Reading is typical of a variety of complex cognitive performances which involve a large number of discrete but interdependent mental processes. The processes which are brought to bear in any particular instance of reading are a function of the task difficulty, the reader's general and specific skills, and the reader's purpose in performing the particular task. Each of these factors is in turn subject to extensive (and so far interminable) subdivision and elaboration. Thus while a comprehensive theory of reading can be outlined, it is not yet possible to specify sufficient detail to prescriptively guide instruction or to understand the entire reading behavior of individual subjects. This chapter briefly examines the outline of what appears to be a consensus theory of reading but then concentrates upon a particular class of reading processes, those loosely within the domain of styles and strategies. A feature of this analysis, and an important conclusion from it, is that the effects of this domain must be understood in conjunction with the effects of a second domain, which can equally loosely be termed skills.