What do you think Salman Rushdie, Bill Clinton, Paulo Coelho and Fyodor Dostoyevsky all have in common? They are all writers, you might say. Yes, and all of them are also members of a new club: writers of books that British people cannot finish. In a recent survey of 4,000 adults (成年人) on books, there were some interesting findings.

32% of the people said they couldnˈt finish Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling. Another book was James Joyceˈs 1922 novel Ulysses, which has more than 1,000 pages. Surprisingly, Louis de Bernièresˈ novel Captain Corelliˈs Mandolin was also included. The book has sold more than 2 million since 1994, but not many people seem to be able to finish it.

There were more interesting results in the survey. 55% of the people said they bought books for decoration and they had no plan to read them. A spokeswoman from a publishing (出版) house said,“It seems that people buy some books just to make their bookcases look good, rather than actually buying a book that they want to read,” she added. “People are buying books because they think they will be good for them, rather than because they think theyˈll enjoy them.”

The findings said many people found it hard to make time for reading. Main reasons for this included: feeling tired (48%), watching TV (46%), and playing computer games (26%).

But who really cares? The book industry is happy because people are buying books anyway. And readers are happy because they can decorate their bookcases and make a good impression (印象) on others.