To read the book, he just take, player needs to press 5 buttons. And first button (open menu) is not obvous for players who doesn't play these type of games often.
I think, it'll be a good idea, to make 'I' as hotkey for Inventory, and after taking book, show hint: "Press 'I' to open inventory..." or something like that. Anyway, inventory is an important part of the game isn't it? So, hotkey would be good idea.