Read Or Take SKSE
skyrimspecialedition — Mods & Enhancements
A lightweight SKSE plugin for Skyrim that lets you choose whether to read or take books when you interact with them. With over 10,000 endorsements and 2.6 million downloads, it's a highly popular quality-of-life tool for players who want more control over book looting.
📦 Full mod page on discovermods
Downloads, ratings, compatibility info, installation guides, and user reviews.
View on discovermods →Syntax
User Interface
Example
Downloads: 2,576,467
💡 Notes
By powerofthree
🎯 Tips & Tricks
Make sure you have the latest SKSE64 installed and that your Skyrim version matches — otherwise the plugin won't load.
Install via your mod manager (like Vortex or MO2) and enable it; no load order tweaks needed for this one.
If you're using a mod that changes book interactions, test this mod early to ensure they don't conflict.
🔧 Troubleshooting
Mod conflicts
Check load order. Disable conflicting mods one by one.
⚠️ Common Mistakes
- Installing without checking requirements
👍 Pros
- Massive community trust (10,385 endorsements) — this is a must-have for many players
- Tiny QoL improvement that saves you from accidentally reading books when you just want to grab them
- From powerofthree, a well-known mod author — reliability is a given
👎 Cons
- Requires SKSE64, so console players are out of luck
- No built-in options to customize the prompt behavior — it's a one-size-fits-all solution
- Last updated June 2026, but if you're on an older Skyrim version, you might need to check compatibility