Booksellers reflect on the realities and ethics of telling some white lies about which books they’ve read – or haven’t read.

I don’t feel like I studied any of the same books in high school as most other people did – I’ve still never read To Kill A Mockingbird, The Catcher in the Rye or Great Expectations. While I’ve subsequently caught up on some ‘classics’, there are a large number of them that have passed me by, but whose themes and plot points are so ingrained in the culture that it’s relatively easy to have a conversation about them regardless.

I’m also terrible at forming strong opinions about authors whose work I haven’t kept up with. I decided after reading The Turning and Dirt Music that Tim Winton’s writing wasn’t my cup of tea – but that hasn’t stopped me having unreasonably strong opinions about his books ever since! – Alan Vaarwerk, editorial assistant for Readings Monthly

I know of a 15-year-old boy who was given the most beautiful hardback, antique copy of The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Every day this wonderful teenager would don his ear plugs and his beanie, positioned just so, and head to school on the tram, with said novel open in his hands. Other passengers on the tram would nod at him every now and then; sometimes people would turn their heads at an angle so they could read the title of his magnificent book. He noticed their attention. Months later his mother found the book lying in a pile under the bed. Turns out he’d never read it – it was only ever meant to be a prop on public transport. – Chris Gordon, event manager

When I started working as a bookseller, I felt that I needed to have a genuine recommendation for every kind of request – you want debut Irish fiction set on a boat? A true story about a young woman fending for herself in a forest? The best book on keeping chickens in an urban backyard? I know now that it’s okay to admit you haven’t read everything on the shelf, but initially I must have come across as an awkward, blushing liar paraphrasing the opinions of colleagues and reviewers.

I’m also a chronic shopaholic when it comes to new release books. Excited by what’s out each month, I love having bookshelves full of them. However it can be embarrassing when anyone asks me exactly how many on my shelves I’ve read…so I’ve resolved to try and read at least one book from my shelf for every new book I buy. – Stella Charls, marketing and event coordinator

I’m less likely to pretend I’ve read a book than to pretend that I haven’t. I sometimes have the terrifying pleasure of meeting some very lovely authors whose books weren’t for me. Rather than share my opinion, I tend to remain silent about having read any of their work at all. I’m actually an embarrassingly bad liar so I am sure I would crack under a direct question, but that’s a bridge to be crossed in the future. – Bronte Coates, digital content coordinator

Because I’m a known bibliophile I often get gifted books at Christmas and birthdays. Years ago someone gave me a copy of Eat, Pray, Love and inscribed it with a lovely meaningful message about what it meant to them and how much they thought I’d enjoy it. I gave it a red-hot-go, but couldn’t even get past the first 20 pages – it just wasn’t my kind of thing. Of course the next time I saw the person who’d given it to me I fibbed my little head off about having read it and enjoyed it. I still feel a bit sheepish about that. – Lian Hingee, digital marketing manager