Reading in the Bath

[Paul Whybrow]

After the recent Reading In Bed thread, I wondered about another horizontal way of reading—in the bath.

It's a risky activity with books, let alone electronic ways of reading. People's addiction to their smartphones has led to all too many dying by electrocution, foolishly recharging their phone while in the bath:

Man dies charging iPhone in bath

In an ideal world, one would have a loving narrator reading your favourite book to you:

If you're going it alone, then why not be comfortable? Stay long enough, and you'll turn into a human prune!

Toddlers have long been well supplied with waterproof books!

And now, adults can get classic literature in a waterproof form:

biblio•bath.com

Reading in the shower is tricky, but you could show your literary interests with the right shower curtain:

Girl Reading Book Shower Curtains | Fine Art America

Should you be worried about dropping your book into the bath, or making the pages go crinkly from the humidity, it's possible to buy a waterproof cover! At $85 it's pricey. Ziploc food bags are cheap if you really can't resist...

bookofjoe: You-Bumi Waterproof Book Cover Bath Bag Book Reading Case — Jacket for Bathing, Pool


I admit, that I've read in the bath many a time, several times nodding off and dipping the book into the water, waking with a start to insert toilet tissue between the pages. Funnily enough, the last time it happened, the book I was reading, The Dreadful Judgement by Neil Hanson, is about the Great Fire of London. It's a wonder, it didn't hiss when it touched my bubble bath foam! The book now looks like it's been gnawed on by a hippopotamus.

Do you read in the bath?

Dropped any books?

Chen Bolan (Born Shanghai, 1955)

 

[Susan]

I’m just off to read the Silence of the Girls right now, with a mug of chocolate ovaltine. In the bath.

 

[Eva Ulian]

Reading in the bath? No, never. But on the toilet, well yes, I can see that being done.

 

[CageSage]

Isn't that what down-time in the bath is for? A good, relaxing book rather than a deep-dive into research.
And the shower is for writing, isn't it? Doesn't everyone have a diver's board and chalk?
I know a person who builds bookshelves into the smallest room and puts a sign on the door: Library, quiet please!

 

[Deleted member 604]

Personally I don’t, most of the time I like the peace and quiet and a good soak. But, I have listened to music in the tub before now and Podcasts. I’m really into Fearne Cottons Happy Place at the moment. And, the musical of The War of The Worlds the one with a mixture of narration and music. It’s Fantastic, I listen to that when I’m travelling back home.

 

[Robinne Weiss]

Can't stand baths. I could blame my unheated and uninsulated bathroom for that (you do your business and get out as fast as possible at my house), but reality is I've never really understood the word 'relax'. I've tried taking baths. They last about 30 seconds ... there are so many other things that I could be doing with my time.

 

[Tim James]

Relaxing in the bath with a book is one of my guilty pleasures when I have the time available (not often enough, sadly).
Several books have been traumatised by the experience, and never been quite the same since.

 

[Deleted member 604]

@Tim James duly note this and next time you run me a bubble bath. I expect you to sit on the toilet with your trousers on mind and read to me. Okay? LOL.

 

[Geoff]

In my early teens I used to take a long bath every Saturday afternoon, scheduled to coincide with Jon Peel's Top Gear at 3pm on Radio One. Top Gear went on for two hours by which time my fingers and toes resembled wrinkled prunes. To keep warm during that time I would top up the bath with hot water. My reason for bathing was nothing to do with personal hygiene, but to enable me to get up to date on emerging Prog Rock bands and records. I would then use this valuable information to impress friends, and in particular a girl called Mary, at school on Monday morning.

With only one bathroom in our house, I am surprised my parents didn't complain, although it did guarantee them two hours of peace away from a grunting teenager. ​

 

[Robinne Weiss]

In my early teens I used to take a long bath every Saturday afternoon, scheduled to coincide with Jon Peel's Top Gear at 3pm on Radio One. Top Gear went on for two hours by which time my fingers and toes resembled wrinkled prunes. To keep warm during that time I would top up the bath with hot water. My reason for bathing was nothing to do with personal hygiene, but to enable me to get up to date on emerging Prog Rock bands and records. I would then use this valuable information to impress friends, and in particular a girl called Mary, at school on Monday morning.
With only one bathroom in our house, I am surprised my parents didn't complain, although it did guarantee them two hours of peace away from a grunting teenager.

If only I could get my teens to spend more than a nanosecond on personal hygiene! Maybe I can hook them on a podcast ...

 

[AliG]

I'm a librobalneophile too (ok, I confess. I couldn't find the word so made it up.)

 

[Emily]

What a Word Of The Day that would have been @AliG

 

[AliG]

Missed opportunity...blow.

 

[Nikky Lee]

Haven't ruined any books in the bath yet, but there have been several near misses. I listen to a lot of audiobooks, so I usually set the phone on the vanity and soak while listening. Best of both worlds, and no soggy pages to dry out and peel apart later.