The book in general, and reading in particular, have been the subject of research in various disciplines from very different, if not conflicting, points of view. In this article, we refer to some perspectives that circulate around the act of reading. In particular, we will focus on those positions that emphasize the value of reading in terms of the legitimacy of works as well as the number of books read. Then, on the other hand, we will address those approaches that tend to focus on the affordances, the social networks, and the emotions that unfold with books. The theoretical-methodological proposal that guides our empirical research is part of this perspective, which we develop at the end of the article.El libro, en general, y la lectura, en particular, ha sido objeto de indagación de varias disciplinas, con miradas muy diversas cuando no, contrapuestas. En este artículo, recuperamos algunas perspectivas que circulan en torno al acto de leer. Nos detenemos especialmente en aquellos posicionamientos que valoran la lectura en función del carácter legítimo de las obras así como de la cantidad de libros que se lee. Luego, y en contraposición, abordamos los planteos que tienden a focalizar en las habilitaciones, las tramas de sociabilidad y las emociones que se despliegan con los libros. La propuesta teórico-metodológica que guía nuestras investigaciones empíricas se inscribe en esta perspectiva, que desarrollamos al final del artículo.The book, in general, and the reading, in particular, has been the subject of research by diverse disciplines, with very different, if not opposing, points of view. In this article, we refer to some perspectives that circulate around the act of reading. We will focus especially on those positions that emphasize the value of reading in terms of the legitimate nature of the works as well as the number of books read. Then, on the contrary, we address the approaches that tend to focus on the affordances, the sociability networks and the emotions that unfold with books. The theoretical-methodological proposal that guides our empirical research is part of this perspective, which we develop at the end of this article.