Yep that's it for me

It's also hard to tell if I can "read" something, or if I look at an object and just know what it says. Same with mirrors, supposedly you can't see your reflection in a dream but I might look at one and 'know' that I see myself

It's commonly used as a plot device in stories, and in my experience people will tell you about it as a way to "wake up" in the dream if you complain about nightmares and people I've spoken to IRL about it take it as accepted truth

That makes a lot of sense to me given my personal experiences. Reading this thread is interesting. I've never heard the idea that you can't read in dreams. The last couple of months I've been having dreams where I'm doomscrolling headlines on an app, and I'm actively reading the headlines to myself. But since I'm doomscrolling , I notice them and move on. I'm aware of when I'm dreaming, so sometimes I'll laugh to myself and my partner about the stuff my sleep- psyche comes up with. I don't know if this is a recent development, but I can't remember ever trying to read something in a dream and being frustrated that I can't.

I have a number of problems that result in unusual and unhealthy sleep patterns, so that probably contributes to odd dream experiences.