- EdjeSwift;c-7993357
They're talking about reading the book in the wild, which is a pre-requisite for obtaining these furnishings apparently.
Like last week in the Endless Archive, there was a book called "Lord Hollowjack's Dream Realm" which I had to find on a bookshelf in Murkmire before I could buy it from the vendor. These books aren't "lorebooks", they're part of the Eidetic Memory archive you unlock by completing the Mages' guild questline to see which books you have and have not read.
Thanks for the helpful post, @EdjeSwift! It's as you say. :)