Following my hiccough with the book I was reading last week (see previous post) I decided to treat myself to a magazine for some more enjoyable reading. I rarely buy magazines, and apart from Lionheart which I discovered last year, Runners World which I have a subscription to and those that come with the weekend papers I’m no longer a magazine officinado (if in fact I ever was). I’ve said previously that I find many of the regular glossies a little irrelevant and not especially inspiring. So when I do buy a mag its got to be worth the hard earned pennies.
I was aware of The Simple Things from reading The Oyster and Pearl. Lottie the author of this blog also writes for The Simple Things. I had been meaning to give it a go for a while so when I clocked it whilst shopping last weekend I needed no excuse to drop it into my basket. I’m sure that even if I wasn’t aware of this magazine the gorgeous front cover would still have caught my eye. The beautiful cover image is an accurate foretaste of whats inside.
Its seperated into originally named sections ‘Fresh’, ‘Living’, ‘Escape’, ‘Think’, Nest’ , each with a different emphasis. Despite being an avid reader of books, I don’t want lots of long in-depth pieces in the magazines I read. I want interesting content, variety, lots of reality with a bit of escapism; I want to learn a bit, be entertained and inspired and I want to look at great pictures. The Simple life ticks all the boxes for me. It has things to eat, cook, make, buy, travel to and see. It also has some stunning images.
There writing is varied and interesting. From an arresting photo essay on The Arctic Circle, to a wonderful piece on a hat collector called Daphne to suggested winter reads to a travel feature on Naples, where I now really want to go…. I found The Simple Life easy to dip in and out of, and unusually I have pretty much read it from cover to cover, (well maybe I hurried through the gardening section!) and I’ll certainly be buying it again. Now I’ve finished it, I’ve popped it into our guest room so our visitors have something lovely to read too.
I’d love to hear your recommendations for magazines.