Books in the bathroom.

[Miss Tickle]

Op here.

My friend is back from TO and came over last night. This time I made sure there was no reading material in the bathroom and she asked what happened to the Calvin and Hobbes that was in there last time. It turns out I misunderstood, she wasn't being critical of our habits, just miffed that I switched books on her.

[Hmmmmm]

Growing up a the latest Readers Digest magaize was always in the family bathroom. It was perfect. You could read a few of the jokes in All in a Day's work or Life in the US if it was a quick visit or the part of one of the book excerpts if you'd eaten to much Mexican food the night before.

When DH and I married, we realized his family had kept the same reading material in their family bathroom.

But we never have reading material in the guest or public bathrooms in our house.

[Betelnut]

As such I've never really considered people actually read in the bathroom, this thread is quite enlightening. I always thought it was more of a joke, or the books were there for people relaxing in the tub, not for sitting on the toilet!

Same here. I'm trying to think when I last encountered reading material in a bathroom and I'm coming up blank. I had no idea that any significant number of people actually did that. The "germ" aspect of it doesn't bother me at all, but I can't imagine myself staying in the bathroom long enough to get any reading in.

Well, the reading material means that you keep sitting there a lot longer than you need to--thus you "get in" a little break from the rest of the household.  Thus, I do sudoku on the pot. 

[Sophia]

Op here.

My friend is back from TO and came over last night. This time I made sure there was no reading material in the bathroom and she asked what happened to the Calvin and Hobbes that was in there last time. It turns out I misunderstood, she wasn't being critical of our habits, just miffed that I switched books on her.

Amusing update.

[VorFemme]

Do people honestly sit on the loo for long enough to make picking up a book worthwhile?

Sometimes, yeah. 

If you have ever done the prep for a colonoscopy, you know that you might as well bring in several books, a pillow, and prepare to camp out in the bathroom for about 8 hours.

Yeah - this is when a e-reader and an extension cord to keep it charged come in very handy......one with Wi-Fi capability is even handier - you can read your email, surf the web, and the like - just don't tell anyone where you are!

My last colonoscopy was five years ago - I'm supposed to be setting up one for later.  If I could talk without coughing - I'd call them to do it - but allergy season came in like a lion this year.  I'm being mauled.......

[frogonmytoe]

Those worried about germs should look up the Mythbusters episode on toothbrushes and whether storing them near a toilet is bad.

http://dsc.discovery.com/tv-shows/mythbusters/mythbusters-database/fecal-matter-on-toothbrush.htm

Basically, they were just as dirty as the ones kept completely OUTSIDE of the bathroom. So no more germs than you find everywhere else, although that's gross it's what we are used to and our bodies for the most part can handle it.