One in three has bought a book just to look intelligent

http://books.guardian.co.uk/news/articles/0,6109,1599060,00.html

Brilliant story in today's Guardian stating that:

"Driven partly by pressure from incessant literary prize shortlists, more than one in three consumers in London and the south-east admit having bought a book "solely to look intelligent", the YouGov survey says."

It goes on to say that:

"Some consumers hedge their bets by keeping two titles on the go - one an impressive book to show other people, the other an escapist work to enjoy."

It also says that:

The sample's own top 10 titles, a mixture of classic and popular, is: the Bible, Lord of the Rings, one or other of the Harry Potter stories, Catch-22, Animal Farm, The Hobbit, Pride and Prejudice, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Da Vinci Code, Wuthering Heights.

So, is this something you confess to? I think it may really only be a London thing, where most people to a lot of their reading whilst communting.

It is an interesting idea, though. Do we read what we want or do we read what other people seem to think we should? Is it good that we try to look clever by tackling 'big clever important books' when really we'd be more comfortable with little inconsequental ones? Do we all only read difficult stuff so we can show off to other people? Is reading just a big competition?

What do you reckon?

Cheers,

Mark Brown, Editor, www.ABCtales.com