toilet book

plural toilet books

1. derogatoryinformalA book, generally factual but lightweight and humorous, written to be read in short, occasional bursts, such as when using the restroom.

   There's only one thing for it: I'll have to get stoned; there's always time to write a toilet book.

   1987, William Donaldson, Is This Allowed, page 114

   2 more examples

   This is a toilet book. One can open it at any page, read it for a bit, and put it down for a time long enough to forget what one has read and still pick it up again with the same enthusiasm.

   1988, Canadian Library Association, Canadian Materials for Schools and Libraries, page 54

   This is a toilet book—the kind with short chapters that you leave in the bathroom and pick up when you're in there on other business.

   2009, Patrick Fanning, Not Dead Yet, and One or Two Other Good Things About Retirement, page 3