In my youth, I used to carry around a copy of "Zen and the Art of Motorcyle Mechanics" - absolute tosh of the highest water, I never got beyond chapter one ...
... but very good for impressing young women of the opposite sex.
Colverjo - Someone told me that Pratchett's books were Lord Of The Rings crossed with Monty Python.
I figured reading them would be like drinking a lovely cup of tea, but trying at the same time to ignore the cigarette end that had been dumped in it - so I didn't bother!
I've 'scan read' both "A Brief History of Time" and "Fermat's Last Theorem", rather than giving them the full attention that they really deserve. However if I was asked if I'd read them I'd probably just say "Yes".