diff --git a/src/kike.c b/src/kike.c
index 80e554c..f79b537 100644
--- a/src/kike.c
+++ b/src/kike.c
@@ -380,8 +380,37 @@ irc_process_message (const struct irc_message *msg,
 static bool
 irc_try_read (struct connection *conn)
 {
-	// TODO
-	return true;
+	struct str *buf = &conn->read_buffer;
+	ssize_t n_read;
+
+	while (true)
+	{
+		str_ensure_space (buf, 512);
+		n_read = recv (conn->socket_fd, buf->str + buf->len,
+			buf->alloc - buf->len - 1 /* null byte */, 0);
+
+		if (n_read > 0)
+		{
+			buf->str[buf->len += n_read] = '\0';
+			// TODO: discard characters above the 512 character limit
+			irc_process_buffer (buf, irc_process_message, conn);
+			continue;
+		}
+		if (n_read == 0)
+		{
+			connection_abort (conn, NULL);
+			return false;
+		}
+
+		if (errno == EAGAIN)
+			return true;
+		if (errno == EINTR)
+			continue;
+
+		print_debug ("%s: %s: %s", __func__, "recv", strerror (errno));
+		connection_abort (conn, strerror (errno));
+		return false;
+	}
 }
 
 static bool