What do you have handy by the commode for your reading pleasure?
We have three bathrooms (ridiculous, really, since only three of us live here and one isn’t potty trained, but I digress).
Bathroom 1: Woodworking catalogs, A NYT Magazine from September that I keep forgetting to throw away, and a parody architecture book called “Outhouses by Famous Architects”
Bathroom 2: Back issues of “Fine Woodworking” and “World of Wood” (wood collectors magazine–anyone figure out my husband’s hobby yet?) and a Penthouse Forum we found in the street in a swanky neighborhood and thought was hilarious (the location more than the contents).
Bathroom 3: Our Dumb Century, the Onion book that came out last year.
Reader’s Digest. The perfect magazine for the job; the articles and jokes are just the right length. Outside the bathroom, I wouldn’t waste my time on this mag.
But Penthouse? Not reccomended if you are male. Might be hard to disengage with the seat when you’re, ahh, finished with the business you came in for. :eek:
At least if you are as well-endowed and virile as I am. Heh-heh.
Poetry for Guys (Various poems the editor thought would appeal to men. [Irish Spring]Manly, yes, but I like it too![/Irish Spring])
Very Bad Poetry
Collected Poems of T. S. Elliot
Darwin’s Origin of the Species
Reading the the list, it sounds like I spend much more time on the toilet than I actually do. :eek: Most of my bathroom reading is done while lounging in the tub, though.
The last three months of The New Yorker, in a cute wicker basket next to the can.
Even though the quality of the reporting and essay-writing in this rag has been in steep decline since Bill Shawn was forced out, I am pleased to say that I have not yet been reduced to reading the Fiction sections.
And if you find yourself short on TP, you can always use the Roz Chast cartoons.
Fudd’s Addendum to Gaudere’s Law: “When seeking to impress the Teeming Millions in a thread about bathroom literature, one will always misspell the name of at least one major 20th century poet.”
I have a one of those space saver units in my bathroom,the kind that fits into that narrow space between the john and the sink, among the books I keep stashed there are:
a book of optical illusions
Uncle Johns’ Bathroom Reader
A Dictionary of Cliches
Roger Eberts’ Little Movie Glossary
a word search puzzle book
…and occasionally a magazine of varying sorts(People,US,Movieline,etc.)
I needed to go there anywhere, so I’ll report on the bookcase that doubles as a towel shelf:
[li] Oxford Dictionary of Latin Words and Phrases[/li][li] Body Shop catalogue - December 2000 (finally in the trash)[/li][li] The Drawings of Heinrich Kley - interesting artist [Dover -0-486-20024-8][/li][li] An American Tragedy - currently at page 353[/li][li] Opera Anthology Volume II - Mezzo-soprano/Alto (if I forget the words while in the shower)[/li][li] Triplette Arms newsletter (fencing catalogue)[/li][li] Several interesting articles I printed from different websites[/li] Several bills I have to pay.
“Brain Droppings” and “Napalm & Silly Putty” by George Carlin; also, any of the Dilbert Business Books (The Dilbert Principle, The Dilbert Future, The Joy of Work) by Scott Adams.
Each of these books is broken into small sections which are perfect for bathroom reading.
Might I also recommend the Imponderables series by David Feldman, including ~300 word answers to those nagging questions (“Why do clocks run clockwise?”).
