The Books We Lie About Reading

A study of the reading habits of 2,000 Britons found that 25% lied about reading a classic if they’d seen the TV serialisation. The respondents said they did it to make them appear more intelligent and so they wouldn’t miss out on participating in the conversation. This has implications for booksellers as it suggests that people do believe they should read the classics, but won’t if there has been a TV serialisation or a movie.

My own progress, or lack  of it, is noted in bold italics alongside the list of the 20 most lied about books. How do you compare?

Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland – Lewis Carroll unfinished
1984 – George Orwell   Read
The Lord Of The Rings trilogy – JRR Tolkien Unread
War And Peace – Leo Tolstoy  Unread
Anna Karenina – Leo Tolstoy  Unread
The Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes – Arthur Conan Doyle  Unread
To Kill A Mockingbird – Harper Lee Read
David Copperfield – Charles Dickens Read
Crime And Punishment – Fyodor Dostoyevsky  Unread
Pride And Prejudice – Jane Austen  Unread
Bleak House – Charles Dickens  Unread
Harry Potter (series) – JK Rowling  Part-read
Great Expectations – Charles Dickens  Unread
The Diary Of Anne Frank – Anne Frank  Unread
Oliver Twist – Charles Dickens Read
Fifty Shades trilogy – EL James Read to P61
And Then There Were None – Agatha Christie  Unread
The Great Gatsby – F Scott Fitzgerald  Read
Catch 22 – Joseph Heller  Read
The Catcher In The Rye – JD Salinger  Read