed pillow directly behind and slightly under the back of it to add a little more resistance but I was very surprised by just how supportive it is. Hands down the best one I've ever tried and I'm glad I spent a bit more to get the right thing.

TL/DR: This pillow is definitely not a one size fits all: I am 6’4’’, 210lbs, and the ‘Standard’ size fits me just barely. So, if you are taller or heavier I would opt for the XL. Pillow is comfortable and sturdy—however the handle feels a bit flimsy, but no problems, yet. I have found that I am reading for longer periods of time because I am more comfortable and there is less strain on my back and neck. I would recommend this to friends and family and will probably buy for my parents for their birthdays or Christmas.Arguably a year or two ago the idea of buying a pillow expressly for reading would have seemed ridiculous to me, but as I entered grad school my neck and back started to ache from sitting in a chair, on my bed, or on the couch. I’ve had this pillow for several days now and have used it for probably about 8hrs in total. Several things that I have noticed over the past several days:• I’m reading for longer periods because I am more comfortable—I don’t have to get up every so often and walk around to get the kinks out of my neck and back.• My arms don’t get tired—because of the arm rests—from holding my kindle or iPad up while reading.• I find myself using this pillow in place of the back cushions on the couch. Since my couch, and those in the homes of many of my friends, is parallel to the TV, I have to either be sitting up or lying down in order to comfortably see the screen. With this pillow, I have removed the back cushion on my couch, and place the reading pillow in the corner—this way I can be reclined without the need of an actual recliner. Not to mention this pillow is a lot more comfortable than the couch cushion.This pillow is quite a bit heavier than it looks and the stitching and fabric appear and feel sturdy. It is easy to get lost in a book while reclining onto this reading pillow, which a friend told me the other day used to be called a husband pillow.The only part of it that feels a bit weak is the handle on the top. While it is holding up just fine after several days, it does feel flimsy when under the weight of the pillow—while feel isn’t everything a stronger handle would make me like the pillow a bit better and I wouldn’t worry about tearing the pillow open every time I grabbed it.If you don’t like the color or you just want to protect the soft covering, you can find husband pillow covers online as well—but perhaps Malouf already has or will have coverings available shortly.One thing I would like to see in future versions: multiple colors in each size. I wanted the navy one, but it was only available in XL. However, now that I have it I am fairly content with the gray, but it would have been nice to be able to match the color to a couch or bed frame—that said, gray goes with just about everything so it was a good color for Malouf to choose given they only chose one.

I travel a lot so I often end up sitting up against pillows on the hotel bed, watching TV or working on the laptop. Was looking for a better back support than the pillows provided. I've tried this out and it does help. I had to put one of the hotel pillows behind it and one on top of that (for height) to make it a bit more supportive. It isn't a perfect solution, but it certainly is better than a bunch of pillows stacked up. I found if I set it up as related previously, and then placed a pillow under my knees, my back is grateful... It does have a fairly high back and it feels pretty solid. I carry it in a canvas zipper-style backpack-suitcase. It compresses nicely to fit and then decompresses quickly when released from the bag. The "arms" are a bit useless...they are low and not all that supportive. But since they aren't why I bought it, really doesn't matter...