Am I Playing It Too Safe in my Reading Choices?

When I was in my teens and twenties, and especially during college and grad school and in the years after, I read thirstily and widely, delving into many different types of literature, classic and new, from various parts of the world, in various styles. Over the years, I have developed a a pretty clear sense of my own taste, and have refined (narrowed?) my preferences in reading materials. This is perhaps why I like most of what I read (and blog about here): I have developed a knowledge in advance of which books I will like and which I will not. These judgments are based on years of extensive reading, as well as on reading many reviews. The positive side of this is that I am not too often disappointed in what I read. The negative side is that I am less willing to read books that I don't know if I will like, I take fewer chances than I used to, and thus perhaps miss out on some great literature. The dilemma is this: At this point in my reading life, I know what I like, and I don't want to waste much time on what I probably won't like; on the other hand, do I want to be the kind of reader who no longer stretches herself, who no longer takes a chance?