Magazines - entertaining or demoralising?

@parkersheen
I agree with others - it's such a pity for her to waste her money on something you don't enjoy. Imagine how hurt she would be if she found out in the future that you hadn't told her sooner? Yes, find a publication you DO want and just tell her "I fancy a change". I'm sure she will be delighted to get it for you.

I find those high gloss women's magazines just so out of touch with the general population. Everything and everyone appears so perfect. Totally unrealistic for most. Yes, we can strive for improvement but the fact a person is featured in a magazine generally means they are unusual otherwise why make a feature of them.

Like others, I used to be an avid reader of magazines. A regular treat was a cuppa, a magazine and put my feet up. But over the past decade I've just found them to be more and more of a waste of time and money. Maybe it's about getting older and realising that my time is more precious; I don't want to waste it. So, if I want to read something, I read a book - paper or eBook; or I do puzzles to keep my brain sharper. But, magazines, no. Never again.

I love the magazines at my dentist - Conde Nast fancy travel with luxury homes/hotels. Stunning photography.

Likewise the National Geographic - we used to have a subscription to that but now I read it online.
The photos are usually fabulous - even when illustrating a terrible story they are exceptional. Some insights are very moving, and sometimes things I knew nothing about.

how do i magnifiy the magazines on line that i borrow from the library so that I can read them

Grandmajean

I used to like Good Housekeeping but don't buy it any more. Got really fed up with the "I love getting older" articles from famous women whose photos have so obviously been treated to wrinkle removal. I also got tired of the Christmas editions where everybody was hosting a fantastic family event . Haven;t bough a magazine for ages .

I subscribed to GH since 1986, when I came back from South Africa and I couldn't find a magazine quite like Fair Lady (SA's then leading mag). I've become more and more disillusioned with GH since this new ed (not a patch on Lindsay Nicholson - what happened to her?), so I cancelled my sub as it became too celebritifed and there's only so much of Lorraine, Lulu and co I can take. Maybe I'm getting too old and have outgrown it. I do look at it occasionally on Prime and that makes me feel I took the right decision. We do have Private Eye and that it always a great read!

I always buy trashy magazines when going on holiday or for a weekend away. Usually Take a Break, Chat, etc about 4 or 5. I found it relaxing to do the puzzles and read on the plane or in the caravan on a wet day. Needless to say haven't bought any for over a year now due to Covid

@parkersheen
Could you find a similarly priced one you actually enjoy and get her to swap for that? You could say the other ones getting a bit samey, or something similar so as not to hurt her feelings. It's a shame for her to waste her money.

I've never found any women's mags that are relevant to me. I don't have a family, don't wear make-up, have done my own hair since I was a kid, couldn't care less what the latest fashion or fad is, etc., and celebrities really don't interest me one jot.

I subscribe to some craft mags but thats all.

I used to buy quite a few magazines when I’d be hanging around in cafes waiting for DDs from school - invariably one or other or both would be staying behind at short notice! I just found them so repetitive:- how to have an enormous family Christmas, then daffodils everywhere, followed by spring lamb recipes for Easter, make a Mother’s Day special etc etc - right through to Halloween and Bonfire Night treats! DH even stopped his sporting magazine subscriptions as they reported the same topics at the relevant time of year. Money wasted.

I have Good Housekeeping, only because it comes free with my bank account. Agree with all the articles about the 'superwomen ', too impossible to be true! Scary health articles which as someone who suffers from health anxiety I pass over fairly quickly. I enjoy the fashion and beauty, and am occasionally inspired by the recipes.

I also have the Saga magazine, which I find interesting and informative, and has good puzzle pages.

I really only read magazines at the hairdressers, and even that has stopped now. We do get Radio Times, and National Trust magazine. I get a free mag via my bank and this year I have changed to Landscape which I enjoy before passing it on to my daughter.

Here's this month's 'Oldie'. Cover girl Lesley Caron. Still a celebrity but well worth reading about along with all the many and varied articles (and good cartoons). Not necessarily everyone's cup of tea but definitely mine.

Same here Parkersheen. I subscribed to Womans Own but wish I hadn't. Every time it arrives I shudder as it's the same old faces on the cover. I shall not be renewing.

I used to have a subscription to House Beautiful until last year. It has too many adverts, is too expensive and seems to be aimed at superwoman who has won the lottery!

I have been pushing a wheelbarrow recently, helping my DD to renovate the house she is moving to (or ‘to which she is moving’, for the pedants)
I didn’t put on my £700 dress for the occasion, as it was a very dusty job removing plaster from the walls and dumping it into the skip. Instead I indulged in a pair of baggy grey joggers and an old blue sweatshirt. I’m ready for my photo shoot, Mr. Goldwyn!

I totally agree same old rubbish we appear to be lacking real journalism nowadays

Off at a bit of a tangent here, but I used to be very well acquainted with a ‘superwoman’ who was featured in a newspaper once. Much of the article was true, but a considerable amount of it wasn’t!

A neighbour recently dropped off a Good Housekeeping magazine for me to read. I used to buy this regularly in the eighties and wondered why I had stopped.Now I know why

What a lot of wasted space. Pathetic half-'stories' released by 'celebrity' PR agents, none events, stuff we already know unless we have been living in a cave for the last twenty years......

And don't get me started on London-centric journalism! I once noted how many times a magazine mentioned London, shops in London and people who lived in London

I live in the North of England....most of us are not interested in much of what happens in London, most of us never go there any more and assuming that we all live like Londoners, catch the tube or suffer from pollution is woefully misguided

So rant over, no I don't read women's magazines any more but as many Grans have suggested it is fun to tuck into one about a hobby or craft one or something that gives your brain more to think about than fashion, make-up and knick knacks

I have a subscription for Candis as it raises money for charities and I like the prize draws

I used to subscribe to Country Living, Good Housekeeping and Woman & Home but cancelled them all about 10 years ago. I grew tired of reading about middle aged women who managed successful careers, had immaculate homes and ran an organic farm in their spare time. Likewise, Country Living was repetitive and portrayed lifestyles and images which were so unrealistic.

They are all full of sensationalizing rubbish. I can't believe that people waste their money on them. They are so different to the magazines that they started out as.

I subscribe to Readly, there are around 5000 magazines/newspapers on there - much cheaper than buying 3 or 4 magazines a week/month, works out at around £2 a week. Also no recycling to do . You can read as much or as little of the magazine as you want then delete it and not feel guilty. The only thing is obviously you don't get the free gifts/seeds etc but there are the subscriptions for that , or do the puzzles.

You can "favourite" magazines - you then get notifications of new releases.

My favourites are People's Friend, their Specials; Yours; Woman/Woman's Own/Woman's Weekly.

Aveline - I love People's Friend and their specials.

You can also get The Lady on there.

Only magazines that I bother with are those FREE ones that you get at the supermarket . I then -

* put any interesting recipes into a 'document' and save to the PC
* cut out any articles that appear to be useful for me or family
* cut out any money-off vouchers that I can use

................then it goes into the recycling bin .

I've stopped bothering with the paper copy of THE METRO. I now get it to my Kindle TWICE a day automatically for FREE. Quick read, a bit of a laugh and then do all the puzzle pages - there's more puzzles in the Digi-version than in the paper one.

Hi Gransey and I’m glad you mentioned free online library provision of magazines. Fabulous range.

Support our libraries grans if you can and don’t already!