Real Madrid footballer David Beckham holds up his autobiography "My Side" in Madrid, September 2006.

Bestsellers by Bill Clinton, J.K. Rowling and David Beckham are among the books Britons find hardest to finish reading, according to a survey published Monday.

Although the average reader spends more than 4,000 pounds (5,890 euros, 7,760 dollars) on books in their lifetime, 55 percent admit they buy them for decoration and have no intention of reading them.

Topping the list of unfinishable fiction is "Vernon God Little" by DBC Pierre, which 35 percent said they could notplough through, followed by Rowling's "Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire" at two (32 percent).

"Ulysses" by James Joyce (28 percent) was at three and Salman Rushdie's "The Satanic Verses" -- which prompted Iranian spiritual leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini to issue afatwa, or death sentence, against him in 1989 -- is at number six (21 percent).

The non-fiction list was led by the memoirs of former British Cabinet minister David Blunkett (35 percent), followed by ex United States president Clinton's 1024-page autobiography "My Life" (30 percent).

Real Madrid star Beckham's "My Side", the fastest-selling autobiography of all time in Britain, comes in third (27 percent).

The survey also found that only 24 percent of people find time to read every day, with 48 percent saying that they were too tired to do so.

Researchers commissioned by television news service Teletext interviewed 4,000 people.

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(AFP)