Among them: a very early Navajo autobiography and a novel by Fyodor Dostoyevsky's daughter.

WSJ: Author Larry McMurtry Sets Auction of 300,000 Books

But, as Fyodor Lukyanov, the Russia editor for Global Affairs, argues, this time the row has a political flavour.

ECONOMIST: Russia and its neighbourhood

This low-budget project has no military component and may not make much of a difference, says Fyodor Lukyanov, a Russian foreign-policy pundit.

ECONOMIST: Russia and its near abroad

Many also admit to wrongly claiming to have read the classics, including authors Jane Austen, the Bronte sisters, Charles Dickens, Fyodor Dostoyevsky and Herman Melville.

BBC: Poll reveals UK's reading secrets

The cramped capsule carrying NASA's Karen Nyberg, Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin and Italy's Luca Parmitano orbited the Earth four times before docking with the space station.

NPR: Soyuz Capsule Docks With Space Station