This article is based on a qualitative study that explored the impact reading had on the lives of two female students who attained exemplary results in their final year of high school. The reading practices of these two high achieving students provided data rich information. Both students were academically successful in completing their Victorian Certificate of Education. One of the participants was awarded Dux of the school while the other participant was the second highest achieving student in the VCE cohort. The focus of the study was to explore how reading linked to academic success, how students perceived reading in helping them achieve academic success and what other factors related to reading can be associated with students' performance. Reading was at the nucleus of both students' lives and the study explored how it interconnected and assisted them to weave their journeys of academic success. (Contains 1 note.)