Or mere utility/functionality (save time not reading some books AND advance your scholarly/literary/etc career as someone who reads and knows them).

A con isn't "pretentious".

People who have actually read a book can be much more pretentious about it -- in the sense of acting as if this gave them some unique insight over other mere mortals who haven't read it.

Any book worth reading should be worth reading because of that insight. Which might be a way to say that most words aren't writing, and especially these.

Also a common discipline among students.

Very literally so.