See also

• books+magazines 4xx .. listing common advantages (between books and magazines) for the specific purpose of learning
• recreational reading .. mentions magazines in many places
• baggage@ book ownership #w1r1

Scope .. in this blogpost I don’t cover technical journals. Recreational learning differs from “mindless reading” which often leaves me empty, worse than 发呆. However, some may say that aimless reading can be a relaxation…. not sure.. maybe.

The learning topic in magazines are usually not work-related. See the topic list in recreational read`

Nowadays I enjoy free give-away magazines, even if 15Y-outdated (up to 20Y), from China or U.S.

• variety of topics .. often proved effective for recreational learning
• .. some magazines offer good density of relevant articles .. Fortune/Economist, ReadersDigest, [[读者]]
• light weight, easier to carry in one hand when you must read while standing
• easier to tear off to reduce weight
• 🙂 there are many free and high-quality magazines in the cities I know. Free means less baggage
• sometimes I get into a low mood and carry a negative perception about many of my books, so even a big home library may be insufficient. The gen magazine is an alternative.
• short pieces .. digestible, self-contained; easier to pick a few pieces to read, then physically discard
• TableOfContent .. slightly better than average

— Q2: Could a “magazine reading vacation” for half a day replace movies, and offer some recreational learning?
I think it’s feasible. There are other absorbency-enhancers operating at various physiological levels. Together they could offer an effective “break” from stressful work or tech study, and one of the most compelling alternatives to movies.

Movies are cheesier, lazier, more entertaining,,, than reading vacation. Movies are something I look forwrd to even though they are a cheap thrill.

( Even more appealing than magazines is library trip, but logistically difficult. Recall d2lib .. library was once my harbor/shelter. )

• #1 enhancer : random/passer-by companions .. Bayonne BK
• bright light (as in Bayonne BK) or table lamp
• aircon, background music or news television as in Bayonne BK
• ^^ for these reasons library_immersion in my younger days was enjoyable, and popular with China students.
• comfort food
• ^^ many solo learners/readers spend hours in a coffee restaurant  for these reasons.

Any reading vacation can hit distraction. You set aside half a day with a goal of recreational learning. You browse through a few magazines but soon get distracted by attention-grabbing news with pictures. Most of the news offer low “learning” value. At the end of the reading vacation, you have wasted half the earmarked hours. WeChatRead title (XH.Fu recommendation) used this opening scene. This phenomenon is more severe online, and rare with books.

— Novelty .. (or expectation thereof) is an important appetizer esp. for a reading vacation.

• eg: after I buy a tech book, I often leave it unopened, or hide its title from view, in order to “preserve the fresh attraction”, for months. After a while, I preview the TOC and pencil-mark specific items, but refrain from reading them. This practice has mixed effect but usually (51% chance) reduces the novelty level. I think the reduction is inevitable. What we can hope is a slow reduction, rather than wipe-out of novelty level during a first browse.
• eg: for a book or even a mag, the novelty can be wiped out after I read some x% or just 10%. Readers intuitively feel the same author (“editor” for a mag) has the same style in the unread sections. Those sections are therefore seen as “likely similar” to the visited sections.

A wipe-out is significant because the entire book (or a copy of a mag) would get shelved indefinitely, even though it might have some hidden gems.

Magazines (and newspapers) have better novelty value than books. In this regard, best magazines include 读者, Forbes, ReadersDigest. Themed magazines offer slightly lower novelty such as tech, health or parenting mag.

Luckily, 20Y old magazines mostly retain their fresh novelty, iFF the topics are slow-changing. Obviously, we need to ignore the news portions therein.

— TheEconomist =my #1 business magazine

• 🙂 dense, less easy reading, but with sufficient pictorials
• 🙂 more intellectual (or academic), more critical, more serious, less /cheesy/, less mass-market oriented, less “selling” than the other G5 business magazines. TheEconomist once boasted about its limited circulation.
• .. LKY and other statesmen quote TheEconomist more than the other international business magazines
• 🙂 more global than the American business magazines
• .. Yet it displays a (British) editorial stance, like newspaper journalism more than a magazine. (It fact, it gets censored in many countries that it criticizes.) I don’t know if I agree with their opinions, but I respect their conviction and the courage to take a stance.

Economist Intelligence Unit is respected like a university or a world-class research institute.

https://www.thebalancesmb.com/best-business-magazines-4176680 has concise opinions on 8 popular business magazines. TheEconomist is less about exclusive interviews, rankings, inspirational stories, recommendations (investment guides),,,