No, the store is entirely responsible if they put it in their "recommended" section. The very act of recommending the book means that you have not only read it, but that you recommend that others read it. Oprah doesn't recommend books that she hasn't read, neither do major book chains like Virgin. The backlash of recommending a book that might offend large numbers of people is to great to take that kind of risk.

If Virgin Middle East is so careless as to recommend books that they haven't read, then they deserve this backlash.