Meg's Diary

What It’s Not Too Late To Get People:

I know. This is the time when I should be telling you to get people books this holiday season.

But you already know this, of course!

And if you read this blog regularly, you’ve already bought all the books I’ve recommended throughout the year, and wrapped them up to give to others.

So now I’m going to recommend that you get everyone (in addition to books) something I know they’ll love:

A magazine subscription!

There is NOTHING I love more than magazines. Well, besides books. And food.

My greatest fear right now is that with advertising sales down, my favorite magazines might cease to exist (at least in glossy paper form, like Gourmet Magazine), and only be available online.

So then how will I read them in the bathtub, my favorite activity?

To help keep this from happening, I’m asking everyone to give at least one subscription to a friend or relative this year. Magazine subscriptions are cheap AND easy to give.

Here are a few websites where you can find and subscribe to just about any kind of magazine you could ever dream of! And trust me, there are many, many more….

But to narrow it down a little, here in no particular order are just some of the magazines I read every month, or that I think would make a good gift for someone you know. Check them out, and give!

For her:

Does she love writing, crafting, and feminism?—Give her Bust or B*tch

Is she stylish?—Give her Elle (I love Ask E. Jean, whom I met because we both have lyme disease!) or Allure.

Is she a shopaholic?—Give her Lucky or In Style

Does she love do-gooding, but also makeup, dating, and clothes?—Give her Glamour or Marie Claire (Find out about rare diseases! How volunteers in Africa are helping women change their lives by teaching them to make and sell their own soap! AND how no one really looks good in khaki.)

Does she love reading about people who are richer than she is?—Give her Vogue or Harper’s Bazaar (I love reading about people who are richer than I am.)

Is she your homegirl? Give her Essence

Is she 12 or under?—Give her Ranger Rick, Highlights, Puffin, or the always adorable New Moon.

Is she having her quinceanera? Give her Quinceanera Magazine or Quince Girl (Shut up, yes, I have read these magazines. It was a long layover.)

Is she 12 or up (the age of the average subscriber to TeenVogue is actually 27)?—Give her TeenVogue or Seventeen.

Is she over 40 (like Julia! Sandra! Oprah! Jennifer!) or worried about her neck? Tell not to worry any More.

Does she care about eating right, exercise, health, and fitness?— Give her Women’s Health, Runners World, or Yoga Journal

Is she on a journey of self-discovery? Something in this magazine makes me cry every month!— O, Oprah’s Magazine

Now I know you’re all, “But what about the guys, Meg?”

Covered:

What does he like?

Fashion/Style/Entertainment? Give him Details or Maxim

Adventure? He’ll love Outside

Cars?—Give him Sportscar and Auto Market or Car and Driver (a bit fancy, but you want him to trade up, right?)

Psychoanalyzing you?—He needs Psychology Today.

Is he a brainiac?—Give him Mental Floss

A technology junky? He must have Wired

Can he not live without his stereo?—He needs Stereophile

Sports?—Give him Sports Illustrated or ESPN Insider

Science and nature? National Geographic or Scientific American

Music?—Every music lover needs: Rolling Stone or Spin or Blender or Vibe (or all four)

(Obviously, any of the above magazines would work for BOTH sexes! Well, except maybe Maxim. But I’ve read it myself and been plenty entertained.)

Is he (or she) starting his (or her) own company, or an entrepreneur?—Give Inc., Fast Company, Forbes

Can you not pry him (or her) from his/her joy stick?—EGM(No. 1 Videogame Magazine) is a must!

Is he (or she) gay? Give him or her The Advocate or Out Magazine


Mmmm, Neil Patrick Harris, dreamy….

What about….

The cooks in your life?—They’ll love Bon Apetit or Cook’s Illustrated (He Who Shall Not Be Named In This Blog gets both of these as gifts from my mother. He used to get Gourmet…sob!).

People who love home décor or design?—Give them Dwell, Martha Stewart or Elle Décor or the gorgeous Architectural Digest.

There are even magazines for your friends/family members who are always ranting about the zombies and how we’re all doomed!

Feed their paranoia with Harpers, The Nation, or Mother Jones (although they probably already get them, which is how they know we’re doomed).

And for people like me who don’t care that we’re all doomed, and just want to gossip about Tiger, here are my faves: Us Weekly or People Magazine.

Entertainment/media types love New York Magazine (or the less insidery Entertainment Weekly.)

And for all those book lovers you know who enjoy saying things like, “Oh, yeah, I already know all about that HBO bio-pic starring Claire Danes as Temple Grandin, the autistic lady who invented the cow-hugging machine for the meat industry, because I read the article about her by Oliver Sacks in The New Yorker ten years ago. That is how in-the-know I am.”— The New Yorker


Claire Danes as Temple Grandin.

Phew!

Okay, if you can’t find something for the person you’re shopping for from the above list, or from here, then he or she doesn’t deserve anything because he or she is boring.

Now I have to go….

…relax with a delicious magazine.

More later.

Much love,

Meg

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