When presented with a list of “must read before you die/turn 50/graduate” novels, the instinctive response is to run down the list saying “read/not read/read” etc. In other words we treat the question of whether we have read a novel as a binary yes/no matter.
But if you think about it for a moment, that’s almost certainly wrong. 
Why? Well, apart from reading or not reading a novel (or any other book) there are a number of other answers. I’ve come up with this list, but I suspect it’s possible to add more:
- I have read it, but got bored and skipped bits
- I read some or most of it but didn’t finish
- I read it in translation
- Someone read it to me
- I’ve seen the film/television adaptation
- I read an abridged version
- I listened to the audio book
- I read it a long time ago and can’t remember (hardly) anything about it
- I have read it and reread it so many times I can recite long chunks from memory
- I read it carefully because I knew I was going to have to write something sensible and coherent about it in my blog.
You will probably have guessed this, but nowadays when I say I have read a book, I usually mean the final category. I am not saying any of the others are in any way wrong – just pointing out that “I’ve read that book” can mean different things to different people.
The Reading Bug 
there is indeed a world of difference between say reading a book because you have to write an essay/dissertation/blog review on it and allowing it to pass before your eyes when half asleep
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Although in my experience someone writing an essay on a book is more likely to avoid reading the book cover to cover, and instead read a plot summary and some reviews – or am I being unfair to students?
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some students will do that – or just try to watch the films – but they are invariably the ones that get low marks
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Yes, there are definitely nuances to stating ‘I’ve tead that!’ I would include reading in translation or audio book as having read it whereas watching a film or reading a summary I wouldn’t.
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Or even the statement ‘I’ve read that!’….my fingers are too big for my phone.
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Listening to an audio book is borderline I think – but I am not sure why it feels a bit like cheating!
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One that occasionally comes up for for me is: I think I read that ages ago, but I’m not certain.
Re #10 I also find that reading something with the intention of blogging about it makes you concentrate more and maybe improves the reading experience. So it’s like a form of super-reading.
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I like the idea of ‘super-reading’. When I am going to blog about a novel, as well as reading carefully I usually do some background reading and research, even if it is something as simple as reading the author’s Wikipedia page, looking up obscure terms, reading some other reviews etc – super-reading!
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