You know I love magazines but I’ve been trying to keep my subscriptions to a manageable number. What happens is that I find an offer too good to pass up and before I know it, I have magazines piling up and unread for months.
Well, a good offer appeared in my inbox today. I just signed up for a year of Body & Soul and Yoga Journal for $20. Not bad.
Between my magazines and my husband’s we probably get 10 magazines – good thing they aren’t all monthlies. So I guess that’s not too bad right? How many magazines do you subscribe to?
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We have scaled back, and now I personally subscribe to four, but my husband subscribes to two, and the kids have two, bringing us to a grand total of 8 for the household. And one of them is The New Yorker, which of course comes weekly. I almost never finish reading one issue before the next one arrives…
Let’s see:
I subscribe to:
1) Yoga Journal
2) Utne
But I buy off the rack on a regular basis:
4) Shambhala Sun
5) Tricycle
6) Yoga + Joyful Living
And when I see something interesting, I pick up:
7) Stylus
8) Vegetarian Times
9) Rolling Stones
10) Paste Magazine
11) Orion
12) SFX Magazine
Oh my…that explains a lot.
Yes, I’m terrible about magazines. I love them and I really can’t resist the special offers that get put about. Then, like you, I find I have a pile that I simply haven’t read.
I do like the sound of the offer you’ve taken up. Is it available in the UK do you know?
Between the two of us there must be around 20, if not more, I’ve thought of 12 just of my own and there may be more. Five of them are cooking magazines. The big stacks come in handy on car trips when it’s hard for me to read a book in car but I can manage magazines.
About 6. but I like to hold magazines and not read them online.
The next generation might feel differently.
Gentle Reader – Oh see if I was subscribing to a weekly I’d be constantly behind! 🙂
Dark Orpheus – There are a lot of magazines I pick up too which I don’t subsribe to. I probably should just do it and save a bit huh? 🙂 How do you like Tricycle magazine?
Ann – Unfortunately I don’t know. The offer I got was because I subscribe to an email newsletter at Yoga Journal, which by the way the newsletter is pretty good too sometimes so maybe you can try that out first.
Tara – Ooh that is a lot of magazines. I like to take magazines on plane rides too. Easy to read and leave them behind.
Isabel – I can’t imagine reading an online version. I’d end up printing it out. Any good ones you are subscribing to now?
I subscribe to:
Book Magazine (duh!!!)
Men’s Health
I pick up from time to time:
Cargo
Details
The Economist
NY Times Sunday papers….this keeps me very busy but savvy. 🙂
I have to admit I’m a magazine bum. That is to say, I bum them off others; my hair stylist, my friends, my mom’s friends, from work, from cabs (many taxi drivers here keep a stash of them in the back seats for their passengers!), from cafes, my dentist, etc… I’m already spending a bomb on books…magazines would kill me! Haha!
But I have bought some: Yoga Journal, InStyle, Wired, Real Simple, Martha Stewart Living, Bon Appetite (these last 2 esp around the holidays), Wallpaper, Print, CommunicationArts, MacAddict…. but not every month and not very often.
Currently only one: Moutain Astrologer. Bi-monthly.
I can keep up with this!
16 baby! Yep, it’s an addiction!
I like Tricycle. Sometimes the articles are a little too esoteric or profound for a layperson like me, but most of their articles are still approachable. And it’s quarterly, so it’s okay cost-wise.
Matt – You are a savvy guy 🙂 I love Bookmarks and still miss Pages.
Kisane – I think that’s great. I admit I skim through a lot of magazines at the bookstores too. Granted I buy a lot too so I don’t feel too bad.
Nancy – Oh my mom likes that one. I should probably get her a subscription as it’d be cheaper.
Amanda – Woo-hoo that is a lot 🙂
Dark Orpheus – Good to know. I’ll have to check it out sometime and let you know.
Believe it or not, I only subscribe to one! (Not counting all the academic journals which come in and I never read.) I’ve subscribed to Bust Magazine for a very long time, and now I buy the 2-year subscriptions because I love it so much.
I hear you on keeping the magazines under control. My husband doesn’t read any but I have subscriptions to Harper’s, Bookforum and Rain Taxi. I can’t keep up with anymore than that.
I’ve been a magazine bum in the past – I used to bum the New Yorker off my mom once she was done with it. I guess she got so sick of me mooching of her, that she gave me a subscription to the mag for a Christmas present! And a friend of mine bought me a subscription to a lovely Canadian gardening magazine as a house-warming gift. Other than that, I occasionally purchase mags like Vanity Fair or The Walrus or Toronto Life from the newstands. It’s just too expensive to have so many magazine subscriptions, and then you have to read all the darn things! Too much pressure!
So at this point in my life, I actually don’t personally subscribe to any magazines! But I know that once my renewal for the New Yorker comes up, I will pay for another year of that wonderful magazine. I couldn’t live without it. And I keep meaning to subscribe to Quill & Quire, rather than pay for it on the newstand.
Personally, I’m a catalog person. I only get two magazines (Better Homes and Gardens and Family Fun — aren’t I domestic!), but I get tons of catalogs. I try not to buy stuff… maybe it would be healthier if I got magazines?
Cool. I too love magazines and have frequently had too many to read a month.
I used to be a lot worse. Right now our it’s only Vanity Fair, Time, and Rolling Stone! Then the kids each get a magazine. We had to drop Newsweek, Glamour, Vogue, Sports Illustrated, Marie Claire, and Bon Appetite. I just could not afford to keep them going!! And I was never getting finished with ANY of them!! (I do really miss Newsweek and Bon Appetite, though:( )
By the way….there is a blogger meme going around and I tagged you on my blog!!
Wow, between me and then Michael…about the same. Although, he just set out a bunch of old magazines that will be going somewhere to get recycled (perhaps Half Price)….
I’m not a big magazine reader, but I do subscribe to Bookmarks, and hubby and I share the copy of Mental Floss that we get every month! I still wish PAGES would come back …
Andi – I love Bust Magazine. I never miss an issue of it and Bitch Magazine. Oddly enough I don’t subscribe to them. Bad bookgirl 🙂
Stefanie – I have really enjoyed Book Forum and will probably continue with it. What is Rain Taxi? I like the sound of it already!
Patricia – Aren’t gift subscriptions awesome? One of my friends gave me Book Forum. What a treat. What is Quill & Quire? I may have to look into that one.
Melissa – Oh catalogs. I forgot about those. We get some but I’ve asked some companies to take me off their list. I figure I can look on their web site if I really want something.
Kelly – Don’t you hate falling behind on magazine reading? I get so irked but it seems to happen to me a lot.
Stephanie – Glamour! Oh I used to subscribe to that one for years. Haven’t picked one up in a long time. I might have to check one out for fun. I’ll check out the meme 🙂
Christine – Good stuff recycling. I sometimes cut up some magazines and use words, pics for my jouranling.
Lesley – I’m with you — I wish they’d bring back Pages! Mental Floss is a good one too.
Iliana, Quill & Quire is Canada’s best publication all about Canadian books, writers, libraries and the publishing biz. The do write about international books & authors, too, but the focus is definitely Canuck. It’s an excellent magazine, especially if you want to discover the multitude of talented Canadian authors out there. Here’s their site:
http://www.quillandquire.com/
and their blog:
http://www.quillandquire.com/blog/
I am terrible about buying magazines and then not reading them! I get Time (actually I had planned to stop my subscription when it ended earlier this month, but they just automatically charged my credit card without asking–aarrggh), as well as Bookforum, Tin House, and Book Magazine. I used to get the New Yorker, but I let the subscription run out. No doubt they’ll pester me to start it again. I love magazines but they just end up sitting there as I always grab a book to read. I should really set aside a couple of hours a week to read them.
Rain Taxi is a local book reivew magazine that is produced quarterly. They cover fiction, nonfiction, poetry, graphic novels, you name it. And they try to find good stuff off the beaten path most of it from independent presses. Here’s their website: http://www.raintaxi.com/
Patricia – Ah thanks for the info. I will have to take some time to check out their blog.
Danielle – I haven’t read Tin House in such a long time. I hardly ever see it at the newsstand. You know, that’s how I ended up subscribing to Glamour for years – they had my subscription on automatic renewal.
Stefanie – Thanks for the Rain Taxi info. I just saw that they had an online edition so I’ll have to check that out.