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Uncle John's Absolutely Absorbing Bathroom Reader
It’s one of Uncle John’s most popular editions! More than 500 pages of absolutely absorbing material are at your fingertips. Divided for your convenience into short, medium, and long articles, this book has it all: humor, history, pop culture, politics, wordplay, quotations, blunders, facts, and more. Settle in and read about . . .
- The world’s rarest rock ’n’ roll record
- The secret history of the lava lamp
- Da Vinci’s unfinished masterpiece
- Famous unsolved disappearances
- Animals famous for 15 minutes
- The world’s luckiest accident
- The birth of the T-shirt
- Big, bad Barbie
- Cereal flops
And much, much more!
522 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1999
15 people are currently reading
212 people want to read
About the author
Bathroom Readers' Institute
278 books345 followersThe Bathroom Reader's Institute UJBR boasts more than 12 million books in print and a membership base topping 40,000 loyal readers . . .
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
January 23, 2015
To be honest, before I saw this book in the bookstore the day I was buying it, I never heard anything about it at all. I never knew it was such a big hype. What made me buy this book initially is the design which caught my eyes immediately; I mean, a toilet suction pump as a bookmark? How genius is that? I just love the whole idea of this book. Original, creative and unique.
The contents include (very) interesting random facts, trivia and riddles. The language used is quite humorous and relaxing. I could literally spend hours in the bathroom thanks to this book.
I, of course, highly recommend everyone to buy Uncle John's Absolutely Absorbing Bathroom Reader. If you're the kind who prefers handy ones, this miniature edition should be your choice. As the book itself says, "an edition of Uncle John's bathroom trivia that will fit snugly in your pocket".
The contents include (very) interesting random facts, trivia and riddles. The language used is quite humorous and relaxing. I could literally spend hours in the bathroom thanks to this book.
I, of course, highly recommend everyone to buy Uncle John's Absolutely Absorbing Bathroom Reader. If you're the kind who prefers handy ones, this miniature edition should be your choice. As the book itself says, "an edition of Uncle John's bathroom trivia that will fit snugly in your pocket".
May 27, 2008
Oh what haven't I learned from this book, and the others in the series...they are chock full of information. I run a weekly trivia game, and so many of my questions come from this book. I have 5 in my house now, and I've read them all through at elast 2 times. Time for a new one.
August 20, 2024
This is a little book 'chock full of hilarious, strange and absolutely useless trivia', to quote the dust wrappers blurb. There is plenty of the last mentioned but it is outweighed, fortunately, by the rest, some of which make interesting and on occasions surprising reading.
One of the useless pieces concern 10 pages of what is classed as 'Strange Animal Lawsuits'. In my ignorance I thought before I began the section that it must be about people complaining about wayward or noisy animals. How wrong could I be! As the introduction to the section states, 'In the Middle Ages, it was not unusual for animals to be put on trial as if they could understand human laws. These lawsuits were serious affairs.' That last sentence had to be written because if it had not been, one could be forgiven in thinking that the entries that followed were all spoofs!
For instance in a case in Saint-Julien-des-Landes in France the defendants were weevils who were charged by angry vineyard owners that they were eating and destroying their crops. The comment was made before the case began, 'Legal indictments were drawn, and the insects actually defended in court.' The outcome wasw that the weevils were found guilty with the judge 'demanding that the weevils desist'! The weevils must have taken note for they did desist!
Other such almost unbelievable charges were made to a rooster by the City of Basel, Switzerland; rats by barley growers in Autun, France; caterpillars in Valence, France when the Vicar charged them with 'inhabiting his diocese'. Unbelievable or what?
One of what seems a more authentic fact is the submarine-themed restaurants in Los Angeles and Las Vegas that spent millions on special effects, which was perhaps not as surprising as it sounds with Steven Spielberg as one of the partners. And that the world's highest public telephone booth is on the Siachen Glacier in India ... plenty of cold calling from there I imagine! And for us bookworms, the first nationwide best-selling book in America was The Memoirs of Ulysses S Grant - I do think I have a copy of that somewhere, must read it!
The title suggests that it could be a bathroom reader (it's small enough as this is The Miniature Edition) but, of course, it can be read anywhere and its handy enough to carry in your pocket to read on a bus journey!
One of the useless pieces concern 10 pages of what is classed as 'Strange Animal Lawsuits'. In my ignorance I thought before I began the section that it must be about people complaining about wayward or noisy animals. How wrong could I be! As the introduction to the section states, 'In the Middle Ages, it was not unusual for animals to be put on trial as if they could understand human laws. These lawsuits were serious affairs.' That last sentence had to be written because if it had not been, one could be forgiven in thinking that the entries that followed were all spoofs!
For instance in a case in Saint-Julien-des-Landes in France the defendants were weevils who were charged by angry vineyard owners that they were eating and destroying their crops. The comment was made before the case began, 'Legal indictments were drawn, and the insects actually defended in court.' The outcome wasw that the weevils were found guilty with the judge 'demanding that the weevils desist'! The weevils must have taken note for they did desist!
Other such almost unbelievable charges were made to a rooster by the City of Basel, Switzerland; rats by barley growers in Autun, France; caterpillars in Valence, France when the Vicar charged them with 'inhabiting his diocese'. Unbelievable or what?
One of what seems a more authentic fact is the submarine-themed restaurants in Los Angeles and Las Vegas that spent millions on special effects, which was perhaps not as surprising as it sounds with Steven Spielberg as one of the partners. And that the world's highest public telephone booth is on the Siachen Glacier in India ... plenty of cold calling from there I imagine! And for us bookworms, the first nationwide best-selling book in America was The Memoirs of Ulysses S Grant - I do think I have a copy of that somewhere, must read it!
The title suggests that it could be a bathroom reader (it's small enough as this is The Miniature Edition) but, of course, it can be read anywhere and its handy enough to carry in your pocket to read on a bus journey!
September 30, 2017
Good, but a bit outdated by Bathroom Reader standards. Not a huge variety in column length variety. There are numerous articles of one page length in a row, then a section where its nothing but two page articles. Newer readers mix it up more. There are also a lot of older current events articles, but that is to be expected for a book published that long ago. Also, sometimes one has to flip pages to complete the longer blurbs at the bottom of the page. In newer editions, those blurbs are all on on the same page spread.
August 27, 2021
Have you ever felt that a publication is too American? The stories are about American history, American cars, American TV shows, American presidents....This wouldn't be a problem in itself, but sometimes I didn't understand what all the fuss was about. The longer stories were dedicated to American topics and felt way too long. The shorter stories contained other countries and went by way too fast.
April 27, 2018
I would have given a higher rating if the volume hadn't been so old. The publication date according to Goodreads is 2002, but the book's information was gathered around 1999. Much of the information was therefore dated.
I'm wondering if BRI fact checks any of the information in these books. Some sources that were quoted was "News of the Weird" and The Oregonian, which were not primary sources.
I'm wondering if BRI fact checks any of the information in these books. Some sources that were quoted was "News of the Weird" and The Oregonian, which were not primary sources.
November 30, 2023
Reread.
This one isn't as good as some of the others. I enjoy the ones that jump from subject to subject, not what this one does. Even though it had a lot about Peter Pan and the author James Barrie, there were pages and pages of it and honestly, I found most of the reading boring. I like the other volumes better.
This one isn't as good as some of the others. I enjoy the ones that jump from subject to subject, not what this one does. Even though it had a lot about Peter Pan and the author James Barrie, there were pages and pages of it and honestly, I found most of the reading boring. I like the other volumes better.
October 25, 2025
I love Audiobooks on CD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 30, 2017
It was something to read while I pooped.
February 7, 2020
Always worth it.
September 2, 2022
I found this and read through it nearly cover-to-cover at a Bed-and-Breakfast in Ottawa on the shores of Lake Erie. Very entertaining. The couple who ran the B&B were a bit odd, though. Might have been swingers. Don’t ask.
May 23, 2016
Yet another fantastic Bathroom Reader. If I can ever pick only five or ten (or whatever number) of books I can keep with me, I think I would pick Uncle John's Bathroom Readers because I can read them over and over again.
March 3, 2008
Great useless information, like all the books in this series.
July 8, 2022
Acquired Sept 12, 2000
City Lights Book Shop, London, Ontario
City Lights Book Shop, London, Ontario
September 4, 2008
I loved reading Becca's book on the toilet. Humorous, and you might just learn something, or spend more time than you meant to on the pot.
November 12, 2012
The entire Uncle John series is addicting and has single-handedly lead to many incidents of me "holding up the line" to the bathroom.
May 3, 2011
Full of interesting and fun facts!
November 18, 2012
I always enjoy these books. They are interesting and entertaining, and they can be read in or out of the bathroom.
November 12, 2013
I've read all 25! Love them!
August 3, 2016
Funny and informational time-waster for the bathroom.
November 6, 2016
You really can't go wrong with Uncle John's Bathroom Readers. Jam-packed with interesting, unusual, and downright weird facts, this book is a joy to read from front cover to back.
February 4, 2024
I enjoyed this for what it was!
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews