Obviously I love to read books, the majority being related to fantasy and science fiction, but also on such topics as history–both historical fiction and nonfiction–and books about scientists and artists, which I enjoy more than learning about science and art itself. I guess my own passions for reading and writing give me a natural affinity for other passionate people in various areas of culture and learning.

But I also enjoy reading magazines. While books are enjoyable for their in-depth analyses of specific topics, magazines enable me to skim certain topics, giving me an overview of some areas, and piquing my curiosity to read further in others. They also serve as guides to which books I want to read, which helps me avoid scattershot buying which often leads to a lot of wasted reading time.

Here are the magazines I currently subscribe to:

Locus Magazine. This is my favorite magazine, the monthly “newsletter of the science fiction field”. It consists primarily of news–most interestingly of upcoming publications–reviews and interviews. It is my main guide as to what f&sf books to buy.

Historical Fiction Review/Solander. These is the historical fiction equivalent of Locus, with the reviews in the former quarterly, and the articles and interviews in the latter semi-annually. My only complaint is that it tries to review way too many books in each issue, with the reviews often too short, so that after awhile all the titles start running together in my head.

Tracks. This is a new music magazine, which strives to be more serious and more focused than the typical magazines in this genre. So far it is very interesting, both its reviews and its articles. The lead articles in the two issues I have read featured Eric Clapton and Prince, so that should give you an idea of the magazine’s range.

Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet. I spent thirty years subscribing to science fiction prozines, including Galaxy, Worlds of IF, Fantasy & Science Fiction, Tomorrow, Asimov’s, and Science Fiction Age. I let all my subscriptions lapse in the mid-1990s because reading the prozines was taking up so much of my reading time that I was unable to read any books as well. But I still have a soft spot in my heart for f&sf magazines, so I subscribed to this semi-annual zine awhile ago. It is interesting, running the gamut from “hard” sf to slipstream and magic realism, but I have not decided yet if I will renew my subscription beyond 4 issues.

Bookmarks. This is a general reviewzine devoted to all types of fiction and nonfiction, and a useful buying guide. My only complaint is that each issue probably describes five times as many uninteresting books as it does interesting books, so that I end up skimming many of the reviews.