diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 6d1a410..4b5c241 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ set(HEADER_FILES
     io/path.h
     io/catchiofailure.h
     io/nativefilestream.h
+    io/misc.h
     math/math.h
     misc/memory.h
     misc/random.h
@@ -53,6 +54,7 @@ set(SRC_FILES
     io/path.cpp
     io/catchiofailure.cpp
     io/nativefilestream.cpp
+    io/misc.cpp
     math/math.cpp
     misc/random.cpp
     tests/testutils.cpp
@@ -116,7 +118,7 @@ set(META_APP_AUTHOR "Martchus")
 set(META_APP_URL "https://github.com/${META_APP_AUTHOR}/${META_PROJECT_NAME}")
 set(META_APP_DESCRIPTION "Common C++ classes and routines used by my applications such as argument parser, IO and conversion utilities")
 set(META_VERSION_MAJOR 4)
-set(META_VERSION_MINOR 5)
+set(META_VERSION_MINOR 6)
 set(META_VERSION_PATCH 0)
 
 # find required 3rd party libraries
diff --git a/io/misc.cpp b/io/misc.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5c4245e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/io/misc.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+#include "./misc.h"
+#include "./catchiofailure.h"
+
+#include <fstream>
+#include <streambuf>
+
+using namespace std;
+
+namespace IoUtilities {
+
+/*!
+ * \brief Reads all contents of the specified file in a single call.
+ * \throws Throws std::ios_base::failure when an error occurs or the specified \a maxSize
+ *         would be exceeded.
+ */
+string readFile(const string &path, std::string::size_type maxSize)
+{
+    ifstream file;
+    file.exceptions(ios_base::failbit | ios_base::badbit);
+    file.open(path, ios_base::in | ios_base::binary);
+    file.seekg(0, ios_base::end);
+    string res;
+    const auto size = static_cast<string::size_type>(file.tellg());
+    if(maxSize != string::npos && size > maxSize) {
+        throwIoFailure("File exceeds max size");
+    }
+    res.reserve(size);
+    file.seekg(ios_base::beg);
+    res.assign((istreambuf_iterator<char>(file)), istreambuf_iterator<char>());
+    return res;
+}
+
+}
diff --git a/io/misc.h b/io/misc.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..88e51fe
--- /dev/null
+++ b/io/misc.h
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+#ifndef IOUTILITIES_MISC_H
+#define IOUTILITIES_MISC_H
+
+#include "../global.h"
+
+#include <string>
+
+namespace IoUtilities {
+
+CPP_UTILITIES_EXPORT std::string readFile(const std::string &path, std::string::size_type maxSize = std::string::npos);
+
+}
+
+#endif // IOUTILITIES_MISC_H