It started with an innocent blog entry on my messy desk. That spawned a series of bloggers showing their messy desks (except Jim West — his desk is very, very, clean). Then Michael Bird brought it all to a head with a picture of his interim office (or should I say, “brought it all to the head”). Now Edmund Fearon has connected all of the dots with his post on whether or not it is appropriate to read in the bathroom (“where books should not go…”). He thinks not: “taking a book into the bathroom to read as you do your business is simply wrong!”

I must beg to differ. I confess. I read in the bathroom. It’s not as if I take a volume of Barth’s Church Dogmatics in there to peruse. But I do take books that I am skimming for various reasons. I refer to these books affectionately as my “bathroom books.” Currently, in the upstairs ensuite I am looking at Consuming Religion: Christian Faith and Practice in a Consumer Culture by Vincent J. Miller, while on the main floor I have a collection of English essays and various journals and newspapers.

I don’t know why I do it… well, actually I do know why. I hate to waste time. The same thing that motivates me to do some light reading in the potty also compels me to read while walking home from work (so far I have not walked into any posts!).

So there you have it. Does anyone want to borrow a book?