I LOVE eating while reading (or is it reading while eating??), and have done so ever since school years, but I'd never attempt it with any kind of book or other material that's collectible or which for any reason shouldn't be exposed to possible abuse. I used to try, on occasion, to maintain impeccable control of a book with one hand while eating with the other, but long since gave it up. It's just not worth the aggravation and distraction, and neither the reading nor the eating is properly served.
I actually do it very little at all now, for two easily identifiable (by me) reasons: (1) With my (ahem) "over-40" eyesight, i.e. needing reading glasses, it's just not as easy to sit at a desk or table or a counter or what have you, and try to see the printed material clearly by tilting my head to find the best angle for focusing on the print -- all the while trying to eat. And if I'm wearing contacts (distance in left eye, close-up in the right), that presents its own weirdness in that situation. (2) This has always worked better when reading a magazine or newspaper as opposed to a book, anyway (except when it comes to a book I can totally abuse to get
the son-of- it to lay flat), and unfortunately, with newspapers having been reduced to what they are now, I rarely even buy one, and the few magazines I'm ever compelled to buy are, again, items I don't want exposed to stains and spillage and being battered around.
More than you wanted to know, probably, and no one even asked my opinion on the matter...
