In the process of collecting assessment data in the author's introductory sociology course, he made a startling and disappointing discovery. For the most part, students simply were not bothering to read the basics version of the introductory survey textbook that he assigned. This discovery presented him with two related challenges. First, he had to carefully choose readings that would enhance student learning, active engagement with the material, and critical thinking. Second, he had to find an instructional method that would motivate students to actually read the material. In this article, the author describes how he came to select readers, rather than comprehensive survey textbooks, and how he utilized instructional technology through Just-in-Time (JiT) quizzes to encourage students to read them. (Contains 1 table and 1 footnote.)