US News & world Report; Smithsonian; Natural History; Scientific American; Consumers Report; Atlantic Monthly

The New Yorker
Time
Newsweek
Atlantic Weekly
Harper's
Entertainment Weekly

Far, far too many.

Mental Floss
Discover
Archaeology
Country Living
Real Simple
Oprah
Bookmarks
Martha Stewart Living
Astronomy
Sky & Telescope

The last two belong to DH, but I do read them fairly regularly.

Real Simple
Victoria
National Geographic
Smithsonian
Yankee
U.S. News & World Report
Martha Stewart Living
Dance Magazine

I don't say I read them regularly, but here's the ones that make it to our house that I do read sometimes:
Popular Science
eWeek (a computer weekly)
Computerworld
CR's On Health
Gardening how-to

We used to get The Week, which I found amusing.

I wonder if subscribing to magazines is more of a US 'thing' than UK? I have friends who buy various women's/fashion mags but the 'quality' shiny covered ones are now SO expensive that many people wait until they visit the dentist/doctor to read them.
The DH has a couple of monthly computer mags and the 'Kitchen Garden'. I receive the 'Canadian Geographic' from a friend in Toronto and 'the Oldie' . . . similar to the late-lamented 'Punch'.

Just out of interest may I ask you how much you spend on magazines each week/month?

I only get Cooking Light in the hope (feeble though it may be) that I might actually get inspired to get into the kitchen to do something apart from peck at the biscuits.

Plus it was a special subscription of $10 for the year which I couldn't resist. However, I haven't actually read one of the mags all the way through but I do have a nice little pile should I get so inspired.

The other mag is People which I don't subscribe to but do read every Sunday morning at B&N.....

Vee,I am given most of the magazines I named -- we friends here pass them around and share a lot.

Southern Living
Better Homes & Gardens
Traditional Home
House Beautiful
Woman's Day

The one I really like is Southern Living. I've never made a dish from one of its recipes that wasn't good, plus I enjoy the travel and restaurant tips. The others are from a middle-school great-nephew whose class gets something for their sales. Woman's Day was a gift from my sister who got an offer for a gift subscription for $6 if she renewed hers. I think the magazines must be hurting from the recession. I get lots of special offers in the mail.

Cooks Illustrated
Threads
American Bungalow
Fine Homebuilding
Rosa Mundi

And the usual gossip magazines when putting in time in a waiting room, if I don't happen to have a book with me.

Rosefolly

Our library has many many titles available. We can check out any but the current issue. I find this is the best way for me to really enjoy, since I just "flip through" most of them. I like Real Simple, but usually don't remember the great little ideas. I love Cook's Illustrated. I too had a brief (free) subscription to The Week and liked it. I don't like to subscribe to mags though, because then I need to find homes for them when I'm through--can't bear to trash them. Does anyone remember years ago when Redbook had great short stories?

I pay for subscriptions to:
Martha Stewart Living
Real Simple
Victoria
People (weekly-for our daughter)
Sports Illustrated (weekly-for our son)
we get yearly subscriptions-probably runs about $150 or so for the year for all of them

receive as a gift:
Susquehanna Style (a regional magazine)

I only buy the Australian edition of Reader's Digest for which I pay $Aust30.00 annually. This is a special introduction rate but I haggle for it every year "otherwise I shall cancel!"
My DIL gives me copies of women's magazines and I get TV listings from the local free paper.
Yes, Vee, magazines are expensive and the Australian readership has fallen dramatically in the last 10 years according to a recent TV current affairs program. Too much made-up celebrity gossip perhaps! The information content that would interest me is almost nil sometimes.

hinchess, I am really jealous about your library. Ours subscribes to a great many mags, but a couple of years ago decided to suspend circulation of magazines. I used to happily come home with all sorts of interesting things, familiar and unfamiliar, including literary, art, woodworking, cooking, psychology -- whatever struck my fancy. I was very, very sad when this was changed. Now I have to go in there to photocopy things --- although an amazing number of articles are now available in full on magazine web sites.

I have always gotten lots of mags, in the past including Smithsonian, Nat Geo, Threads, Fiber Arts, Quilter's Digest, Mother Jones, US New & World, Sunset, The Sun, Rolling Stone, Wired, and others, but have pared down because I realized they were just stacking up without being read or used. The New Yorker is challenging because it's a weekly, but I don't want to give it up. I just have to be sure to scan when it first comes and see what I want to read and not just set it aside.

New Yorker is $40 a year currently. A few years ago I put off renewing and finally they sent me an offer for $20 a year and I renewed for three years. Entertainment Weekly I still get because they offered me one of those $10 for the year deals. I get pretty good offers from Time and Newsweek as well. The last two times I renewed Time I was able to get a sub for may daughter for free.

One magazine I stopped was The Sun. It was $36 a year. I really miss it and am planning to resubscribe. Actually, if I had a lot of money I would still get a lot of them, especially the fiber arts and sewing mags, just because I love them. I always miss National Geographic when I don't get it and may do that one again as well as they have a good offer.

The Week

Organic Gardening

None. Over the years I have subscribed to a few, but then I would go through my "cheap" period and let them all run out, only to renew a few, then let them lapse again. I found I didn't miss them at all.

A friend then gave me gift subscription to Better Home & Gardens and I can't wait till that runs out. I just flip through it and take it to the Friends of the Library Shop. She also sent me Vanity Fair. I liked some of the articles and got a chuckle looking at the undernourished waifs in the ads for the expensive apparel, but then began to feel really sorry for the mailmen who had to tote this heavy, heavy magazine around, so I didn't renew it.

If I have the need for a magazine I get it from the FOL shop, which seems to have all I could wish for.

CC - it's ok to admit that you get People for yourself, you know.... You are not the only one to get sucked into the antics of Lindsey Lohan and Samantha Ronson etc....

You are among friends....

(joke)-

Rosefolly, I love American Bungalow! I used to buy it at the bookstore, but it's very hard to live in a mid-century New England Colonial (which I like just fine) while still lusting for a turn of the century Craftsman Bungalow (which is my dream house), so I had to stop *g*.

Vee, my subscriptions range from $12 per year to $24 per year (some six, some twelve issues), with the DH's astronomy magazine running in the $40 range. We increased our magazine purchases to support our DS's school fund raising, but one more year and I'll pare the number back.

Southern Living
Cook's Country
Bird Watchers Digest
Readers Digest (LOVE the vocabulary quiz!)
Science News (I'm a dinosaur, and prefer the old weekly format)
Space News
EOS (AGU's newsletter)
Health After 50

I occasionally pick up DH's Consumer Reports, but don't bother with his TV, Home Theater and cars magazines.

SheriZ6, I still read American Bungalow from time to time, but I let my subscription lapse. We remodeled the house we live in extensively and really like it now. No, it is not a true Craftsman, but it has some lovely Craftsman touches (such as lighting fixtures and built-ins). I decided that reading that magazine was just making me discontented. While I still thought we might have such a house some day, it was useful as an education tool.

This past weekend I went on a house tour in Berkeley including houses by the famous architect Bernard Maybeck and other Arts and Crafts architects. While there was much to admire in several of the houses, I found many of them dark and claustrophobic. It was quite an eye-opener. We actually like our own house better.

Rosefolly

Sheri, or anyone, the idea of fund raising by taking out a mag. subscription is not a familiar one over here in the UK. How does it work?

I think that rather than having mags/papers etc sent through the mail most people here buy whatever they want from the local newsagent when they pick up their daily/weekly papers . . . or have then delivered by the long-suffering 'paper boy/girl', or in our case 'family' as we have the local paper round sewn-up between us and the only day off is Christmas Day. ;-)

Libraries in the UK used to have a range of daily papers and mags available but I think high costs have forced them to cut back. They always used to be in an area of the building much frequented by down-and-outs. As long as they appeared to be reading they were allowed to sit by the radiators; not a place into which young females would venture.

I just pay for People-it is delivered to her address, in another state (then she does save them up for me and delivers a bag of brain junk food every so often ;-) it's not like I can't get caught up on the celebrity doings in less than an hour. It's like fastforwarding through a B movie sometimes-or a flip book!

Fundraising by selling magazine subscriptions is ubiquitious in the US, I believe. Every year the cherubs come home from school with a packet and an order form. You can order just about any magazine published in this country through a clearinghouse. The school, soccer club, scout troop, team, etc. gets so much per subscription sold. The prices are usually on par or even a little less than a regularly acquired subscription-I believe that the publishers are happy to take a lower rate in exchange for a larger subscriber pool, as that is how they sell their advertising-where they make the real money, such as it is in print media these days.

Sadly, one of my favorite house mags, "Cottage Living", just went under-right after I gifted DD and fiance with a subscription. grrrr.

Another way of getting magazine subscriptions is by using my airline miles. Every so often, I get a list of several magazines to choose from and I pay for them with unused airline miles. Now that I'm thinking of it, I haven't received that offer for a while. Maybe it has been discontinued?

I remember, when I was a young girl in the '50s, my mom would have magazines full of short stories that I wasn't allowed to read. The magazines had titles like "Modern Romances". There was art work that, in my memory, reminds me of cover art for the romance novels today. Some of them had a detective theme. I don't know if those magazines are still around.

CeCe, we have Baltimore Style which appears unsolicited in my mail.

I do a lot of my magazine reading on-line, but what I do bring home:

Archaeology
Biblical Archaeology
KMT
Threads
Quilting Arts
Southern Living

I just tossed years of Shape, Vogue Patterns (I was tempted to e-bay the 1970s edition of these. Do you know people actually buy them?) and various gardening mags.

Our library also lets us check out all but the latest copies, but there is always a struggle to get these as soon as they are available. A friend taught me the secret to reading gardening mags in an oddly timely manner. If the latest edition out is June 2009, check out the June 2008 edition. You don't get the current Perennials of the Year, but the basic info is good and timely.

Reason
Smithsonian
US News & World Report
Reader's Digest
Girl's Life
Boy's Life
Cosmo Girl
assorted photography magazines for DH

My children's school does magazine fundraising. I guess the school gets a percentage of sales from the magazine subscriptions sold. We've let lapse recently Cooking Light, Good Housekeeping, National Geographic and NG for Kids (or whatever it was called) US Catholic, and Nick, most of which we ended up ordering through the fundraising. Hmm, that is more magazines that any household needs.

I, for one, have no pride and immediately grab any copy of People magazine when waiting in the doctor/dentist's office.

Does anyone else read "Maryjane's Farm" magazine. Maryjane is a farmer (no surprise there) The magazine espouses a down-to-earth lifestyle no matter where you live with features on gardening cooking and crafts. Along with what are to me eye opening articles, the photography is beautiful. I also subcribe to Bookmarks. I used to get Cottage Living, Country Home, and Victoria, but due to the need to economize, dropped these subscriptions. I pick up a knitting magazine from time to time if it has a pattern I think is manageable. I also love Piecework and pick that up whenever I see a particular topic of interest.

When I go to my dentist's office, my guilty pleasure magazine is Highlights. :)

I get The Garden as a benefit of my membership of the Royal Horticultural Society and two Swedish gardening journals as member of a rose society and a general horticultural society. I subscribe to three other gardening magazines, monthly or quarterly, but plan to give them up soon when I retire. I can read them at our local library which is where I indulge in all the "shabby chic" and country living magazines for people who don't live in the country but wish they did.

I don't know if this is a unique Swedish trend for a fairly recently urbanized country? As in "How to convert your new house to a country manor or old farmhouse" to exaggerate a bit.

I see a lot of similar interests in periodicals listed above there!

I currently subscribe to the Herb Quarterly, The Herb Companion and International Figure Skating, all of which I read cover to cover. (three guesses what my interests are, the first two don't count! LOL)

My DH was given a subscription to Smithsonian which I also read. My FIL gave us a subscription to Reader's Digest, but unless he renews it for us, we'll let it lapse. It's not quite the same as it used to be and there are so many advertising extras in it that it's a pain to get around them to get to the articles.

Time
Atlantic Monthly
Bookmarks

I wish I had more time to read through them all each month.

mariannese-we have the same trend here-giving "character" to a newly built house-for instance, by adding crown molding or a farmhouse sink or stone floors. Either going country or very urban chic. The ones I find most bemusing are when an urban apartment-owner expunges all evidence of location and goes very country. The shock of looking out the window must be never-ending.

I like to read those magazines, although some of the ideas are a little out there.

I've noticed while surfing the Internet that you can find some pretty cheap magazine subscriptions -- maybe their business models are being forced to include more advertisements and increase circulation with occasional deals on subscriptions (just a guess).

We don't have an e-reader or iPad to use for subscriptions, but I am curious if people prefer reading magazines on a Kindle or iPad since I'm tempted to get one.

Anyway, my wife currently subscribes to Southern Living. She will occasionally buy a Vanity Fair. My teenage son got a subscription to Sports Illustrated as a gift and really enjoys it. I'll sometimes read some of these. I recently subscribed to Texas Monthly when I found a great deal.

Looking to subscribe to a few more. Thinking about picking one more from Smithsonian, Garden & Gun, or National geographic.

Are there any unusual or little known magazines that you recommend? Also, if you have any suggestions for my tween daughter that would be appreciated (but not ones with all the teen stars like Justin Bieber).

Thanks

In the past, I was a real magazine junkie. But over the past few years, I have really cut back. My daughter enjoys National Geographic so we still get that one and my son asked for Nat Geo Kids so we will subscribe to that one as well. I just got a really smashing great offer for Smithsonian and so will probably subscribe to it as well.

Used to subscribe to Cottage Living but stopped when I realized that every "cottage" re-do was done by an architect and his artist wife, a lawyer and his antiques dealer wife, a doctor and his interior decorator wife and that the "cottages" were usually about 3000 to 5000 square feet in size. Not my idea of a "cottage". The magazine went under. I was not surprised. Although I will say that my most favorite part of that magazine was the back page where a reader sent in a photo of his or her home and an architect/designer did a lovely sketch of the home "cottage-d up". Wish I could get his name and send him a picture of my house.

I love Bookmarks and must resubscribe but then I stop and look at the lists of titles I have written down from each issue of Bookmarks. I will never get through all of my TBR lists... let alone read magazines as well! How do you all find the time?!

A note on the fundraising sales. My sister bought a mag from my daughter during a fundraising drive. The magazine title was switched on her from a travel magazine to a fishing magazine with no prior warning. And because she bought it through a clearing house, she had no recourse. The travel mag went under and the clearing house substituted something of similar value without consulting her.

PAM

Elliottb,
The one subscription I pay for is the Economist news magazine, $140/yr I think.
Since a postal strike in Canada I have been reading some of the articles on an iPod Touch.
Not an ideal way to read anything but definitely more timely. Sometimes the magazine takes a week to get to my post office box.
I do live in a fairly remote location.
I do have a Kindle but to the best of my knowledge the Economist is not available on the Kindle.

HOBBY FARM
HOBBY HOME
ITALIANA CUCINA
SOUTHERN LIVING ( free subscription, how am I getting this !!???)
COUNTRY LIVING
REMINISCE
ADIRONDACK LIFE

any random gardening mags that appeal

I don't subscribe to any....I pick up issues as I see them.

This is a good time to get in another plug for Bookmarks magazine. I introduced it to my local library to good effect. Always fun to look through even though I can't possibly read everything I would like to. (Just like here!)

I also get Hobby Farm, which I enjoy even though I have given up the idea of having a small homestead as beyond my energy level. Taking care of myself and two cats is about all I can manage. But it is fun to dream of having chickens and donkeys and goats.

Here is a link that might be useful: Bookmarks

There are soooo many good-looking magazines on the newsstands here (New York City) -- so instead of subscribing I like browsing at the international newsstands. I'd rather choose an individual mag. each month than be stuck w/the same one every month.

Sometimes I buy a foreign newspaper instead of a magazine. I like The Guardian paper - British -- or The Sunday Times of London. Of course, there's the good old New York Times.

These are my favourite mags:

Tatler

The New Yorker - natch!..P.S. I think Tina Brown did a fabulous job re-inventing it!

British Vogue

National Geographic - one of my faves was an issue dedicated to beetles with a large bit about cockroaches, which I think are pretty fascinating bugs altho' disgusting! -- or maybe that's why I think they're fascinating!

Harper & Queens

Elle Decorating (French version) - Why do Europeans & Brits have such flair for decorating!?

Elle (U.S.)

Harpers - when I'm in the mood for a "thinking" mag. w/unusual views

I read the British Telegraph and Guardian online-and sometimes the Daily Mail (or, as is often demonstrated, the dear unproofread, guess-journalism "Daily Fail")I used to read the London Times but they went to a subscription, so no more Times for me.
I gave up Victoria-it was a pale shadow of its former self-although they actually called me-a real live lovely woman to whom i hated to say "no"-but I did.
DD moved to Oregon, so her People goes there and I read it at the library. DS is in college so his Sports Illustrated goes there. The only magazines that still come to the house are Real Simple and Martha Stewart Living. When I am finished reading and tearing and snipping, my cleaning lady takes them off my hands. She reads them in the sauna at her gym and then leaves them there for the next person.
HGTV and Food Network both have magazines now, and i am occasionally tempted-but so far I am resisting. So much of it is online.

I have cut back and now the only mag I get on a regular basis is The Atlantic and that was a pressie from my sister (2 year subscription).

I don't really have time to read a lot of magazines to be honest. The only one I read (and I admit this freely with shame) is People which I read every Sunday AM at Barnes with a cup of coffee. That is my version of church.

:-)

Lemonhead -

". . . my version of church." Hey, do they want any newcomers?! Ha-Ha!

Laurie -

Newcomers are always welcome -- price is just a cup of coffee... :-)