how often do you start a new book? and what genres/authors do you prefer?

That's a hard one to answer because I start new ones frequently but don't always finish them. Genres are pretty much a free-for-all except for a few, namely romance novels, authors, I like Ray Bradbury, Stephen King, Mary Roberts Rinehart, and then after that it really varies.

When something catches my attention I check it but I dont hang out at Borders or Waldens looking for new stuff to read.

I go through spells. I read more during the cooler months. I usually read true-account stories but last year I discovered a fiction writer I like (James Lee Burke) whose books are mostly a series about a Louisiana cop.

I subscribe to a few magazines but don't usually read them through.

The book I'm reading now is about a mass murder in Fresno, Calif, "Where Hope Begins" and it's written by the reporter that covered the case, and she helped the surviving family.