Crossword Genius

Really don’t look forward to days with book, say (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

dread

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'book say' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I cannot understand how one could define the other.

'really don't look forward to days' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'look' could be 'read' (I've seen this in other clues) and 'read' is found within the answer.
'days' could be 'd' (abbreviation for days) and 'd' is present in the answer.
No letters remain.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

'with' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for dread that I've seen before include "Get cold feet" , "Deep fear" , "Hairstyle" , "Terrible fear" , "Disquiet" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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