diff --git a/lib/mongo/collection.rb b/lib/mongo/collection.rb
index fe7ef57..aeb2663 100644
--- a/lib/mongo/collection.rb
+++ b/lib/mongo/collection.rb
@@ -84,6 +84,8 @@ module Mongo
       unless pk_factory
         @safe = opts.fetch(:safe, @db.safe)
       end
+      read = opts.fetch(:read, @db.read_preference)
+      @read_preference = read.is_a?(Hash) ? read.dup : read
       @pk_factory = pk_factory || opts[:pk] || BSON::ObjectId
       @hint = nil
     end
@@ -200,6 +202,7 @@ module Mongo
       return_key = opts.delete(:return_key)
       transformer = opts.delete(:transformer)
       show_disk_loc = opts.delete(:max_scan)
+      read          = opts.delete(:read) || @read_preference
 
       if timeout == false && !block_given?
         raise ArgumentError, "Collection#find must be invoked with a block when timeout is disabled."
@@ -214,19 +217,20 @@ module Mongo
       raise RuntimeError, "Unknown options [#{opts.inspect}]" unless opts.empty?
 
       cursor = Cursor.new(self, {
-        :selector    => selector, 
-        :fields      => fields, 
-        :skip        => skip, 
+        :selector    => selector,
+        :fields      => fields,
+        :skip        => skip,
         :limit       => limit,
-        :order       => sort, 
-        :hint        => hint, 
-        :snapshot    => snapshot, 
-        :timeout     => timeout, 
+        :order       => sort,
+        :hint        => hint,
+        :snapshot    => snapshot,
+        :timeout     => timeout,
         :batch_size  => batch_size,
         :transformer => transformer,
         :max_scan    => max_scan,
         :show_disk_loc => show_disk_loc,
-        :return_key    => return_key
+        :return_key    => return_key,
+        :read          => read
       })
 
       if block_given?
@@ -681,6 +685,13 @@ module Mongo
       end
     end
 
+    # The value of the read preference. This will be
+    # either +:primary+, +:secondary+, or an object
+    # representing the tags to be read from.
+    def read_preference
+      @read_preference
+    end
+
     private
 
     def new_group(opts={})
diff --git a/lib/mongo/connection.rb b/lib/mongo/connection.rb
index 0682b5f..25f021a 100644
--- a/lib/mongo/connection.rb
+++ b/lib/mongo/connection.rb
@@ -310,7 +310,7 @@ module Mongo
     #
     # @core databases []-instance_method
     def [](db_name)
-      DB.new(db_name, self, :safe => @safe)
+      DB.new(db_name, self)
     end
 
     # Drop a database.
@@ -410,11 +410,7 @@ module Mongo
 
         send_message_on_socket(packed_message, socket)
       ensure
-        if connection == :writer
-          checkin_writer(socket)
-        else
-          checkin_reader(socket)
-        end
+        checkin(socket)
       end
     end
 
@@ -446,7 +442,7 @@ module Mongo
           docs, num_received, cursor_id = receive(sock, last_error_id)
         end
       ensure
-        checkin_writer(sock)
+        checkin(sock)
       end
 
       if num_received == 1 && (error = docs[0]['err'] || docs[0]['errmsg'])
@@ -470,16 +466,24 @@ module Mongo
     # @return [Array]
     #   An array whose indexes include [0] documents returned, [1] number of document received,
     #   and [3] a cursor_id.
-    def receive_message(operation, message, log_message=nil, socket=nil, command=false)
+    def receive_message(operation, message, log_message=nil, socket=nil, command=false, read=:primary)
       request_id = add_message_headers(message, operation)
       packed_message = message.to_s
       begin
         if socket
           sock = socket
-          checkin = false
+          should_checkin = false
         else
-          sock = (command ? checkout_writer : checkout_reader)
-          checkin = true
+          if command
+            sock = checkout_writer
+          elsif read == :primary
+            sock = checkout_writer
+          elsif read == :secondary
+            sock = checkout_reader
+          else
+            sock = checkout_tagged(read)
+          end
+          should_checkin = true
         end
 
         result = ''
@@ -488,8 +492,8 @@ module Mongo
           result = receive(sock, request_id)
         end
       ensure
-        if checkin
-          command ? checkin_writer(sock) : checkin_reader(sock)
+        if should_checkin
+          checkin(sock)
         end
       end
       result
@@ -559,6 +563,14 @@ module Mongo
     end
     alias :primary? :read_primary?
 
+    # The value of the read preference. Because
+    # this is a single-node connection, the value
+    # is +:primary+, and the connection will read
+    # from whichever type of node it's connected to.
+    def read_preference
+      :primary
+    end
+
     # Close the connection to the database.
     def close
       @primary_pool.close if @primary_pool
@@ -591,14 +603,21 @@ module Mongo
     # Checkin a socket used for reading.
     # Note: this is overridden in ReplSetConnection.
     def checkin_reader(socket)
-      if @primary_pool
-        @primary_pool.checkin(socket)
-      end
+      warn "Connection#checkin_writer is not deprecated and will be remove " +
+        "in driver v2.0. Use Connection#checkin instead."
+      checkin(socket)
     end
 
     # Checkin a socket used for writing.
     # Note: this is overridden in ReplSetConnection.
     def checkin_writer(socket)
+      warn "Connection#checkin_writer is not deprecated and will be remove " +
+        "in driver v2.0. Use Connection#checkin instead."
+      checkin(socket)
+    end
+
+    # Check a socket back into its pool.
+    def checkin(socket)
       if @primary_pool
         @primary_pool.checkin(socket)
       end
@@ -671,7 +690,7 @@ module Mongo
       # Global safe option. This is false by default.
       @safe = opts[:safe] || false
 
-      # Create a mutex when a new key, in this case a socket,
+            # Create a mutex when a new key, in this case a socket,
       # is added to the hash.
       @safe_mutexes = Hash.new { |h, k| h[k] = Mutex.new }
 
diff --git a/lib/mongo/cursor.rb b/lib/mongo/cursor.rb
index 9b54172..1f321e6 100644
--- a/lib/mongo/cursor.rb
+++ b/lib/mongo/cursor.rb
@@ -70,6 +70,8 @@ module Mongo
       @query_run    = false
 
       @transformer = opts[:transformer]
+      read         = opts[:read] || collection.read_preference
+      @read_preference = read.is_a?(Hash) ? read.dup : read
       batch_size(opts[:batch_size] || 0)
 
       @full_collection_name = "#{@collection.db.name}.#{@collection.name}"
@@ -448,7 +450,7 @@ module Mongo
       message.put_long(@cursor_id)
       @logger.debug("MONGODB cursor.refresh() for cursor #{@cursor_id}") if @logger
       results, @n_received, @cursor_id = @connection.receive_message(
-          Mongo::Constants::OP_GET_MORE, message, nil, @socket, @command)
+          Mongo::Constants::OP_GET_MORE, message, nil, @socket, @command, @read_preference)
       @returned += @n_received
       @cache += results
       close_cursor_if_query_complete
@@ -464,7 +466,7 @@ module Mongo
         message = construct_query_message
         @connection.instrument(:find, instrument_payload) do
           results, @n_received, @cursor_id = @connection.receive_message(
-            Mongo::Constants::OP_QUERY, message, nil, @socket, @command)
+            Mongo::Constants::OP_QUERY, message, nil, @socket, @command, @read_preference)
           @returned += @n_received
           @cache += results
           @query_run = true
diff --git a/lib/mongo/db.rb b/lib/mongo/db.rb
index 69cb363..a9e82f4 100644
--- a/lib/mongo/db.rb
+++ b/lib/mongo/db.rb
@@ -82,6 +82,8 @@ module Mongo
       @strict     = opts[:strict]
       @pk_factory = opts[:pk]
       @safe       = opts.fetch(:safe, @connection.safe)
+      read = opts.fetch(:read, @connection.read_preference)
+      @read_preference = read.is_a?(Hash) ? read.dup : read
       @cache_time = opts[:cache_time] || 300 #5 minutes.
     end
 
@@ -609,6 +611,13 @@ module Mongo
       doc
     end
 
+    # The value of the read preference. This will be
+    # either +:primary+, +:secondary+, or an object
+    # representing the tags to be read from.
+    def read_preference
+      @read_preference
+    end
+
     private
 
     def system_command_collection
diff --git a/lib/mongo/exceptions.rb b/lib/mongo/exceptions.rb
index 0989635..875eeeb 100644
--- a/lib/mongo/exceptions.rb
+++ b/lib/mongo/exceptions.rb
@@ -48,6 +48,9 @@ module Mongo
   # Raised on failures in connection to the database server.
   class ConnectionTimeoutError < MongoRubyError; end
 
+  # Raised when no tags in a read preference maps to a given connection.
+  class NodeWithTagsNotFound < MongoRubyError; end
+
   # Raised when a connection operation fails.
   class ConnectionFailure < MongoDBError; end
 
diff --git a/lib/mongo/repl_set_connection.rb b/lib/mongo/repl_set_connection.rb
index f249bd5..7fa9d2a 100644
--- a/lib/mongo/repl_set_connection.rb
+++ b/lib/mongo/repl_set_connection.rb
@@ -112,7 +112,14 @@ module Mongo
       @refresh_interval = opts[:refresh_interval] || 90
 
       # Are we allowing reads from secondaries?
-      @read_secondary = opts.fetch(:read_secondary, false)
+      if opts[:read_secondary]
+        warn ":read_secondary options has now been deprecated and will " +
+          "be removed in driver v2.0. Use the :read option instead."
+        @read_secondary = opts.fetch(:read_secondary, false)
+        @read = :secondary
+      else
+        @read = opts.fetch(:read, :primary)
+      end
 
       # Lock around changes to the global config
       @connection_lock = Mutex.new
@@ -121,6 +128,10 @@ module Mongo
       # Store the refresher thread
       @refresh_thread = nil
 
+      # Maps
+      @sockets_to_pools = {}
+      @tags_to_pools = {}
+
       # Replica set name
       if opts[:rs_name]
         warn ":rs_name option has been deprecated and will be removed in 2.0. " +
@@ -226,6 +237,10 @@ module Mongo
     end
     alias :primary? :read_primary?
 
+    def read_preference
+      @read
+    end
+
     # Close the connection to the database.
     def close
       super
@@ -254,6 +269,8 @@ module Mongo
       @secondaries     = []
       @secondary_pools = []
       @arbiters        = []
+      @tags_to_pools.clear
+      @sockets_to_pools.clear
     end
 
     # If a ConnectionFailure is raised, this method will be called
@@ -265,11 +282,15 @@ module Mongo
         "Use ReplSetConnection#close instead."
     end
 
-    # Is it okay to connect to a slave?
+    # Returns +true+ if it's okay to read from a secondary node.
+    # Since this is a replica set, this must always be true.
     #
-    # @return [Boolean]
+    # This method exist primarily so that Cursor objects will
+    # generate query messages with a slaveOkay value of +true+.
+    #
+    # @return [Boolean] +true+
     def slave_ok?
-      @read_secondary
+      true
     end
 
     def authenticate_pools
@@ -299,25 +320,29 @@ module Mongo
 
     # Checkout a socket for reading (i.e., a secondary node).
     # Note that @read_pool might point to the primary pool
-    # if no read pool has been defined. That's okay; we don't
-    # want to have to check for the existence of the @read_pool
-    # because that introduces concurrency issues.
+    # if no read pool has been defined.
     def checkout_reader
       connect unless connected?
 
-      if @read_secondary && @read_pool
-        begin
-          return @read_pool.checkout
-        rescue NoMethodError
-          warn "Read pool was not available."
+      socket = @read_pool.checkout
+      @sockets_to_pools[socket] = @read_pool
+      return socket
+    end
+
+    # Checkout a socket connected to a node with one of
+    # the provided tags. If no such node exists, raise
+    # an exception.
+    def checkout_tagged(tags)
+      tags.each do |k, v|
+        if pool = @tags_to_pools[{k.to_s => v}]
+          socket = pool.checkout
+          @sockets_to_pools[socket] = pool
+          return socket
         end
       end
 
-      begin
-        return @primary_pool.checkout
-      rescue NoMethodError
-        raise ConnectionFailure, "Not connected to any nodes."
-      end
+      raise NodeWithTagsNotFound,
+        "Could not find a connection tagged with #{tags}."
     end
 
     # Checkout a socket for writing (i.e., a primary node).
@@ -326,7 +351,9 @@ module Mongo
 
       if @primary_pool
         begin
-          return @primary_pool.checkout
+          socket = @primary_pool.checkout
+          @sockets_to_pools[socket] = @primary
+          return socket
         rescue NoMethodError
         end
       end
@@ -336,17 +363,21 @@ module Mongo
 
     # Checkin a socket used for reading.
     def checkin_reader(socket)
-      if @read_secondary
-        @read_pool.checkin(socket)
-      else
-        checkin_writer(socket)
-      end
+      warn "ReplSetConnection#checkin_writer is not deprecated and will be remove " +
+        "in driver v2.0. Use ReplSetConnection#checkin instead."
+      checkin(socket)
     end
 
     # Checkin a socket used for writing.
     def checkin_writer(socket)
-      if @primary_pool
-        @primary_pool.checkin(socket)
+      warn "ReplSetConnection#checkin_writer is not deprecated and will be remove " +
+        "in driver v2.0. Use ReplSetConnection#checkin instead."
+      checkin(socket)
+    end
+
+    def checkin(socket)
+      if pool = @sockets_to_pools[socket]
+        pool.checkin(socket)
       end
     end
   end
diff --git a/test/unit/cursor_test.rb b/test/unit/cursor_test.rb
index 469be6b..622e630 100644
--- a/test/unit/cursor_test.rb
+++ b/test/unit/cursor_test.rb
@@ -5,9 +5,9 @@ class CursorTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
     setup do
       @logger     = mock()
       @logger.stubs(:debug)
-      @connection = stub(:class => Connection, :logger => @logger, :slave_ok? => false)
-      @db         = stub(:name => "testing", :slave_ok? => false, :connection => @connection)
-      @collection = stub(:db => @db, :name => "items")
+      @connection = stub(:class => Connection, :logger => @logger, :slave_ok? => false, :read_preference => :primary)
+      @db         = stub(:name => "testing", :slave_ok? => false, :connection => @connection, :read_preference => :primary)
+      @collection = stub(:db => @db, :name => "items", :read_preference => :primary)
       @cursor     = Cursor.new(@collection)
     end
 
@@ -102,7 +102,7 @@ class CursorTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
       @logger.stubs(:debug)
       @connection = stub(:class => Connection, :logger => @logger, :slave_ok? => false)
       @db = stub(:slave_ok? => true, :name => "testing", :connection => @connection)
-      @collection = stub(:db => @db, :name => "items")
+      @collection = stub(:db => @db, :name => "items", :read_preference => :primary)
     end
 
     should "when an array should return a hash with each key" do
diff --git a/test/unit/db_test.rb b/test/unit/db_test.rb
index 5b41808..e8d2926 100644
--- a/test/unit/db_test.rb
+++ b/test/unit/db_test.rb
@@ -15,8 +15,10 @@ class DBTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
       setup do
         @conn = stub()
         @conn.stubs(:safe)
+        @conn.stubs(:read_preference)
         @db   = DB.new("testing", @conn)
         @db.stubs(:safe)
+        @db.stubs(:read_preference)
         @collection = mock()
         @db.stubs(:system_command_collection).returns(@collection)
       end
diff --git a/test/unit/grid_test.rb b/test/unit/grid_test.rb
index 8e8ba3f..066d0e9 100644
--- a/test/unit/grid_test.rb
+++ b/test/unit/grid_test.rb
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ class GridTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
     setup do
       @conn   = stub()
       @conn.stubs(:safe)
+      @conn.stubs(:read_preference)
       @db     = DB.new("testing", @conn)
       @files  = mock()
       @chunks = mock()
@@ -13,6 +14,7 @@ class GridTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
       @db.expects(:[]).with('fs.files').returns(@files)
       @db.expects(:[]).with('fs.chunks').returns(@chunks)
       @db.stubs(:safe)
+      @db.stubs(:read_preference)
     end
 
     context "Grid classe with standard connections" do
diff --git a/test/unit/node_test.rb b/test/unit/node_test.rb
index 777e307..c3b2be7 100644
--- a/test/unit/node_test.rb
+++ b/test/unit/node_test.rb
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ class NodeTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
       Node.new(@connection, ['192.168.0.1', Connection::DEFAULT_PORT])
   end
 
-  should "two nodes with the same address should have the same hash" do
+  should "two nodes with the same address should have the same hash negate" do
     assert_not_equal Node.new(@connection, '192.168.0.1').hash,
       Node.new(@connection, '1239.33.4.2393:29949').hash
   end
diff --git a/test/unit/read_test.rb b/test/unit/read_test.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..40ce098
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/unit/read_test.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,98 @@
+require './test/test_helper'
+
+class ReadTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
+
+  context "Read mode on standard connection: " do
+    setup do
+      @read_preference = :secondary
+      @con = Mongo::Connection.new('localhost', 27017, :read => @read_preference, :connect => false)
+    end
+
+  end
+
+  context "Read mode on connection: " do
+    setup do
+      @read_preference = :secondary
+      @con = Mongo::ReplSetConnection.new(['localhost', 27017], :read => @read_preference, :connect => false)
+    end
+
+    should "store read preference on Connection" do
+      assert_equal @read_preference, @con.read_preference
+    end
+
+    should "propogate to DB" do
+      db = @con['foo']
+      assert_equal @read_preference, db.read_preference
+
+      db = @con.db('foo')
+      assert_equal @read_preference, db.read_preference
+
+      db = DB.new('foo', @con)
+      assert_equal @read_preference, db.read_preference
+    end
+
+    should "allow db override" do
+      db = DB.new('foo', @con, :read => :primary)
+      assert_equal :primary, db.read_preference
+
+      db = @con.db('foo', :read => :primary)
+      assert_equal :primary, db.read_preference
+    end
+
+    context "on DB: " do
+      setup do
+        @db = @con['foo']
+      end
+
+      should "propogate to collection" do
+        col = @db.collection('bar')
+        assert_equal @read_preference, col.read_preference
+
+        col = @db['bar']
+        assert_equal @read_preference, col.read_preference
+
+        col = Collection.new('bar', @db)
+        assert_equal @read_preference, col.read_preference
+      end
+
+      should "allow override on collection" do
+        col = @db.collection('bar', :read => :primary)
+        assert_equal :primary, col.read_preference
+
+        col = Collection.new('bar', @db, :read => :primary)
+        assert_equal :primary, col.read_preference
+      end
+    end
+
+    context "on read mode ops" do
+      setup do
+        @col = @con['foo']['bar']
+        @mock_socket = stub()
+      end
+
+      should "use default value on query" do
+        @con.expects(:receive_message).with do |o, m, l, s, c, r|
+          r == :secondary
+        end.returns([[], 0, 0])
+
+        @col.find_one({:a => 1})
+      end
+
+      should "allow override default value on query" do
+        @con.expects(:receive_message).with do |o, m, l, s, c, r|
+          r == :primary
+        end.returns([[], 0, 0])
+
+        @col.find_one({:a => 1}, :read => :primary)
+      end
+
+      should "allow override alternate value on query" do
+        @con.expects(:receive_message).with do |o, m, l, s, c, r|
+          tags = {:dc => "ny"}
+        end.returns([[], 0, 0])
+
+        @col.find_one({:a => 1}, :read => {:dc => "ny"})
+      end
+    end
+  end
+end