I will generally pick up two or three books every year that were shortlisted for the Booker/Orange/Whitbread prizes, if I thought they sounded interesting when I read the coverage of the prizes, or if someone else I know has recommended them. I'm not sure this counts as reading them 'because' they've been nominated, but if they hadn't been I might well not have heard of them or bothered to buy them - the award is an extra seal of approval rather than a sole reason for buying.