EXHIBIT 31.1


I, Thomas O. Ryder, certify that:

1. I have reviewed this annual report on Form 10-K of The Reader's
Digest Association, Inc. for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2005;

2. Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue
statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact
necessary to make the statements made, in light of the
circumstances under which such statements were made, not
misleading with respect to the period covered by this report;

3. Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other
financial information included in this report, fairly present in
all material respects the financial condition, results of
operations and cash flows of the registrant as of, and for, the
periods presented in this report;

4. The registrant's other certifying officer(s) and I are
responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls
and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and
15d-15(e)) and internal control over financial reporting (as
defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) for the
registrant and have:

      (a)  Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or
      caused such disclosure controls and procedures to be
      designed under our supervision, to ensure that material
      information relating to the registrant, including its
      consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by others
      within those entities, particularly during the period in
      which this report is being prepared;

      (b)  Designed such internal control over financial
      reporting, or caused such internal control over financial
      reporting to be designed under our supervision, to provide
      reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial
      reporting and the preparation of financial statements for
      external purposes in accordance with generally accepted
      accounting principles;

      (c)  Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's
      disclosure controls and procedures and presented in this
      report our conclusions about the effectiveness of the
      disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end of the
      period covered by this report based on such evaluation; and

      (d)  Disclosed in this report any change in the registrant's
      internal control over financial reporting that occurred
      during the registrant's most recent fiscal quarter (the
      registrant's fourth fiscal quarter in the case of an annual
      report) that has materially affected, or is reasonably
      likely to materially affect, the registrant's internal
      control over financial reporting; and

5. The registrant's other certifying officer(s) and I have
disclosed, based on our most recent evaluation of internal
control over financial reporting, to the registrant's auditors
and the audit committee of the registrant's board of directors
(or persons performing the equivalent functions):

      (a)  All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in
      the design or operation of internal control over financial
      reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect
      the registrant's ability to record, process, summarize and
      report financial information; and

      (b)  Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves
      management or other employees who have a significant role in
      the registrant's internal control over financial reporting.

Date:  August 29, 2005

                                          /s/ THOMAS O. RYDER
                                           Thomas O. Ryder
                                    Chairman and Chief Executive Officer