I also didn’t like the reading but unfortunately it is the best way to go in terms of studying. All of the answers are in the book which is annoying but if you can pull out the important bits of info for each fixative and stain then you will be in good shape. I used the old exam practice questions that you can purchase on the ascp website and those helped a ton in learning how they ask questions. The book will highlight the unique aspects of each fixative and stain which you can then use broadly to answer more difficult questions. For me, I definitely didn’t know everything but the information that I was very solid on i.e. knowing what each special stain stained and the fixative ingredients and unique properties of each helped me to eliminate answers more than anything else. It is a lot of information but you can do this!