How widely do you read?

I read pretty widely. Right now in my reading pile I've got Young Skins by Colin Barrett, Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman, A Scandalous Woman by Edna O'Brien and Jesus' Son by Denis Johnson. I tend to read a lot of contemporary Irish fiction, so lately I've read the latest by Colm Toibin and Kevin Barry.

• Speculative fiction end of SF (Dick, not Hamilton, for example)
• Fantasy, if well written
• Some magical realism but I don't really like it
• Literary if very good (tend to prefer classics over modern)
• Lots of crime (audio books only)
• Children's, including some YA (for my kids and myself; I prefer MG over YA)
• Faiytales (rare--and I tend not to like redone types).
• Epic poetry and epic tales.

I love westerns but only as films. To me the visuals are an important part of the genre and reading doesn't do it for me.

I never read romance, and prefer to see it included other books. Vanishingly rarely read historical.

I can't abide biographies with the exception of Leaving Alexandria.

My philosophy is to give almost everything a shot. I may not continue reading it — westerns, erotica, romance — but I'll at least give it a fair shake. Which is why it's easier to list what I don't read (see aforementioned). It also takes a lot for me to not finish a book — I'm a fast reader, so I can afford to spend the time to see how it ends.

I tend to be pickier about my nonfiction than my fiction, because if I'm looking to learn something rather than just read a good story, the writing has to be excellent and the voice engaging. I can slog through a weak piece of fiction if I'm intrigued by the plot, but weak or dry/unengaging writing is the kiss of death for nonfiction.

I like to think I'm pretty widely read. Before, I used to be almost exclusiively horror novels. I constantly bounced back and forth between Stephen King, Clive Barker, Stephen King, Gillian Flynn, Stephen King, something without horror elements, Stephen King, Dracula, Stephen King, Frankenstein, Stephen King, etc. But now, I've gotten so interested in many other writers across different genres, styles, and subject matters.

If I had to narrow down my top writers, I'd have to say:

Stephen King
Wally Lamb
Clive Barker
Dennis Lehane
Michael Crichton
Brett Easton Ellis
Gillian Flynn
Ransom Riggs

Now King, Barker, Flynn, and Riggs all either write flat-out horror, or at least have horror elements to their stories. But Wally Lamb? Totally out of left field, but I love his work to bits and I steal from him every day when I sit down to the computer. And Ellis is a whole different brand altogether. I'm discovering new authors all the time and I think that as I get older, growing, maturing, learning and understanding, I find that I have a lot to take from writers cover more than monsters, vampires, ghosts, serial killers, and other types of ooglie-booglies.

Oh I read Historical Fiction, Sci-fi, Fantasy, Action and Adventure, Crime, Thrillers, Mystery (including small sub-sub genres like archaeological mysteries), Magical Realism, Westerns, the Classics, Myths and Fairytales, Fiction (has to be something special though), Romance (has to be made readable like in Poison Study), History books (if written with less dust than the Library of Alexandria). I read some poetry and some graphic novels as well, mostly X-men. I also read a lot of articles online mostly archaeology, history, science and...*drum roll*... writing! lol

I also read wildly in terms of styles among the genres that I do read, I am as happy with a Discworld novel as I am with Lord of the Rings.

I regret to say that since I got serious about publishing fiction, I've become a bit mercenary in my reading. I start with literary/psychological thrillers (primarily what I write), then fan out to either side: straight-up King/Patterson/Cussler to the genre side, literary fiction or straight upmarket stuff (Jodi Picoult, Franzen, Richard Ford) to the lit side.

A thread elsewhere generated this question. So it's pretty simple. What fiction genres do you read? Romance (historical), mysteries (historical), paranormal (love Anne Rice).

Do you read nonfiction as well? Yep. Lots. I'm all over the map from autobiographies/biographies to history.

Things published in various time periods? Or stick to very recent? It depends. Sometimes old books, sometimes recently published.

What fiction genres do you read? Fantasy, Mysteries, and Contemporary Fiction. Varies between YA, MG, and Adult.

Do you read nonfiction as well? Nope. Actually, maybe, but no like a book. More like to skim. XD

Things published in various time periods? Or stick to very recent? I tend to stick to recent, not for any reason though. I have read books like OF MICE AND MEN, THE INVISIBLE MAN, SO YOU WANT TO BE A WIZARD, and TUCK EVERLASTING.

A very good way to widen your readings and not disqualify a genre is to not give yourself the choice of which book to read. Every now and then, when I meet somebody and talk to him/her for more than 5 mins, I just ask him/her what is his/her favorite book and I commit to read it, no matter the circumstance unless I already did. I discovered so many great books I would have never even touched on the shelf of my bookstore.