Cruise Travel (1-year auto-renewal)

I have been subscribing to this magazine for the last nine years, since taking my first cruise 10 years ago. Although a small publication that is published every two months or so, it is full of information. My only complaint is the abundance of ads, but at least they are travel/cruise related, and do feature some great deals with cruise only agents. The one thing Cruise Travel stresses is that cruising is not for the rich set anymore. Each issue has a port of the month -which might be in the Caribbean or Alaska, Australia, Africa, the Far East or Europe (cruise lines go EVERYWHERE these days). They review a new ship in detail, from cabin size to what one will find on-board. They always feature a ship of the month -which might be the latest Carnival monstrosity or some ship of more elegance. Their letters to the Editor section is always worth a look, as you see messages from the most experienced to young people in their teens finding a love of cruise ships. Some of the writers are a tad pretentious, wanting cruising to return to the days of the Queen Mary or Mauretania. Others are middle of the road (like myself). Some love what Carnival offers. Most of all, the magazine encourages everyone to find a love of cruise ships and traveling this way. It's a great little magazine I highly recommend, especially if you're just discovering cruising...or just want to daydream.

'Cruise Travel' is the best cruise magazine that I have seen, and though a fairly thin magazine, is packed with great useful information. I particularly enjoy the Cruise of the Month, Port of the Month, and especially the Ship of the Month features. They also have monthly news updates, and letters to the editor that are normally well selected to give diverse viewpoints, and have frequently brought up issues I had never considered. The number of ads is very reasonable, and they all relate to the subject matter and are therefore not objectionable, like in some other publications I have seen.

I appreciate the attempt to cover all bases and levels of cruising, from the biggest suites on the 'Queen Mary 2' to any party on the sea by Carnival. I am a devoted Celebrity customer, and find the reporting on Celebrity to be spot-on accurate, so I am assuming that it is with other lines that I am not familiar with, too. I especially enjoyed the recent June 2004 issue in which Celebrity's beautiful 'Summit' graced the cover as Ship of the Month.

This magazine is a great resource for anyone considering a cruise, from a first timer to an experienced cruiser. I highly recommend 'Cruise Travel'.

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After 5 cruises in four years, I can say that this magazine is very informative. It's user friendly, the articles are entertaining and educational, and the pictures are glorious. Lots of ads, all pertinent to discounted cruises. A new ship is reviewed each issue and and readers are encouraged to critique ships they've sailed. Every so often the magazine runs an article detailing the histories of many ships now gone from service or sailing under different flags/names. For those of us who have discovered cruising to be the best value for our vacation dollar, this magazine is perfect. For those of you not quite sure, this may be just what you need to begin a long-remembered vacation. Dare to dream!

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"Cruise Travel" is a magazine about cruising, and is generally informative and interesting. Though it seems to mainly pertain to an older reading audience and the photos are not always as interesting or as amazing as the other main cruise travel magazine "Porthole" I am generally pleased with the content of the magazine.

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My partner and I led a small group on a cruise (my first; he's a travel agent.) We had subscribed to Cruise Travel for several years and I had always enjoyed looking them over, and then getting to see the ships either in port or getting to do a travel agent tour. On our cruise, unknown to us at the time, were reviewers from Cruise Travel, so we had a nice surprise with the next issue when we got home. They were very thorough and honest and the accompanying pictures were great. I highly recommend the magazine both for an informative review in words and pictures of cruise ships and the ports they visit.

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Library Sparks

What a great new magazine for childrens' librarians. Each issue has ideas for lessons that are adaptable for different grade levels. There is an interview with an author. There are several reproducible pages that connect with the lessons presented.

The only downside of the last issue was that the suggested websites to view had URL's that were much too long to type. A lot of the websites weren't that good either. I wish it were a little cheaper to subscribe. The good stuff is always expensive!

History Magazine

And I truly believe that!

I began my subscription to this magazine a month before the first issue even came out sight unseen. I knew, from the original description, that it was exactly what I was looking for.

Where most magazines seem to cover late 19th century and twentieth century life, History Magazine delves into the more distant past not being afraid to study everyday life from 300, 400, 500, and even 1000 years ago. The variety of history between each cover astounds me. For example, in the most recent issue (as I write this) January 2008 there are articles on New Year's Eve 1907, the history of the game Ping Pong, happenings in the decade of the 1610's, hairwork jewelry, facts and folklore about the Liberty Bell, the mystery of the ghost ship Mary Celeste, and numerous other articles.

It's evident that the articles are written by folks with a passion for the past, although they do not tend to get too detailed (thank God!) and stodgy like so many others.

History Magazine tends to lean heavily on American History with a good wealth of world history thrown in, which, again, is exactly what I like. It also covers everyday life social history even what can be considered mundane (the history of the fountain pen can be found in the most recent issue as well). But, other history magazines tend to over-look these things, and that's why I continue to subscribe.

I suppose the schooled history majors may thumb their collective noses at such an appealing magazine, due to the fact that it's a great bathroom reader, but for those of you who would like their history presented in an entertaining style, without all of the stodginess thrown in, I recommend this magazine.

Every two months I look forward to reading History Magazine. I've been a subscriber for years and I always feel pleasantly surprised by the variety of topics covered. In every issue I read about topics that had never occurred to me in a historical sense.

The articles are not long, they are plainly written, and there are plenty of pictures. This is NOT a scholarly journal of history. In general the articles are not written by historians (often freelance writers) and I'm sure that most of the "research" is done with relatively few secondary sources. That being said, History Magazine doesn't pretend to be a scholarly journal and there is still much to be enjoyed and learned from reading it. Many of the articles have inspired me to dig deeper into topics that I might never have known about. History Magazine really whets my history appetite.

The topics focus mostly on Western history, from ancient times to the present. However, the magazine does ask its readers to suggest ideas for articles, and I suspect that if enough readers expressed an interest in, say, Oriental or African history, then there would be more of that. Perhaps one day I will offer a suggestion to see how closely they listen to one reader!

To top things off they have a wonderful customer service department, the magazine contains relatively few advertising pages so you don't have to search for the articles, each issue has 10-15 articles of great variety, and they have the best guarantee of any magazine I know of: you can cancel your subscription at any time without hassles. But if you enjoy history, you won't want to cancel. I have hundreds of "real" history books, but this is my favorite magazine. The story of people in the world is endlessly fascinating.

One more note: Every year or so I try an issue of that other world history magazine for laypeople, BBC History, which contains articles written by "real" historians. But for reasons I can't fully explain I just can't seem to enjoy it enough to subscribe (I won't try to explain here, and I'm not criticizing it). I'm pointing this out for those who might want to look at each of these magazines and decide for themselves whether they prefer one or both.

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This is a decent history magazine for the price. The better magazines are pretty much cost prohibitive, so this is a nice alternative for history buffs. It usually includes a variety of articles, usually about lesser known historical events. The writing is nicely done, never too scholarly, and easy to read. For those who are historians by profession or history students, it might be a little on the "light" side, but if you simply enjoy reading about little-known historic, trivia-like events then this is the magazine for you.

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I have only gotten issue so far, but thoroughly enjoy the content. It is a fairly quick read. The information is interesting and enough to peak your interest, so if you want to know more detail you can follow through.

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I love this magazine. I don't have a lot of free time and the articles are interesting, informative, and a quick read. I really enjoy getting a brief, but well written look into many of the diverse articles that the magazine covers.

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Definitely worth a look. I still prefer reading a magazine rather than on a screen and this magazine is very interesting.

Faces

Faces is packed with all kinds of information on a range of topics that spans the world. Issues cover individual countries and cultures or things that affect the whole world, like human rights. Its light but educational articles are accompanied by tons of photos, contests, plays or stories and topic related activities. Targeted at 9 to 14 year olds, it's fun and interesting for adults as well.

FACES is a great magazine that lets children explore many cultures from around the world. Through folk tales, photos, and maps FACES takes its readers on an adventure that teaches them about the lives, traditions, and pastimes of many cultures. FACES' target audience is between the ages of 9 and 14, but its interesting articles and entertaining themes are suitable for any reader looking for knowledge. You will learn about many places in the pages of FACES.

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An excellent resource for children to learn about other people and cultures. I use this in my homeschooling.

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In a market flooded with fashion magazines for female tweens and teens, it's unbelievably tough for mothers to find alternative reading materials in periodical format for their daughters -but Faces saves the day! Although it's a slightly expensive subscription, the educational information it provides about the world -and especially about the world's children -is well worth the cost. I HIGHLY recommend either substituting a Faces subscription for a fashion magazine one, or adding it to a tween/teen girl's periodical library.

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My son started getting this when he was 10. He is now eleven and still really enjoys the articles. He is absorbed in the magazine from cover to cover. His love of geography, people, and places is fed by the content.

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Fly Fishing in Salt Water (1-year auto-renewal)

I ordered on the 5 of the month and recieved my first copy less than a month later.

This is the quickest i have ever received a publication ever.

Also the quality of the rag is unbelievable. It is a must buy for anyone who is a serious Salty fly fisherman.

I sent in my subscription month's ago and have not received a single issue; so I'm not sure if the magazine is any good or not but the provider is horrible. Stay away from this provider!

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For those of us who enjoy fly fishing in salt water, it doesn't get much better than this magazine. The articles encompass a wide geography, particularly in the U.S., and a wide variety of species. I particularly appreciate the excellent and educational content concerning flats species like bonefish, tarpon, and permit.

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Our Sunday Visitor

Our Sunday Visitor is, hands-down, my favorite Catholic magazine. It's published more regularly than the sporadic and sometimes (in my opinion) overly cerebral Envoy, and it's more faithful to the Magisterium than most other Catholic magazines, such as American Catholic.

Each week's issue has a good mix of news, opinion pieces, letters to the editor, reflections on the week's readings, and more. The articles are always thought-provoking, but I don't feel like I need a week's worth of time and a doctorate in theology to tackle them.

I also found that OSV's coverage of the recent election was very even-handed, while remaining faithful to Church teaching. That's a tough line to walk, but as a journalist, I thought the magazine did an admirable job.

If you want some meaty Catholic content without convoluted style, this is the place to go. Even if you're not Catholic, you'll find substantial and thought provoking material. OSV also provides groundbreaking stories that are timely and well researched. It's a quick and easy way to get a sense of current issues affecting Catholics and others in very clear terms. Best of all, it doesn't involve much of a time commitment on the part of the reader. Too bad more reading materials as well designed to communicate quality information in an almost effortless manner.

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I have yet to receive a single issue. I am less than pleased. Money deducted, no issues received to date. I am a big fan of OSV, but to not even receive a single issue after paying for a subscription has me very disappointed and angry.

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Bridal Guide (1-year auto-renewal)

The three real contenders are Bridal Guide, Bride's and Modern Bride. Bride's and Modern Bride seem to be the same magazine sometimes, and in fact are now owned by the same people. If you want something more suited to a "real bride", it would seem that Bridal Guide is your best choice.

If you have $10,000 to spend on your dress, then by all means go for Bride's magazine, but if you are like the rest of us, then Bridal Guide has, BY FAR, the best selection for you. The advice seemed to be geared for regular people trying to have a fabulous wedding, and for the right price too!

There's a wealth of information on planning the event, dealing with inlaws, Honeymoon destinations, buying the dress ... EVERYTHING you could want and more. I love this magazine. Thank you Bridal Guide.

Bridal Guide is a lengthy magazine designed to appeal to brides in waiting and to those women who see marriage on the horizon. This magazine is devoted to bridal fashion and to other things that are involved in making the day special and memorable. Besides the fashion, one can read about wedding planning, honeymoon ideas, photography, and other weddingrelated things.

When you read a copy of Bridal Guide, what stands out more than anything are the photos. This is the main reason people read this magazine in the first place: To look at wedding attire and compare different styles. Models wearing wedding gowns are abundant in this publication and some of the bridal gowns they adorn are quite stunning. To help future brides make a possible purchase, it is common to find a phone number and/or a web site with the majority of the photos. Bridal attire is the main focus of this magazine, but there are also some pictures of grooms and of other wedding party members, with models displaying other fashions for sale, once again complete with phone number and web page.

The part of this magazine that focuses its attention on honeymoons and travel is probably my favorite part of the issue. What I like is the fact that this is one part of the magazine that can appeal/apply to anyone, regardless of marital status. These honeymoon tips and destination information provide some good reading material for the bride to be or anyone else who happens to read the magazine.

Bridal Guide is a very lengthy publication, with each issue containing around 500 pages! This is more than double the length of most other magazines and it can make the issue seem a little overwhelming at times. Also, this magazine is saturated with ads. Since the majority of the gownclad models are, in effect, advertisements for a specific fashion brand, one can expect to find ads covering the vast majority of this magazine's pages. This could be annoying to some, but one must bear in mind that the magazine's focus is wedding planning, so excessive advertising is expected.

For young bridestobe or bridal wannabes, this is a handy magazine to have around. It's very long, but it contains lots of fashion and wedding planning ideas to make the big day one to remember forever.

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For my June 2010 wedding, I subscribed to Bridal Guide to get ideas. It is a very useful magazine, with lots and lots of gorgeous pictures and ideas. However, after a few months, I noticed that things tended to be repetitive, which is only to be expected. There's only so many different ways to fold a napkin, or so many different flower petals to sprinkle on the aisle before the bride walks down. The best part of bridal magazines is the pictures of wedding dresses, at least in my book, but they tend to be the same dresses in each issue for a few months, making it less fun to flip through.

The other downside to bridal magazines, and a big part of the reason that a few of them have shut down, is that most of the info can be found in the big bridal websites, and for free. In fact, they often have far more information, since they collect it over a long period of time, giving you plenty of past information to browse through.

All in all, this magazine is a good resource, and I do recommend it, but if you're short on cash (gotta save up for that wedding!), skip it and go online.

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Look, it's a magazine. Do I read magazines? Um, no.

Don't I get everything I need from the interwebs hence negating my need for magazines? Um, yes.

Have I, or do I ever plan on, getting married? Um, no again.

In conclusion, I think that the only reason I ordered this magazine is due to excessive alcohol consumption. Frankly, I can't think of any other reason that makes sense.

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I purchased this subscription for my girlfriend (now Fiancée) for the past couple of years. She loves the magazine. A little too much in fact, and now that she has a wedding to plan it comes in handy. The magazine has tons of examples and ideas for ones own wedding plus tips, advice, and even a month by month calendar to help out. Really a great buy if getting married.

As for Magazines through Amazon, I have no complaints. I even had to change the address a couple times and it was a one minute process and very easy to do.

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New York Times Book Review

The New York Times Book Review is designed for an archetypal NYTimes Reader: a person with a solid liberal-arts education with moderate-to-liberal political views who is eager to appear up-to-date with contemporary literature serious fiction, popular biographies and non-fiction in the social sciences. Popular fiction, serious science and other subjects are usually omitted not by design but because of space constranits, I believe.

That said, most reviews seem to be thorough, fair and educational in themselves, although occasionally you will note that a reviewer may have a significant, important bias concerning the author s/he is reviewing. Some times this isn't revealed and leads to weeks of debate in the letters column.

In recent years more attention has been paid to so-called children's literature, which is helpful. The fiction best-seller lists are almost meaningless anymore, as they are crammed with thrillers and romances almost of the drug-store variety, but the non-fiction best-seller lists can be a way to find something new.

There are few specialty columns (or any columns at all, come to think of it), but the venerable Marilyn Stasio has done an excellent job of covering the huge mystery field and keeping readers up to date on their old favorites as well as promising newcomers.

The Times' book world tends to be occupied by authors who have already passed an invisible acid test of acceptability. You'll have to seek out truly new voices in less traditional publications. That said, the Times Book Review keeps you up-to-date on all of the important books and provides additional sustenance for the average, well-educated reader of somewhat broad tastes.

I purchased this subscription as a gift for my wife. Unfortunately, Magazine Express could not start the subscription for almost eight weeks. I put up with this indignity because the price seemed reasonable. My wife loves the Review and reads every word.

It would be nice if the delivery was consistent. Magazine Express really is a mediocre company. Some weeks we don't receive the week's review and then the next week we get two different editions. This not what I signed up for. Please, one review per week delivered on or about the same day of each week would be nice.

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I have been reading the NY Times Book Review for many many years. There rarely is a week when there is not some review of considerable interest to me. Though I oppose its political bias which is left liberal, I appreciate the solidity, and respectful way in which most reviews are written. There is a sense that for the Times books and culture in general have meaning and importance.

The 'Times ' tends to bet for its main articles on proven winners. A review in the Times can make a person's name, and many many are the writers whose books have arrived in the 'Times' offices never to be given a real look at.

The 'Times ' articles and reviews are not the longest and the deepest but they do often provide pleasant reads, and arouse real interest in the book in question.

The NY Times Book Review is still of first importance because the NY Times is .

I still try to skim through every week searching for the review or two that I really have to try to chew and digest.

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This is a lame excuse not to actually go out and Purchase new books. I grew up with Cliff's Notes. This would be a logical extension.

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for anybody who can't handle the whole Sunday New York Times, this section is very welcome. Also: it arrives in the mail a few days before the Sunday Times.

AutoWeek (1-year auto-renewal)

I have been getting Autoweek Magazine for more than 15 years and think it is the best auto related magazine of them all. It is bi-weekly, so it is up to date. The contributing editors, like Denise McCluggage, have been around cars and racing forever so they can give insights that other mags just cannot. Others, like Natalie Neff, have a real way with words that make the car stories come to life. They seem to have a pretty fair bias in their reviews, with the only exception being a bias in favor of Porsche, no matter what Porsche does. It has good racing coverage, good long-term reviews with fair reporting and interesting insights as to what is happening in the automotive world right now. In buying it through Amazon, I can get it at a price even cheaper than as a current subscriber.

Autoweek comes more than once per month, so they are usually first with much of the news and car tests that car enthusiasts are interested in. It is a little pricey for an annual subscription, but shop around for price.

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I like Autoweek because of the articles. They are usually short enough for a quick read, but provide enough information to actually inform you. It is well written and entertaining to read. My only complaint is that there are so many ads, especially towards the back of the magazine. I know that this is necessary for a magazine to survive in the digital era that we are in now. I can overlook this fault, because the rest of the magazine is filled with good substance. I would recommend this magazine to anyone that has a love or interest of cars.

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I have received this magazine for many years. It is a bi-weekly publication, and I think the quality is higher since it converted from a weekly.

My only problem is that my subscription did not go through as a renewal, so I started getting two copies of the same issue. I believe the correction has now been made.

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I get WAY too many car magazines, but you can find subscription deals for so little that it makes sense (sort of). Pick this one up on the newsstand a few times before you subscribe, it really doesn't have anything the monthlies don't, it is NOT weekly anymore, and they follow the same review embargoes as everyone else. One advantage is racing coverage, but there's something now called the internet that is instantaneous so they've lost an advantage there too. In case you're wondering, the best car mag is CAR from the UK. It's expensive but well worth it, the truly addictive crack cocaine of auto journalism.

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Humanist

The HUMANIST is published bimonthly by the American Humanist Association. A recent issue contains articles, book reviews, editorials, news and Letters to the Editor. The subjects include such topics as the commercialization of society, multilateralism, nuclear weapons, the Just War Doctrine and the environment. Some of the contributors are Ralph Nader, Gregory D. Foster, Douglas Mattern and Eugene B. Kogan.

I am definitely not a humanist but I still enjoy reading this publication for its alternative viewpoint. It is highly readable and contains very little waste.

I have received three issues of the Humanist as of this review. I have read most of the articles in two of the issues, and am currently working my way through the third. Inside every cover of the magazine is the following definition of humanism, "Humanism is a rational philosophy informed by science, inspired by art, and motivated by compassion. Affirming the dignity of each human being, it supports liberty and opportunity consonant with social and planetary responsibility. Free of theism and other supernatural beliefs, humanism thus derives the goals of life from human need and interest rather than from theological or ideological abstractions, and asserts that humanity must take responsibility for its own destiny." Not surprisingly, I would say that the articles I have read fall nicely in line with this definition.

The magazine covers many different topics. Here are the titles of a few articles that I particularly enjoyed: "Moving from a War Economy to a Peace Economy," by Mary Beth Sullivan; "The Bible According to Thomas Jefferson," by Peter Carlson; "Going Anti-Postal," by Michael I. Niman; "Black Churches and Blue-Eyed Jesuses," by Sikivu Hutchinson; "Biblical Scholarship and the Right to Know," by Bart Ehrman; and "Terra Instabilis: Are we Headed toward a New World Disorder?," by Jon Harrison. As you can see, there is a wide array of topics covered. Each issue also has worthwhile book reviews.

I particularly enjoyed the article about the Postal System. The author, Dr. Michael I. Niman, who is a professor of journalism and media studies at Buffalo State College, makes the point that the Founders looked at the Postal System as fostering democracy, as it offered cheap rates to publishers. In other words, it aided in providing free speech. He goes on to say that we are one of the only countries that does not subsidize our Postal Service. We stopped subsidizing the Postal Service under President Reagan's tenure. Dr. Niman advocates the Postal System offering a reasonably priced internet service, which would be similar to the reasonably priced service it provides with first class mail. He makes the case that there are things that can be done to make the USPS profitable again. The reason I liked this article is because it introduced me to ideas that I had never been exposed to before, nor would have thought of on my own.

Another article that I thought was exceptional is entitled, "Terra Instabilis: Are We Headed toward a New World Disorder?" by Jon Harrison. He looks at the predominantly economic crises in Europe, China, the Middle East, and the U.S. He looks at the specific problems that each of these regions face, and how these region-specific problems could impact the whole, since there is such economic interdependency in the global economy. I particularly like what he says about the problems the U.S. faces. He says, "The economic dilemmas America now faces are politically driven. That is to say, past political choices---to run up massive deficits, to encourage consumption over investment, to impose a free trade regime on a playing field tilted against the United States---have landed the country in its current economic situation." I could not agree more. Unless these specific trends are reversed, I think there is little hope for our country's future. With respect to "free trade" he says, "Both parties adhere slavishly to the current free trade regime, which has devastated U.S. manufacturing...." My overall point about this article is that he questions issues, issues like "free trade," in a way that is rarely done in the major media.

Overall, I am glad I subscribe to the Humanist. In all likelihood, I will renew my subscription. I find it to be worth reading.

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