I do read a good bit in the genre I write in. Mostly simply because I enjoy that type of story, although I will also look at them critically and try to figure out what works, what doesn't, and why.

As far as word counts go, I do keep a close eye on it, but that is a habit I have from my academic writing, where word count is everything. When writing fiction, it doesn't really bother me. I reach the end when I reach the end, to echo your own words.

I think sometimes, especially in genres such as fantasy, an author seems to want to force a high word count, meaning that the story would have been better if loads of unnecessary detail or description would have simply been left out. It can interrupt the flow of the story, taking away from strength of the plot.