My dumb but astonishingly effective life hack: I leave a big non-fiction book in the bathroom and don't take my phone in there. I've made my way through so many textbooks one bowel movement at a time because even the most boring one is more fun that reading the shampoo bottle.
Having enough time to read a couple pages and move a bookmark forward during bowel movements sounds to me like a sign of constipation and a risk factor for hemorrhoids. Would not recommend. It's really best for those bathroom breaks to be fast and easy. Heed my unsolicited advice and spare yourself the considerable undue suffering that awaits.
You don't. People have been reading in the bathroom for decades. You're getting little shit particles in your nose regardless of whether you read in there.
Thanks for the breath of "fresh air" with the philosophy - am all for cleanliness and hygiene but yeah sometimes it's just not possible (just got back from taking dog to vet. for UTI)
Yeah. Maybe you wipe down the book after you finish it and replace it with another book, but in terms of self hygiene you should be washing your hands after using the toilet anyway.
Don't know of anyone who'd truly appreciate it but it'd be basically impossible to know about unless you did a test/asked etc. The Seinfeld episode on the subject is funny but quite dramatized.
The point being we all interact with fecal matter way more than anyone would like to know - even just by smelling.
It's been a topic for climbing gyms [1] and have heard the same for hand shakes but no link provided