What is ironic about how some homeowners use their books?

The ironic thing about the books in most cases is that they're generally only there to look at and have never been read.

"Mostly, though, books are for show, and real life-judging from the quantity of food stains and tossed items of clo thing-goes on in the room that houses the largescreen TV The only books that seriously offend me are the antique ones, no doubt purchased in bulk, that are sometimes deployed on end tables for purposes of quaintness and "authenticity" - as if the owners actually spent their spare moments reading a 1920 title like Bobsledding in Vermont: One Boy's Adventure. But time pressures inevitably

curtail my literary investigations."