Active vs passive voice with inanimate object as the subject

Solution 1:

Verbs such as break, sell, and read are examples of what are commonly called ergative verbs. Wikipedia's article on this topic defines an ergative verb as:

... a verb that can be either transitive or intransitive, and whose subject when intransitive corresponds to its direct object when transitive.

There is a comprehensive list of ergative verbs on Wiktionary.

Note, however, that the designation of such verbs as ergative is somewhat problematic. The Oxford Dictionary of English Grammar, for example, states: "Some linguists caution against the use of this term". The Oxford Dictionary of Linguistics is more forthright, stating: "The term could perhaps with benefit be avoided". A related Wikipedia article about ergative-absolute languages refers to such verbs in English as "so-called ergative verbs".

Nevertheless, it is important for English language learners to know that many common verbs behave in this way in English, that this is the term they should search for on the internet, and that pedagogic grammars also use the term. For example, here is what the Collins Cobuild English Grammar (p156) says:

Verbs which can have the same thing as their object, when transitive, or their subject when intransitive, are called ergative verbs. For many students of English, the ergative verb is a new idea, and may take a little time to learn. However, it is an important type of verb, as the common examples below make clear. There are several hundred ergative verbs in regular use in current English.

Solution 2:

The sentences in question are not passive in form, they use transitive verbs with specific meaning that fit the context. See below:

To read (tr.) To have a specified character or quality for the reader: Your poems read well.

To sell (tr.) To attract prospective buyers; be popular on the market: an item that sells well.

To break (tr.) To become cracked or split. To become fractured: His arm broke from the fall.

Source: Collins Dictionary