If you’ve been following along here at Ms. Bookish the past month or so, you know that we’ve been spending a lot of time decluttering. Not that we’ve been all that successful, because while our downstairs is beautiful and serene and almost clutter-free, all we really did is shove everything into boxes and move it all upstairs.
Into our bedroom, no less.
But there were some things that got moved into the office. All of my to-be-read piles, for example.
And all my magazines. All of them.
Believe me, even I was astounded at how many unread magazines I’ve accumulated over the years:
These are the two stacks that are resting, temporarily I hope, in front of one of my two TBR bookshelves (yes, I also discovered I needed TWO bookcases just for my TBRs).
Here’s my dilemma:
I just can’t bring myself to toss any of these magazines into the recycling bin until I’ve flipped through them.
I always think of magazines as potentially hiding that golden nugget of information, something that makes you go, “ahhh, that made my day” or “wow, I didn’t know that!” or “omg, my life is now changed”.
It can take me hours to get through a magazine. I like to read all the articles, look at all the sources, let myself absorb all the beautiful photography.
In these piles I have fashion magazines, travel magazines, science magazines, art magazines, writing magazines, home decor magazines – no cooking magazines, though, because my husband takes command of these the moment they appear in our mailbox.
Luckily, he doesn’t have the same problem with magazines as I do. He reads every single one of his cooking magazines from cover to cover within days of getting them in the mail. And usually I end up eating something tasty that greatly resembles the cover dish sometime later that same week.
For me, you see, a magazine holds out the promise of a few enjoyable hours lounging in my reading chair, tea or coffee by my side. Lots of sunlight. Soft music playing in the background.
It’s just that I don’t feel like reading a magazine as often as I find myself entranced by the idea of reading a magazine, if you know what I mean.
Do you have the same problem with magazines? Or are you really good with them, never bringing them into your life at all? Or somewhere in between these two extremes?
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{ 30 comments… read them below or add one }
Up until a few weeks ago, I had the same problem. Once I finished a magazine, I would cut out all the articles I love and put them in a notebook. But you know what? I never went back and read those articles! So a few weeks ago, I got rid of most of my pile: the articles and magazines. I’ve only kept enough so my kids can use pictures when they do art. Everything else went to the library.
.-= Vasilly´s last blog ..Saturday read-a-thon =-.
This is astonishing! I used to love to read magazines but I’m now a book-only gal, I guess. A few years ago, I went cold-turkey and gave up magazines completely. Sometimes, when I travel I will buy one and then leave it where ever I am so it never comes home with me.
.-= Care´s last blog ..Wordless Wednesday =-.
Wow, that is a lot of unread magazines! I don’t tend to buy magazines, and for lent I’m staying away from all gossip magazines and websites. Those are my guilty pleasures….
Good luck!
I have the same problem with magazines which is why I stopped all my subscriptions a few years ago. It was just too hard to get through all of them to see if there was anything I needed to read or keep before I passed them on to someone else or recycled them. Now I buy magazines only when I travel. I look forward to reading what I buy on the plane and not having any stacks at home…works good for me since I travel quite a lot. And now I look forward to magazines and they are no longer my nemesis at home!
.-= Kathleen´s last blog ..What Kind of Future Might This Book Portend? =-.
I totally feel your pain…I actually like to collect fashion magazines…so I have shelves full of them…plus three giant Rubbermaid totes stuffed with magazines…I’m actually contemplating buying industrial style shelves to showcase all my magazines making them more accessible since it’s like searching for a needle in a haystack at the moment.
If I had room for more shelves, this would be such a tempting idea, Anna!
I’ve given up on magazines. I quit bringing them into the house because I found I wasn’t reading them. Good luck going through your stacks!
I have the same problem with magazines – and like Kathy, I pretty much had to give them up. (Well, except for Entertainment Weekly, but my husband still reads that one.) I think I’m in phase where I want to sink into my reading, which usually means books instead of magazines – and the small print tends to be hard on my eyes
.
.-= Florinda´s last blog ..The perception of danger and "The Possibility of Everything" =-.
I don’t read a lot of magazines. I do like to flip through Rachel Ray and ShopSmart, but that takes me about ten minutes. So, I can’t really feel your pain.
I say toss all of them. It will be very liberating. Besides, you need to harsh if you’re going to declutter!
.-= heidenkind´s last blog ..Searching for Donatello =-.
I think the only way I could bring myself to toss them without looking through them is to have someone come out and do it for me (while I’m not looking). Wouldn’t mind that liberating feeling, though!
I don’t even want to think about the pile of beading magazines in my basement. I never make anything out of them, but I keep them for “research” purposes. I’m letting all of my subscriptions go, because I see no sense in adding to the piles.
.-= Janel´s last blog ..Robin Hood! =-.
WOW — I keep scrolling up to look at the piles
I have never been much of a magazine gal. I think I realized that for the cost of two magazines, I could purchase a novel.
That said, I used to LOVE Bon Appetit and Gourmet. When they arrived in the mailbox I would set aside everything and pour them from cover to cover.
Now I reserve that kind of quality time 6 times a year when my Bookmarks magazine arrives
.-= Molly´s last blog ..BTT – Why We Read…. =-.
Thankfully I’ve never been much of a magazine buyer so I don’t share your problem. Like Molly I think I equated very early on that for the cost of each two or three magazines I could buy a book instead and so I’ve never been that interested in them. I do occasionally (2 or 3 times a year) succumb to a cooking magazine that looks particularly delicious on the newsstand but I read them immediately and tear out any recipes I want to try and ditch the rest.
.-= Bernadette in Australia´s last blog ..Note to publishers: it’s 2010, you can’t hide the world from us now =-.
I used to keep all of my magazines. However, I never ended up looking at that 4 year old copy of Atlantic Monthly. Now, I buy very few magazines and recycle most within a few weeks of reading. I only keep the home decorating ones, since I do enjoy flipping through them repeatedly and I have many years of decorating head of me.
.-= Claire (The Captive Reader)´s last blog ..Library Loot =-.
I don’t subscribe to magazines for just that reason. I never have the time to get to them regularly, but I jsut love your idea of their “suggestion” of hours of leisure waiting for you! I’m a book reader, but will buy single magazines if I’m between books, waiting for the next one on my list.
.-= Joanne´s last blog ..In The Way =-.
I’ve had a copy of The New Yorker sitting on the reading rack of my treadmill for months now. And a travel magazine, too. I always end up reading a book and ignoring the magazines.
“Hello everybody. My name is Belle and I have a magazine addiction.”
I only hope for your sake that there is a 12-step program of some sort. I only buy woodturning magazines and the occasional art mag. In each case, I only pick them up if there is an article or 2 (or 3) which catch my eye. It had also better be something that I’ve never seen before or found online.
.-= Steve´s last blog ..Smaller Pieces =-.
I love magazines and am constantly cutting out articles to save and/or read/reread. But every once in awhile I get a dose of Vasily-type realism and purge them! (and then a few months later, decide I totally need to consult an article I have thrown out!) :–)
.-= rhapsodyinbooks´s last blog ..Black History Month: Review of “Stonewall Jackson’s Black Sunday School” by Rickey E. Pittman; Illustrated by Lynn Hosegood =-.
I’m in the same boat as you. It’s been this way all my life – I subscribe to too many magazines, don’t have enough time to read them, and they pile up. Recently I’ve been trying to purge them and I’ve dropped a couple subscriptions, but I think I’m going to have to try to cold turkey approach. I’m not going to renew any magazine subscriptions and I’m going to toss the piles of old ones that I will never, ever read. Cross your fingers for me.
.-= Barbara´s last blog ..I’ve Been Reading =-.
“I’m not going to renew any magazine subscriptions and I’m going to toss the piles of old ones that I will never, ever read.” Fingers and toes crossed for you, Barbara! Wish I had your resolve …
I had the same problem when I was subscribed to The New Yorker — I just couldn’t find time to read them, but couldn’t bring myself to throw them away until I had way too many. I eventually had to just rip out stories I thought I wanted to read, put them in a binder, then recycle the rest. Frustrating!
.-= Kim (Sophisticated Dorkiness)´s last blog ..Narrative Nonfiction 5: Living “Current” Events =-.
I’ve limited myself to 3 subscription, (Real Simple, National Geographic Traveler and EW) and I have a system for reading them. EW is something I flip through while watching a movie and then I toss it. For the other two, I have binders for travel stuff and for home stuff.
As I read those magazines I pull articles or ideas and files them in the binders. For Traveler the binder is divided into basic categories like places (states, europe, asia, etc.) and travel tips, helpful websites, etc. For Real Simple it’s divided by room (kitchen, laundry, bathroom, etc.) As I read I make a stack, then I file it.
When I plan a trip to Budapest I have everything I need in an easy to reference binder and I actually use it. I also have ideas for redecorating rooms or removing clothing stains at my fingertips. The organizer in my is thrilled to be able to put the magazines to good use.
.-= Melissa´s last blog ..Friday Favorites: Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead =-.
You’ve given me hope, Melissa – I LOVE the sound of your system! I should do the same. It would be nice to have a tips binder, too. I’m not good at organizing but I like the idea of being organized.
I’m not a big magazine reader. I get saddened by the death of so many trees. Usually the only time I preruse one is in the doctor’s waiting room or at my MIL’s.
DH’s the mag lover. His Golf Digest stacks take up a lot of space–albeit hidden.
.-= Cat Woods´s last blog ..Letting It Soak =-.
I’m like Ward. I read everything within days of its arrival. I don’t have a TBR pile of books either! I read them as quickly as I get them and often find myself waiting for a book to come into the library or be released on Amazon. I cannot imagine the wonderful luxury of having an entire bookcase of books waiting for me! That sounds like heaven to me.
You’ve been to my house with your camera! Here’s what I do — I take one day in the summer to sit on the deck and flip thru the magazines, ripping out everything that looks interesting to read. The trick is to do it in one long day (sometimes I need two!), so that I begin to lose interest and get ruthless about abandoning articles. Then I take the next day (on the deck) and skim through the pile and make three categories — toss (well, recycle), read right now and toss, and save and don’t read right now. Then I take a third day to go through the saved articles and file or toss. It works for me and I try to do this once a year or so.
.-= Beth F´s last blog ..Thursday Tea: An Irish Country Christmas by Patrick Taylor =-.
I forgot to mention that I used to have 15 years worth of 4 different food magazines plus others I had picked up — it was something like 800 magazines. They were in bankers boxes organized by month. It took me a whole summer to go through them, saving recipes, travel articles, and so on. Argh. What a chore. Never again.
.-= Beth F´s last blog ..Thursday Tea: An Irish Country Christmas by Patrick Taylor =-.
Well, in between the two extremes, I´d say, but if I tell you I buy a magazine every second year or so (usually during the long summer holidays), you may not agree with me.
My passion is reading novels. I read other genres for work, but novels are the best. Funny really that I write so many flash fiction stories, but flash and short stories are not proper meals. I want characters that grow, plots, subplots and twists, and settings that make me feel I am there.
.-= Dorte H´s last blog ..How Trustworthy Is Forensics Information From Fiction =-.
I have scads and scads of unread magazines sitting around. Most are National Geographics, but I also have a few fashion mags and some fiction. I really do want to read them, but I have trouble settling down with magazines because I chose to count only the fiction digests towards my yearly reading totals–and I’m sorry to say it, but I’m just don’t feel motivated to read something that won’t “count.” I know I’ll learn things and gaze upon some wonderful photography and all that, but… yeah. I do through through the odd spurt here and there where I can’t tear myself away from magazines, but those episodes are few and far between. For the most part, I’d rather read a book that I can add to my tally.
.-= Memory´s last blog ..TBR Additions =-.
I had the same problem and did pretty much what Candace (Beth Fish) did. I had many boxes from decades filled with magazines. It took several months to cull through them all but it was worth it. I pulled out the stuff that was really important and pitched the rest. A big part of magazines are filled with ads so with this method you cut down on a lot o space. I learned my lesson then. I still love magazines but I’m now ruthless with every one that comes in. Each magazine has to earn it’s keep.
.-= Margot´s last blog ..Lunch and a Matinee: Room With a View =-.