People StyleWatch (1-year auto-renewal)

I'm a big fashion magazine fan having subscribed to magazines like InStyle, Lucky, Harper's Bazaar, Vogue and Elle in the past several years.

People Stylewatch in addition to Instyle is one of my favorites. It's a rather thin magazine, but what you get is lots of good, useful content that is similar to InStyle (minus the gobs of advertisements). Stylewatch appeals to the readers of People magazine (which, I admit, I do not read) and fashionistas who enjoy reading up on fashion, trends and celebrities. What I like about Stylewatch is that it doesn't waste your time with pages of ads, editorials or articles. It gives you pictures, pictures, and more pictures as well as a good look at current and upcoming trends and some great comparison shopping/tips for budget-minded fashionistas. Instead of showing you gorgeous pictures of paper-thin models wearing outfits you couldn't afford, it shows you what celebrities are wearing and how you could wear a similar outfit for much less. It also gives you current trends and outfits in various price ranges, which makes it a magazine that proves that you don't have to make a million bucks to LOOK like a million bucks.

I usually satisfy my thirst for fashion articles by reading Harper's Bazaar or Vogue, but for my quick-fix up-to-the-moment what-are-the-celebrities-wearing-these-days look at the trends, as well as my source for great fashion ideas and tips, I go to People Stylewatch and it never disappoints.

Though creative, I lack natural ability and patience to painlessly put together my outfits. Therefore, I rely on three magazines to keep "frumpy" at arm's length: People Style Watch, Lucky, and InStyle. What these three magazines have in common is their visual approach to fashion: you will not find there silly articles on global affairs written by teenage interns. Instead, you will be treated to lots of pictures of fashionable style setters not only on the red carpet, but, MOST IMPORTANTLY, in street clothing. I believe these to be much more meaningful to an average Earthling such as myself then the overstilized artsy fashion photos one finds in the likes of VOGUE...

I also like the fact that the magazine identifies the brands. I may not be able to afford everything, but on many occasions I have been able to make prudent additions to my wardrobe based on the editors' recommendations, and/or acquire more affordable article based on the "original".

Fours stars only, as I would like to see more fashions specifically for the 30's/40's set.

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Like the 30 other reviewers who have rated these jerks one star, I also took advantage of their Black Friday subscription and I'm still empty handed nearly 3 months later. I don't want to deter anyone from taking advantage of great magazine deals through Amazon--I was very pleased with my subscriptions to Marie Claire, Glamour, Oprah, and Entertainment Weekly. They were all delivered promptly. I work at a retailer that sells magazines and there have been two People StyleWatches issued since Black Friday. And still.... nothing. At this point, assuming I ever get my subscription, it wouldn't even be a year. All I know is that not only is People dropping the ball, but so is Amazon. They obviously have a lot of unhappy customers on their hands. I was pleased with my other subscriptions, but I will no longer go through Amazon for this stuff because of their inability to handle poor customer service from their vendors.

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Say what you will about InStyle (which I subscribe to as well), I consider People stylewatch a better alternative if you are trying to choose between the two and don't happen to have a six-figure income. People style watch tries to keep it within my means. They don't just highlight designer brands of clothes, shoes and handbags but also review beauty, hair and fashion products that you can buy at drugstores or target. They have a section on cheap chic where they copy a designer look on a budget which I enjoy. So for frugal fashionistas, this is a great companion. I wait for mine to arrive every month and am always delighted to find it in the mailbox. Makes my day.

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What I really like about People Style Watch is that it's laid out in an easy-to-read, at-a-glance manner. I subscribe to a lot of magazines for various reasons and often don't have time to look at them all cover-to-cover in one sitting each month. Though I usually have good intentions of finishing them later, more often than not, they get tossed in cleaning sprees before I accomplished that task. But with Style Watch, you can get a lot of info covered in a short amount of time and learn a lot; yet, if you don't get all the way through it before it's discarded, you still got your money's worth. In a nutshell, it's a thin magazine packed full of useful, interesting fashion tips, trends, new products, education, and pictures -all without bombardment of ads or filler like in most other fashion publications. Just like it's parent magazine, People, the pages flow seamlessly. Perhaps Style Watch's greatest asset of all, in my opinion, is its appeal to women of most any generation: not an easy task to accomplish. Personally, I am the youngest of baby-boomers, but I enjoy the magazine as much as the twenty-something women I work with. In fact, for me, the only negative comment I could construe is that there's almost too much detail to absorb every month!

But that's a criticism I can live with:)

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London Review of Books (1-year auto-renewal)

Those arriving at this Amazon page doubtless have some interest in books. In reading the reviews I note some disappointment with the contents of the London Review. Maybe if I provide a brief summary of one issue you can decide whether or not this is the book mazazine for you.

About fifty percent of the contributors to a current issue are PhD academics.

Here is a sampling of the articles in this issue:

1. Writers, Readers, and Reputations: Literary Life in Britain 1870 to 1918.

2. A University of Chicago philosophy professor explores philosopher Alisdair McIntyre's conceps of truth and ethics as found in the recently released 2 volumes of McIntyres essays.

3. A review of Kostal's book "A Jurisprudence of Power:Victorian Empire and the Rule of Law".

You like fiction? In this issue you'll find reviews of the books of novelists Edward St. Aubyn, and M.J. Hyland. There is also an article about the German author Gunter Grass who reveals in a book that he was a member of the Waffen SS during WWII. Unfamiliar authors? For me too (except for Gunter Grass). Next month though they will be reviewing American author Richard Ford's new novel. Now him I know.

Rather than write a review of glowing praise or bleak condemnation I thought it best to simply tell you what's in it, and let you make up your own mind if this is the kind of book magazine you would like to read. Like the New York Review of Books you'll find a variety of articles that aren't about a book at all, and some books that are reviewed merely serve as a Hitchockian mcguffin for the reviewer to expand at length his opinions about the subject of the book.

I suppose a hierarchy of book magazines in terms of sophistication might be Bookmarks for the everyday fiction reader (It's a good magazine, in my opinion), and then, a step above, the New York Times Review, on up to the New York Review of Books, and then at the top the London Review of Books. Mind you I am not categorizing these mags in terms of the quality of writing. They all are good. It's just that if you want to be able to enjoy all of the London Review's article it might help if you were a polymath.

The London Review of Books is simply the best generalist journal on topics of literature, the arts, culture, history, politics, philosophy published in the world today--it now beats the NY Review of Books in terms of giving you the full picture and leaves the TLS back in the dust. If you want to get your bearings in the world of culture and politics, this is must reading.

Denis Jonnes

Washington D. C./Kitakyushu, Japan

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I love this journal. The way they review books is like no other book review page or magazine I've ever read. I find that by reading these articles we can as Americans involved in the world of ideas understand European thinking. Either way I'm renewing next year!

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The London Review of Books is, without a doubt the best literary journal in the world: at the same time erudite, entertaining and informative, each issue is a foray into a world of knowledge that is all too lacking in other publications and media. There was a time in my life when I couldn't afford to put my heating on in the bitterly cold British winter, but I never thought to cancel my subscription to the LROB. Highly recommended.

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I love books, and I read a great deal. The LROB is the standard for reviewing (as well as NYROB). It's oversized and made of newsprint, and ships in a plastic sleeve...a big deal as the NYROB doesn't and sustains more damage in transit. The personals section is hysterical, and almost worth the subscription price alone for the laughs.

BUT, this is high brow stuff. The books reviewed are generally historic or political, with a few fiction titles thrown in. The articles are in-depth by established authors (Colum McCann, Jonathan Franzen) and often link to other books in the same genre or style. This doesn't cover any mass market titles, and seems to be quite shy of small press publishers as well.

It's a great resource, and a treat to browse, but I still find the best variety and reviews online. And also, it makes you quite jealous for some of the literary events over the pond that you miss out on here in the US...you can only read about the exhibitions and readings and drool.

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France Magazine (1-year auto-renewal)

I have subscribed to France magazine for three years now,without a glitch.

I love this magazine.It is beautifully presented,and chock full of information about all areas of France.I especially love the articles of small,quaint little villages.It makes me want to visit all of France,not just Paris as I originally intended.

I am so sorry the first reviewer has had so much trouble with the subscription.

I found a copy of this magazine in an old hotel in Hawaii and enjoyed it. Because we travel to France often, I thought it would be a way of keeping in touch with the culture during the years between visits. It's only been 5 weeks, but I haven't heard from anyone or received anything except for a review request. Funny.

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I am among the few who still cherish the act of reading a magazine. Unlike most magazines that have let their struggles affect content, France Magazine manages to still entice me issue after issue. Aside from the wonderful articles are the amazing photos they use, worthy of being plucked out and framed!

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I like the magazine as a whole,I really enjoy reading it but the delivery was terrible. My first issue arrives 4 or 5 later than expected, then they promised me to send me an extra issue as apology for the delay. And finally for my one year subscription I ended receiving a total of 3 issues. Don't worth it!

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What I like most about this magazine is the focus on the best of French culture and does not include pop-culture drama, which is a waste of my time.

I look forward to this arriving and sit down to have a nice glass of wine on my patio as I read about interesting French events while improving my English skills.

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Cycling Plus

Yes, this magazine is very expensive. However, it is the only English-language magazine that covers recreational road cycling very well. All of the articles are detailed and well written and most are of interest to readers outside of England. You can get the best price for USA subscriptions by ordering directly from the CyclingPlus web site.

Wonderful cycling magazine for everyday riders. The content is very well rounded covering racing, touring, commuting, recreational cycling, and mountain biking. This magazine doesn't just focus on how to make you faster or how to get you to buy the newest/greatest/lightest $8000 carbon bike. Most of the equipment the magazine tests is geared for regular folks who can afford reasonable prices. The only problem I have is the price in the U.S.

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I love this mag! Honest and appropriately opinionated product reviews. Great bike tests and incredibly helpful and practical "your questions answered" section. Anglocentric cyclists rejoice because the UK routes they cover (3 or 4 per issue) will have you searching for cheap airfares. Yes, it's expensive but mainly due to the horrible exchange rate. In the UK it sells for 3-4 pounds. Here on newstands it's about nine bucks. That's just the way it is! Much, much better than any U.S. publication. Check out their sister mag Pro Cycling for hard core racing fans. Both worth every cent.

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I find this a high quality production with the best product reviews available anywhere. A cheaper way to access its content is via the digital edition, providing single issues, or better a years subscription (13 issues) for about $45, downloaded to your iPad or similar device.

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I got a subscription to this magazine for my father last year for Christmas. I looked at as many of the various cycling magazines I could get my hands on and this one is hands down the best. My dad loves it! He reads each issue cover to cover and then reads it again. It has some of the best advice on parts and trails and how to train and prepare. It's not the fluff you get with American cycling magazines. This is for serious cyclists who want more out of a magazine than an advertisement for the latest, most expensive part.

Marie Claire - French Edition

This is my favorite magazine. I was going to oder it from France but it was too expensive. This first issue arrived on the due date and for an excellent price.

It took quite awhile for me to get my first copy of the magazine (like longer than they claimed).. also I'm pretty sure that I missed a couple issues (probably got lost along the way).. but I love the magazine and I'm still happy that I ordered it! I will probably renew my subscription!

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NYLON (1-year auto-renewal)

I first picked up a copy of Nylon in Chicago, while browsing the newsstands. I wasn't sure if I would like it--years of subscribing to Vogue, Elle, and some stupid tweeny magazines had almost put me off magazine-reading for good. And yet I always manage to be drawn to the racks.

Nylon was different from the get go. They always feature unknowns on the cover, and when, on occassion, a well-known celebrity is featured, the stories give us a new perspective on them.

Nylon is worth purchasing for the layout in itself. I could spend hours paging through each feature, marveling at the graphics, and the way the magazine is put together. I love how they base some of the beauty section on famous movies or bands.

Nylon also makes a point of covering bands, movies, and fashion designers that, until now, have remained obscure. Everything they feature is amazing--most of the music they recommend ends up on my Amazon wishlist!

I would highly recommend Nylon to anyone and everyone. This obscure magazine will stun you with its amazing artistic layout, and introduce you to new products you may have never discovered.

I got this free the other day and I've been having a hard time getting through it. Expensive fashion and makeup, with some articles on music that focus on the band members' preference for skinny jeans. British cosmetic brands they wish were available here? Hotels with great spas? I'm not sure who the target audience is.

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After reading a few of these I realized that Nylon is just a rich hipster kid reference manual.

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I decided to subscribe to this mag after one of my faves, Amber Tamblyn started writing a monthly column. Offbeat and never boring, Nylon brings you all the stuff that the other "fashion" rags skip over. Written for smart, web-savvy readers who want to know more than where to buy the next up and coming handbag. With a lot of collage-type pictorials, you'll never be bored. A lot of vintage stuff as well; "background checks" are great. Many web references for you to surf to as well. Defiantely a thinking-gals guide to fashion, media and music.

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PRO: Nylon is a visual feast. Just looking through it is highly stimulating and inspiring from a design/artistic point of view. The lay-out is clean, fresh, and unique. There is a big emphasis on indie/alternative art, film, music, fashion, and literature. I found Nylon through a long internet search for an intelligent, artistic womens' mag, and it is just that.

CONS: NY-LON stands for New York and London respectively, which gives one a big hint about the target audience. Heh heh. I live in middle America, and I don't have access to the kind of brands, restaurants, bars, shops, etc. so touted by this magazine. One issue was exclusively centered around London... yeah, I can really relate. Not. Magazines like Seventeen are MUCH better about featuring merchandise and content applicable to females of every socio-economic background and location.

IN CONCLUSION: In my opinion, the positives highly outweigh the negatives. I don't regret subscribing. I always love getting my Nylon in the mail. Get this magazine if you want to subscribe to a girl magazine, but you don't want to go the usual cosmo, vogue, 17 route.

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Handwoven

This magazine is great! It gives ideas, articles, and all in all, something which gives you the sence of connection with the weaving world and the weavers worldwide.

Projects galore for 4 to 6 shafts, and then 8 shafts. Rigid Heddle only (sadly) has only one project for it per issue. I would love more info dedicated to the rigid heddle/ knitters loom. But the magazine has great articles on everything fiber, to setting up your studio. Another Interweave publication.

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Excellent magazine.

But subscribe direct from the publisher for $24. We don't understand why Amazon marks this one "up" to $25. Usually Amazon offers good subscription rates, but not here.

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Between the stories, the how-to articles and the projects, this is a great asset to any handweaver. I strongly recommend it.

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This is one of them there glossy magazines that cannot come out fast enough. However if they came out faster you would not have time to dabble in the projects.

I have fun looking at the items I already bought and plans for the future. So far I have tried complex patterns but not any exotic articles. Pretty much stick to scarves, mats, and towels. However there are other items for the more adventurous.

You will want a subscription as this magazine is not found on many stands.

Lots of color, pictures, drafts and some time info on the contributors that are stars in their own right.

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