The main objective of this survey study was to study English major university studentsâ€Ÿrnreading preferences at Samara University in the Afar Regional State. It was also to identifyrnthe reading materials they prefer to read other than their academic requirements, to identifyrnthe standards that students use to choose books of their preferences and at the end to identifyrnthe factors that hinders their reading preferences as specific-objectives. The populations ofrnthe target group were all 72 second and third year English major students. Quantitative datarnwas collected using questionnaire and was analyzed using number and percentage in easyrntable. Then qualitative data was collected using interviews and were analyzed andrntranscribed thematically and integrated with the results obtained through questionnaire. Therndata were integrated and comparatively analyzed. As a result, the findings depicted that,rnstudents mostly preferred to read academic then nonacademic materials such as: politics andrnsport followed by literary works and religious books. Price author, academic and exam werernthe major motives that students used to choose books of their preferences. Attitude,rnavailability, accessibility, language and personal background were found out to be thernimpediments that resulted them not to read as they preferred. To that end, academicrninstitutions are better if they abundantly access the libraries with the fitting materials thatrnstudents get motivated to read. Then it will be rousing if parents and teachers supportrnstudents to develop, be inspired to reading materials and develop a habit of reading withrnpreference. This research provided further recommendation that could bring a change in thernimprovements of students reading practice.