The article discusses reading in the conditions of the contemporary information culture, when there appear new reading devices - electronic and audio books, new ways of the reader’s interaction with a text and gadget. Utilization of the modern gadgets is analyzed in the methodological researches of the leisure cultural activities. The author concludes that the e-book reading is limited by the minor leisure time, scanty opportunity to purchase gadgets for reading in the consumer expenditure pattern, and the low prestigiousness of reading for the average Russian.