I think reading requires a lot of curiosity and empathy. Sounds like you already have the curiosity bit down. Just need to translate that curiosity into empathy towards the characters you read - what happens to them, how they resolve the story’s conflict, if you feel they are better people in the end. When you think about it, a lot of fiction is just critical/sociological / philosophical theory expressed aesthetically through story elements.
I think reading requires a lot of curiosity and empathy. Sounds like you already have the curiosity bit down. Just need to translate that curiosity into empathy towards the characters you read - what happens to them, how they resolve the story’s conflict, if you feel they are better people in the end. When you think about it, a lot of fiction is just critical/sociological / philosophical theory expressed aesthetically through story elements.