Two-thirds of Brits have lied about reading books they haven’t. Have you? Why? What book?
Ummm…no. Not exactly. Okay let me explain. I have never ever said I’ve read a book when I haven’t even opened the first page. But…I do say I’ve read the book when I have left it midway.
Books that come to my mind are The Fountainhead, To Kill a Mockingbird and possibly a couple more. I have read more than 200 pages of these books. Then I just couldn’t go on. I think I might like both these books if I read them now, I’m just not sure. But if you ask me if I’ve read them without being really interested in what I answer, I’ll probably say ‘yes, I have’.
But if you really want to discuss I will tell you why I did not finish these books, it all really depends on whom I’m talking to.
What about you?
Book-Shelved 
Hi Violet, I’ll take the same stance too. 🙂
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same with me 🙂 it’s just going to make me embarrassed if I know nothing of what I’ve claimed
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Perfect answer… mine will be the same too 🙂
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Oh, to Kill A Mockingbird is a real gem – or should that be Jem?
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Yup, that’s what everybody keeps telling me, but I read that book a long time back, as I said I might like it if I read it again 🙂
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It’s okay about the Fountainhead–anyone who says they enjoy Ayn Rand is either lying or ill in the head.
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Great answer! I might agree with you – sometimes I might be tempted to pretend I’d read the complete book if someone was being snobby about something I hated.
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Oh, ditto. I guess you invested in half of it, so it’s not quite lying!
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I have never done that. If I haven’t finished a book I just say I started it and but didn’t like it. I usually force myself to finish a book I start even if I don’t like it. I’m struggling with one now in my book club. Happy BTT!
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I would think if you were in a middle of a book and stopped, that isn’t lying to say you read it. I took the question to mean saying you have read something but never even opened the book.
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Listen to the audio book of To Kill A Mockingbird. Sissy Spacek does a great job.
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Seems like a reasonable answer. I’ve read both of those books and while I think you could skip The Fountainhead, To Kill a Mockingbird is a must read!
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I just read ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’, what a fantastic book. I think everyone should read it, it took me 42 years! LOL!
I read ‘The Fountainhead’ in 2007 (Atlas Shrugged too). Both of these were OK reads, nothing like Mokingbird though.
http://busyisreading.blogspot.com/2009/10/booking-through-thursday.html
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Crime and Punishment. 12th Grade. Read 100 pages and then checked out some Cliff Notes.
Are teenagers really expected to understand and appreciate Dostoevsky? Really??
I’m sure I would like it much more now. But I’m already scarred.
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In high school I read the book if I read the Cliff notes.
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I did that in high school one time and it came back to haunt me.
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I don’t think it’s a lie if you read most of the book. Sometimes I don’t click with a book and I’ll put it down and I’m sure I would say I read it too. I did love To Kill a Mockingbird, but don’t have the nerve to pick up The Fountainhead.
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ditto!
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To Kill a Mocking Bird is part of my answer today too. It’s not that I didn’t read it, just that I read it in High School, and while I’m sure I read all of it (maybe), I don’t remember much of it. I still include it in my list of books read, though.
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I agree with you.
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I don’t lie about having read books that I really didn’t either. To prove it, I haven’t read either The Fountainhead or To Kill a Mocking Bird. Somehow, I just keep skipping these two.
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To Kill A Mockingbird? I seriously recommend picking that one back up!
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I wouldn’t say I’ve lied about having read a book, but if people want to assume I’ve read something when I haven’t…
Oh, wait, I did tell my English teacher in high school that i read Tale of Two Cities and I didn’t. So there you go.
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Oh, I loved A Tale of Two Cities! but if I hadn’t read it in HS, I probably wouldn’t now. To be honest, there a few books that I *think* I read (20-30 yrs ago) but now am not sure if I really did. Like P&P, Tom Sawyer, Jane Eyre,.. and TKAM! But, I’m pretty sure I read TKAM. I think.
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Like Madeleine, I’d definitely recommend giving To Kill a Mockingbird another try!
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I love both of those:) Fountainhead is my favourite book of all times. I’d give it another shot…..
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Two vastly different books. I don’t know where to begin. I’ve read both. Mockingbird a couple years ago, Fountainhead (in two and a half weeks) this year with plans to read Atlas Shrugged before the end of the year.
Mockingbird is short enough 200 pages just about counts. I personally would still qualify my answer with I 3/4th of it.
With Fountainhead the first part is over 200 pages. Very little of the action has happened. It’s all set up. It gets better as you go along. I looked up SparkNotes online as I went along to make sure I was “getting” it. If you are interested in the philosophical part, but don’t want to invest in 800 pages, I’d read the SparkNotes, then the fourth part where all the climatic stuff happens. We’ll see how it goes getting Atlas in before the new year. I own it, so that’s half the battle. Ten cents at a library book sale in like new condition. Major score.
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The first time I read To Kill a Mockingbird I thought it was dreadfully boring. The second time around I liked it better. I bet if I read it now then I’d enjoy it even more. The Fountainhead? Yuck! 🙂 I’m not sure I’ve ever lied about reading a book–but it’s possible!
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I’ve read them both, but when I was young a so full of energy that I devoured books. Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged is, however, still on my “must read” list. Meanwhile, I’m sticking to Sara Craven, Susan Elizabeth Phillips and Barbara O’Neal 🙂
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I haven’t lied about reading a book. I came close once in a college course when I was assigned to read Brave New World. I couldn’t get through it and so gave up. I took the quiz and never mentioned to the professor that I hadn’t actually read it, but I never told her I had either.
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