Magazines - entertaining or demoralising?

I think Gransnet is far more interesting than any woman's magazine! All human life is here as The News of the World newspaper used to boast. Saves money and is always a great read. OP is right - I can't be bothered reading about c list celebrities and what they are wearing and how we should be having more "me time!"READ GRANSNET INSTEAD. How many of you agree?

I get Living Etc and love it, even though the houses/apartments in it are really on another super-scale of living. Doesn't make me feel bitter or anything, just gives me a few ideas for after that lottery win.
Why read magazines that depress you? Maybe you could try the one called Breathe!

I love a house magazine, and my children buy me a subscription as a gift from time to time. However, I do agree that they are "aspirational " - old rectory in The Cotswols, etc; and the lady of the house is, often, an interior designer, rarely a doctor, nurse, teacher. My children refer to these publications as property porn.

Magazines these days are ridiculously expensive and half filled with adverts. You can buy a book for less. I enjoy the magazines that come with the Saturday and Sunday papers best.

We have a subscription to Readly where you have access to loads of magazines and newspapers on your tablet. Fantastic value. I'm sure you might find a magazine to interest you there.

Yes, I notice this in my daily newspaper too. I’m sick of seeing pictures of Liz Hurley scantily clad, telling us how old she is, and new ‘celebs’ showing off their perfect bodies a week after having a baby. They don’t live in the real world, have access to cosmetic surgery, etc, and try to make us ‘normal’ folk feel inferior.

only Art or National Trust

Too expensive and full of adverts which I know pays for the content. Yet to find my kind of magazine.

At risk of lowering the tone here ?.
I get Take A Break most weeks, read the stories and articles, and then do the competitions..... one day I’m going to win that star prize. ?
My neighbour buys Yours and then we do a swap so it’s basically BOGOF!
As a bonus we then pass them on to other friends ..... and there is also a magazine lying around for any visitors to read.?

I buy Take a Break, Chat, That's LIfe, Love It, Real People because I like doing the competitions and I also send in letters, tips, photos which I get paid for. I also get letters and tips in My Weekly but I don't buy it anymore because I couldn't tell the difference between one week or another

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!

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.

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.

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 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.

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

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

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!

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

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 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!

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.

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.

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.

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.