I never feel embarrassed about not having read a particular novel, watched a particular movie, or whatever because (a) we all have different tastes and that's a good thing, (b) I love introducing things that I like to friends and being introduced to things they like (which is difficult if we've all read exactly the same things), and (c) lists of the "greatest" literature or things that "everyone should read" are often done by pretentious snobs whose lists are made to appeal to their particular clique and who look down on anyone with different tastes/opinions.

When I hear about the death of someone like Gabriel García Márquez (whose works I have not read), I take it as an opportunity to learn more about them. I had heard of "Love in the Time of Cholera" and "100 Years of Solitude" but didn't know anything about them beyond the titles. When I read that "100 Years of Solitude" was an example of magical realism, that intrigued me because I'm a big fan of Haruki Murakami, whose works generally fall into that category (taking place in the "real" world but with supernatural elements). Because of that I've marked "100 Years of Solitude" as something I will check out in the future.

I was embarrassed because I bought a book I did not read :-). That said, I do like to hear about different things from friends, and sometimes try them out (often years delayed, actually, so it's not a waste of time to spread word of what you like).