10 books people pretend to read (but don’t)

Let’s be honest – we’ve all nodded along in book club at least once. Here are 10 books people pretend to read.
A fair-skinned woman sits barefoot on the pebbled bank of a river, engrossed in her book. She is fair skinned, has long dark hair and wears dark-framed glasses and a light, sleeveless, summery dress.

There’s a special place in literary culture for books people pretend to read. They haunt university reading lists, dinner party conversations and dating app bios. We buy them, shelve them with pride, maybe even dog-ear page one. But read them cover to cover? That’s another matter.

Here are ten books you’ve probably claimed to read – or at least vaguely recognised – even if they’re still gathering dust beside your bed.

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David Burton is a writer from Meanjin, Brisbane. David also works as a playwright, director and author. He is the playwright of over 30 professionally produced plays. He holds a Doctorate in the Creative Industries.