This article examines the relative influence of socio-economic variables versus attitudes as regards to consumer behavior towards book reading as a leisure activity. Previous studies on leisure consider the amount of discretionary time available to the individual as a decisive factor. This study is based on a field research conducted upon a French population sample. We isolate four fundamental dimensions of the reading activity that appear to act as necessary intermediate variables to predict consumer behavior towards this leisure activity. A threshold of involvement is identified, below which individuals appear to feel unconcerned by reading, should they have discretionary time available or not.