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The seat up/seat down controversy regularly causes a fuss, according to 45 percent of the ladies surveyed (and 33 percent of the gents).

Furthermore, getting in one another's way and not getting enough privacy annoys women almost as frequently as an unflushed toilet — about a third say that's an issue.

Read It and Wipe

Certainly, using the bathroom as a sanctuary rather than for its traditional purposes is not a new idea. The folks who publish The Old Farmer's Almanac still embrace the annual's history as a commode companion. Notice the hole punched through the spine. That dates back to a time when the magazine would hang on a hook in outhouses.

About 100 years ago, toilet paper didn't exist. Folks resorted to old newspapers and catalogues for, er, hygiene. That just might explain how the tradition of bathroom reading started.

"The two most popular places to hang the Farmer's Almanac are in the toilet and in the bathroom," says Almanac spokeswoman Ginger Vaughn.

"We considered getting rid of the hole — it's expensive to put there — but folks just like it. It's a tradition."

If you've ever worried whether it's sanitary to read on the toilet, you're not the only one. About two years ago, University of Arizona microbiologist Chuck Gerba looked into the subject and found bathrooms can be notorious breeding grounds for bacteria. But you are more likely to be contaminated by E. coli or fecal matter when you touch the faucet handles in the sink than when reading Scientific American or even Playboy.

"The paper in books and magazines are a poor medium for germs to multiply," Gerba told The Wolf Files.

June actually ushers in National Bathroom Reading Week. If you thought such a holiday was cooked up by somebody just to sell books, you're absolutely right.

Jack Kreismer, president of Red-Letter Press in Saddle River, N.J., and author of Bathroom Almanacs, started the celebration 13 years ago. And while he says Bathroom Reading Week might be good for business, he insisted, "I practice what I preach."