Royals top scorer Nicky Forster (pictured) continued his good form with a penalty in the 38th minute, after Colchester on-loan defender John Halls had handled the ball in the area. Andy Hughes doubled the score just after half time, before Forster grabbed his second - his 14th goal the season - with a right footed drive after 69 minutes.
Reading have now gone 630 minutes (seven games) without conceding a goal. Stoke missed their chance to go second - but did go third - after Wigan held City to a 2-2 draw at The Britannia Stadium.
Scott Green gave The Latics the lead after 20 minutes, but Marc Goodfellow put the home side level (37)
Wigan were back in front before half time as Tony Dinning struck in injury time. Promotion chasing Stoke then claimed the equaliser from the penlaty spot (67), when Arjan De Zeeuw fouled Icelandic striker Rikhardur Dadason, who got up and sunk the penalty himself to seal a share of the spoils.
Huddersfield Town claimed an important three points over promotion rivals QPR with a 1-0 win at The Alfred McAlpine Stadium. Town's talismanic striker Andy Booth grabbed the only goal of the game after 38 minutes.
Former Newcastle midfielder Chris Holland created the chance on the left and his cross was met powerfully by Booth to seal all three points for Lou Macari's men. Huddersfield have now gone above QPR in the table into sixth as they look to mount a serious promotion bid in the latter half of the season.
Oldham will be kicking themselves after letting the lead slip twice at home to Bournemouth in a 3-3 thriller at Boundary Park. Stuart Balmer put Oldham in front after 18 minutes and they held that lead until just after half time when Cherries defender Eddie Howe put his side back on level terms. Northern Irish striker Warren Feeney then scored from the spot after 56 minutes to give Bournemouth an unlikely lead, although their lead lasted less than 60 seconds as Karl Broadhurst put through his own net to put Oldham level.
David Eyres put Athletic 3-2 up after 63 minutes, but just three minutes later Richard Hughes scored to earn a point for Sean O'Driscoll's men.
Wycombe's kept up their faint hopes of a getting into the promotion picture with a 3-0 win at Adams Park over Notts County.
Roger Johnson scored his first ever leage goal for The Chairboys after 22 minutes, before Jermaine McSporran (72) and Dannie Bulman (90) completed the scoring.
At the other end of the table Bury did their relegation worries a world of good with a 1-0 win at Blackpool. Gareth Seddon's goal after just eight minutes was enough to give The Shakers all three points.
Wrexham had their hearts broken at The Racecourse, as they let a 2-0 lead slip with just 19 minutes remaining, as Swindon came back to earn a 2-2 draw.
The prolific Craig Faulconbridge gave The Red Dragons the lead after 30 minutes and that was doubled on 71 minutes by Irish defender Brian Carey. But Town showed true spirit to come back and Guiliano Grazioli put The Robins back into the game with his 74th minute strike, before captain Alan Reeves gave his side a tremendous point with his 90th minute header.
Click below for match summaries:
Blackpool 0-1 Bury
Huddersfield 1-0 QPR
Oldham 3-3 Bournemouth
Reading 3-0 Colchester
Stoke 2-2 Wigan
Wrexham 2-2 Swindon
Wycombe 3-0 Notts County
