"A book to be read" vs "a book to read"

Question

Which is grammatically correct: "a book to be read" or "a book to read"? And what is the difference?

Answer 1

They are both correct. A book to be read refers to a book that someone has decided will be read. For example, if there is a textbook that everyone taking a certain course is required to read, the course instructor might say

This is a book to be read by everybody taking this course!

Someone who has a favourite book might say something like

Siddhartha is certainly a book to be read!

to indicate that they think it's a book that people should read.

A book to read refers to a book which is available to read, but can sometimes imply that one is expected to read it. For an example of the former usage,

I had to wait for an hour; I was glad I had a book to read!

One further demonstration of the difference:

My teacher gave me a book to read on the train.

suggests that my teacher thought I might be bored on the train, so they gave me a book to read. (However, you could read it as implying that the teacher gave me a book which they expect me to read on the train!)

On the other hand,

My teacher gave me a book to be read on the train.

is less ambiguous: the teacher definitely expects me to read the book on the train.