The catalogue of classics includes a diverse mix of literary genres² including everything from Harry³ Potter to Jane Eyre to the saucy⁴（漂亮的，活泼的） novel Fifty Shades of Grey.

 

Other titles featured include Pride and Prejudice, Wuthering Heights and The Man Who Thought Different, the late Steve Jobs' biography.

 

Autobiographies⁶ from the likes of Frank Skinner, David Walliams, Miranda Hart and even Katie Price also feature on Britain's bookshelves.

 

The research was commissioned by Bookmarkyourlibrary.org.uk which trawled literary forums⁷ and websites to compile a list of books for people to select their favourites from.

 

The book most people are likely to have gathering⁸ dust on the shelf is Harry Potter and the Goblet⁹ of Fire by JK Rowling, followed by The Hobbit.

 

Elisabeth Robinson, spokesperson for Bookmarkyourlibrary.org.uk said: “Bearing in mind the first Harry Potter book was released just 15 years ago, it's incredible that two of them are in the top ten books that appear on Briton's bookshelves and it's an incredible feat⁵ to beat classics like Great Expectations and Pride and Prejudice.”

 

The survey also revealed that more than one in ten said they would never read the same book twice and one in twenty said they throw books away.

 

And over half of Brits leave books to gather dust on their shelves, 16 percent would take them to a charity shop and 15 pass finished books on to a friend when they have finished them.

 

Other authors that feature in homes were Helen Fielding who penned Bridget Jones' Diary and unsurprisingly Enid Blyton.

 

The poll also found that more than one in ten Brits have lied about reading certain books.

 

Of those a third said they pretend to have read certain titles to make themselves appear more intelligent than they actually are.

 

And a quarter said they pretend to be more well-read than they actually are.

 

Of the 2000 adults polled 18 percent said they regularly re-read books on their shelves, but 13 percent said they hang on to books as they like seeing them lined up on the bookshelf.

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