diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fa3d5f1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+tmp
+.air.toml
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index f311a25..7b7fcac 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -1,3 +1,10 @@
 module mal-go
 
 go 1.24.2
+
+require (
+	github.com/davecgh/go-spew v1.1.1 // indirect
+	github.com/pmezard/go-difflib v1.0.0 // indirect
+	github.com/stretchr/testify v1.11.1 // indirect
+	gopkg.in/yaml.v3 v3.0.1 // indirect
+)
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..cc8b3f4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+github.com/davecgh/go-spew v1.1.1 h1:vj9j/u1bqnvCEfJOwUhtlOARqs3+rkHYY13jYWTU97c=
+github.com/davecgh/go-spew v1.1.1/go.mod h1:J7Y8YcW2NihsgmVo/mv3lAwl/skON4iLHjSsI+c5H38=
+github.com/pmezard/go-difflib v1.0.0 h1:4DBwDE0NGyQoBHbLQYPwSUPoCMWR5BEzIk/f1lZbAQM=
+github.com/pmezard/go-difflib v1.0.0/go.mod h1:iKH77koFhYxTK1pcRnkKkqfTogsbg7gZNVY4sRDYZ/4=
+github.com/stretchr/testify v1.11.1 h1:7s2iGBzp5EwR7/aIZr8ao5+dra3wiQyKjjFuvgVKu7U=
+github.com/stretchr/testify v1.11.1/go.mod h1:wZwfW3scLgRK+23gO65QZefKpKQRnfz6sD981Nm4B6U=
+gopkg.in/check.v1 v0.0.0-20161208181325-20d25e280405/go.mod h1:Co6ibVJAznAaIkqp8huTwlJQCZ016jof/cbN4VW5Yz0=
+gopkg.in/yaml.v3 v3.0.1 h1:fxVm/GzAzEWqLHuvctI91KS9hhNmmWOoWu0XTYJS7CA=
+gopkg.in/yaml.v3 v3.0.1/go.mod h1:K4uyk7z7BCEPqu6E+C64Yfv1cQ7kz7rIZviUmN+EgEM=
diff --git a/main.go b/main.go
index b9f85b6..ebdb770 100644
--- a/main.go
+++ b/main.go
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ func main() {
 		if input == "exit" {
 			return
 		}
-		ast := read.ReadString(input)
+		ast, _ := read.ReadString(input)
 		result := eval.Eval(ast)
 		print.Print(result)
 	}
diff --git a/read/read.go b/read/read.go
index a43acbc..be42e7f 100644
--- a/read/read.go
+++ b/read/read.go
@@ -1,5 +1,57 @@
 package read
 
-func ReadString(s string) any {
-	return s
+import (
+	"mal-go/list"
+	"mal-go/symbol"
+	"strings"
+)
+
+func ReadString(s string) (any, any) {
+	res, err, _ := readInternal(s, 0, nil, "user")
+	return res, err
+}
+
+func isSymbolChar(c byte) bool {
+	return (c >= 'a' && c <= 'z') || (c >= 'A' && c <= 'Z') || c == '_' || c == '-' || c == '/' || c == '\''
+}
+
+func readInternal(s string, pos int, ctx *list.List, ns string) (any, any, int) {
+	if pos >= len(s) {
+		return ctx, nil, pos
+	}
+	c := s[pos]
+
+	var res, err any
+
+	if isSymbolChar(c) {
+		res, err, pos2 := readSymbol(s, pos, ns)
+		return res, err, pos2
+	}
+	// switch c {
+	// case '{':
+	// 	res, err, _ = readInternal(s, pos+1, list.Conj(ctx, hash_map.New()), ns)
+	// case '[':
+	// case '(':
+	// }
+	return res, err, 0
+}
+
+func readSymbol(s string, pos int, ns string) (any, any, int) {
+	startingPos := pos
+	c := s[pos]
+	for isSymbolChar(c) {
+		pos += 1
+		if pos >= len(s) {
+			break
+		}
+		c = s[pos]
+	}
+	sym := s[startingPos:pos]
+	symNs := ns
+	if strings.Contains(sym, "/") {
+		splitIdx := strings.Index(s, "/")
+		symNs = s[startingPos:splitIdx]
+		sym = s[splitIdx+1 : pos]
+	}
+	return symbol.Intern(symNs, sym), nil, pos
 }
diff --git a/read/read_test.go b/read/read_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..69bfcdb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/read/read_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+package read
+
+import (
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+	"mal-go/symbol"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+func TestReadSymbol(t *testing.T) {
+	input := "foo"
+	sym, err, end_pos := readSymbol(input, 0, "user")
+	assert.Equal(t, sym, symbol.Intern("user", "foo"), "should read user/foo symbol")
+	assert.Equal(t, err, nil, "should read without error")
+	assert.Equal(t, end_pos, len(input), "should read the whole string")
+}
+
+func TestReadSymbolWithNamespace(t *testing.T) {
+	input := "foo/bar"
+	sym, err, end_pos := readSymbol(input, 0, "user")
+	assert.Equal(t, sym, symbol.Intern("foo", "bar"), "should read user/foo symbol")
+	assert.Equal(t, err, nil, "should read without error")
+	assert.Equal(t, end_pos, len(input), "should read the whole string")
+}