entitled vs titled

I've heard both used by native speakers. Entitled sounds more formal to my ears. If I could note a difference it'd be that entitled connotes a title that was given/made by someone and titled doesn't have that implication. But I don't really know.

I think an English speaker would say, "I have read the book, 'The Old Man and the Sea,' " and leave it at that. There is no need to say titled or entitled because the punctuation indicates that it's the title. Less is more.

Good'n' Doop

"Titled" and "entitled" are synonyms in the meaning "named or called" when referring to a book, article, or speech.

if I had to choose between "a book titled XYZ" and "a book entitled XYZ" I would choose "titled", for two reasons: 1. It's simpler 2. I won't have to deal with people incorrectly correcting me.

I would go further. I would say "I have read 'The Old Man and the Sea' ". The use of the verb 'read' implies that the title refers to a written work of some sort.

"I have read the book entitled 'The Old Man and the Sea,'" would cause me to muse on the other meaning of the word "entitled," whereas using the word "titled" wouldn't.

That being said, I'd go for the deftness in writing previously suggested, short and to the point.