Reading involves and is influenced by many factors, which makes reading difficult to understand, teach, and explain to parents, policymakers, and other stakeholders. A metaphor of driving, which likens reading to an everyday practice, demystifies complexities inherent in reading. Both reading and driving are active, strategic processes. Just as drivers deploy multifaceted driving processes to reach destinations on different types of roads in varied contexts and conditions, readers deploy multifaceted reading processes to reach reading goals with different types of texts in varied reading contexts and conditions. The DRIVE (Deploying Reading in Varied Environments) model provides a view of reading that is accessible and actionable while preserving complexity.