Development of Taste

How has your reading taste changed over time?
I was always a voracious reader, ever since I realized I waspretty good at it. Funnily enough, I was in remedial reading at the beginningof my first grade year-I distinctly remember my correctly reading the word"world" was the trigger that convinced the teacher to move me up a level. Bythe end of that year, I was in advanced. Just goes to show-sometimes kids justneed time.
But I digress. What did I like to read as a kid? What weremy favorite books?
I started with the classics-Boxcar Kids, Hardy Boys, BeverlyClearly, and the like. Typical contemporary middle grade. I also admit readinga lot of the Sweet Valley High novels, which even back then I realized were abit ridiculous-there was one novel where there is another set of twins, exceptthey have black hair, who tried to steal Jessica and Elizabeth's identity. Itwas soap opera stuff. I also read a lot of silly horror novels, like Goosebumps,and I did read Animorphs.
Around 4th and 5th grade I moved on toanimal fantasy, which was the bulk of my reading for a while, especiallyconsidering I got all my books from my school's library. Redwall, Martin'sMice, any book with talking animal protagonists-I devoured them. I wishWarriors had been out then, because I would have loved it. That was also when Iread my favorite book of all time-TailChaser's Song.
Around 6th and 7th grade I startedbranching out a bit. I gave horror a try, trying and failing to find books withcool vampires. Even back then, I wasn't that into paranormal. I also got myfirst taste of good historical fiction with A Separate Peace.
High school was where my tastes focused-when I read Wheel ofTime. I became a fantasy fan, not limiting myself to animal fantasy. I alsolearned to enjoy science fiction when I read the Otherland series.
Since high school my tastes haven't changed much. I'm opento nearly any genre, but my favorites are fantasy and science fiction. NaturallyI insert gay romance into a lot of my writing, as that is my preference, butromance alone doesn't do much for me-there has to be something otherworldly orfantastical in a story for me to really get sucked in.
I'm trying to find a pattern in my reading over time, butquite honestly I just think being open minded is what led to my readingpatterns now. Also, being impressionable helps-if enough people say somethingis good, I'll usually give it a try.  
I think having a good memory of the books you liked as a kidhelps in writing, especially if you write for a younger audience. Childhood iswhere you discover what you like, and often it's easier for children to  simply get sucked into a story and a world. When Iwrite, I try to evoke that easy feeling of discovery.