A study was conducted to identify strategies used by successful readers in comprehending and interpreting various kinds of texts. Seventy-three graduate students were asked to keep a journal (unedited and freely written) of what they were thinking as they were reading Umberto Eco's novel "The Name of the Rose." Selected journal entries were divided into 771 introspective commentaries that were marked by a shift in topic or attention on the part of the reader between and among "reader,""text," or "context" codes, plus the extended discussion of what the reader made of such shifts in attention. For purposes of coding response types, a "reading strategy" was defined as a cognitive choice--visualize, compare, criticize, etc. Adjusting rate, underlining, and taking notes were defined as a "reading technique." Results suggest that mentally good readers spend about 69% of their time off the page attempting to make connections, recasting what they have read in terms of what they currently know, criticizing themselves and the author's performance, and/or extrapolating what they have read to see what it might have to say about everything from ethnography to the meaning of life. Findings support the contextual embeddedness of all reading and interpretation and how instructional tasks can bolster the use of reading as a tool for learning. (Data tables are appended.) (NKA)