Why exactly would you buy a book and not read it ?
Adhd
I have a few dozen books. A third I’ve read all the way through, the rest I’ve picked up and put down or skimmed.
It helps to have a lot of options so that I’m more likely to find one that clicks and holds my attention for longer.
Plus I frequently reference books for specific info or quotes.
The same reason anyone buys anything that they don’t use, they think they’ll enjoy it but in reality they don’t find time or lose interest.
But those things aren’t the answer to OP’s question, are they? I’m sure that out of all the Harry Potter or DaVinci’s Code or whatever whatever popular book you look at there’ll be a nice % of books that haven’t been read, but I’m pretty sure that a majority of.peoole that buy them also end up reading them.
The more reasonable answer would probably be something that’s popular but not necessarily something you read. Like others have said, a dictionary, cookbook, or book related to some other skill. Those are a lot more likely to go unread
The meaning of OP’s question seems blindingly obvious to me, as long as you don’t take it too literally…
I’d say the DaVinci code would be a good answer, I’ve got a copy that I’ve never read. Same with the Harry Potter books as well.
The girl on the train is another book that everyone seems to own, but nobody reads.
I’ve purchased many books that I haven’t physically read.
I mostly read on my Kindle, or I listen to audiobooks. But for books I really love, I will also buy the physical copy to display.
I have a pretty decent sized library. My fiction section is about 95% read, but the non-fiction sections are much less. You sometimes buy non-fiction as reference materials, to flip through, etc. Not necessarily to read cover-to-cover. (I’d guess my non-fiction is 25% read.)
Looks good on the book shelf. Many people decorate with books. Look at all those old mansions you see in movies, where there is a giant library.
I guess it’s never crossed my mind. I never thought someone would get a book for a reason other than reading it. They do look good in a living room
I sometimes run into interior design pics where books are organized by spine color, and I gasp and clutch my pearls at the heresy.
…but yes, some people do use books as decorative props instead of as things to be read and enjoyed for their content.
The art of war. I would say anything by George Orwell but I know for a fact kids are forced to read his shitty fairy tales in high school as a part of their ideological brainwashing
Imagine the number of stonk devils, business ghouls, and tech demons that have a copy as a library or coffee table decoration piece.
it’s not even relevant if they did read it. It’s an instruction manual for running an ancient chinese army
I think they’re good books, it’s just that they’re again and again referred to as “proof that communism was horrible” by people who have not the slightest clue how communism actually was besides what the western governments tell them about it
1984
You’re missing out. It’s one of the few books I’ve read and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it.
The question was what’s a popular book everyone buys but no-one reads. Plenty of people read 1984.
The Bible
When I was in elementary school I actually tried to just read the bible. I didn’t get very far through Genesis before I gave up.
You didn’t even make it to the part where a man of god uses nature magic to summon bears to kill 42 children, or where a guy is mad that a father gives him the wrong daughter as property that he combines genocide with animal abuse!
The Silmarillon - the yellow pages of middle earth
It is literally easier to read the KJV of the Bible than the Silmarillon.
Strong disagree. I’ve read The Silmarillion. Sure I don’t remember much of it now, but at the time it was interesting and entertaining to me. It’s also not that huge a book, on the same order as one or two of the main LoTR books. If the KJV were in the same (normal) font size+width and paper thickness it would be Gigantic.
Not in my experience. 100% of people I know that have it, also have read it. We buy that because we’re Tolkien nerds. People who don’t want to read it don’t buy it. Also it’s not at all like yellow pages for looking stuff up, it’s more like the Bible I guess, a collection of mythological tales of old.
I guess there are some people that have inherited it, or just bought it for collecting, but I don’t think this is the main case.
It might be different for The History of Middle Earth, it’s huge and requires a lot of time, and it’s more yellow pagey as far as I understand. I have them but have not read much of it yet. (Maybe you meant these?)
I rarely check people’s bookshelves but my experience has also been that people either don’t even know what it’s really about or they absolutely love it.
But I guess it’s possible that some people buy it after reading LotR expecting more of the same and then give up after reading the first few pages of the Ainulindalë.
As someone who has read the Silmarillion several times, any attempt at reading The History of Middle Earth peters out quite quickly.
That’s exactly my experience. It doesn’t help that I have the 12-in-3 book boxed edition that has almost see through thin pages… 😅
The Silmarillion I have also read multiple times though, both in English and German.
