Reading in the Bath
I like to read in the bath, so sue me.
But, actually, you could sue me. Especially if you happen to be the City. You see, most of what I read comes from the public library. My main book is almost always borrowed.
Is it okay to read library books in the bath?
If you drop it and it gets wet, you're obviously going to be in trouble with the librarian when you return it all soggy. But that's your lookout really. You break it, you buy it.
I've never, ever dropped a book in the water. But it's always a slight concern. So why not eliminate that minor worry from my life by reading a book I own instead?
It's also maybe just a bit "icky" to take public property into such a private space, like when Constanza takes that art book into the bookshop washroom on Seinfeld.
After much thought, I've decided. One shouldn't read library books in the bath. It's too naughty. AND THEREIN LIES THE PLEASURE.
But no, I've decided to stop reading library books in the bath. I will be a better citizen. This means having a second book on the go in addition to my main one -- an owned book -- essentially just for bath time.
Essay or short story collections might be best for this, since you might actually finish something during the course of a soak.
Better still would be collections of light and recent-ish journalism. Fun and fruity. Since someone gave me a copy, I'll start with The Films That Made Me by Peter Bradshaw.
Bradshaw is the film critic at the Guardian. I disagree with his opinions almost every time, wondering if we really watched the same movie.
Why did he choose that title? Nobody wants to know about "the making" of Peter Bradshaw. He's not David Bowie. Besides, a cursory flip through the soon-to-be-sodden pages reveals that they can't possibly be the films that made Peter Bradshaw. Those would be the films of his childhood, surely, films he saw at formative moments. But this is just a collection of what he had to write about for work. The first titles I spot are Borat and The Maze Runner.
Well, we shall see. Here's to Bathtime with Bradshaw.
