A series of essays examines how modern civilisation and schooling fragment the habit of attentive reading, arguing that speed, convenience, and economic pressure encourage superficial engagement. It maps cultural distractions—from urban bustle and social self-consciousness to library routines—and diagnoses personal barriers such as egoism, fear of imagination, and the reluctance to surrender to a book. Practical remedies are offered, including selective reading strategies, modes of reading for principles, facts, feelings, and results, communal approaches to shared reading, and reforms in teaching and librarianship intended to revive contemplative, purposeful, and enjoyable reading.