Agreed, at least in my experience in the US we are conditioned from a young age to associate reading with tedium and monotony. When you have to 'read along with the class', stop after every chapter to write an essay, hyper-analyze every sentence until all the fun of discovery is sucked out, and generally be in an unpleasant and uncomfortable environment as you do it, you will over time associate the activity in general with those negative aspects and avoid it- despite the activity itself being potentially very enjoyable in a different context