Spans The Generations

Now that I have two kids, I’ve found it difficult to do as much reading as I would like. There never seems to be enough uninterrupted time in the day to concentrate long enough to really get into a novel. I’ve become more addicted to magazines as a result. I can read a few articles, put it down and not return to it for weeks. Then I just pick up where I left off. My husband and I subscribe to two parenting magazines and each of us also subscribe to others which interest us. Redbook is my magazine of choice.

I’ve been subscribing to Redbook for years. At $10 for 12 issues, it’s a bargain. It’s around 200 pages long and packed with articles women of many ages will enjoy. It really spans the generations as far as appealing to a wide age range.

If you think of a magazine like Cosmopolitan or Glamour with supermodels on the cover and numerous articles on sex, dating and office politics, that won’t hold the interest of all women. Then again, the magazines with a piece of pie or a bouquet of flowers on the cover filled with helpful household hints and creative furniture arranging will lose the interest of others, such as the young single woman.

Great Covers

One thing I like about Redbook is that it features a different celebrity, usually a woman, on the cover with an interview inside. The interviews are very candid and intimate. In fact, I’ve noticed many tabloid articles using information they got out of an interview in this magazine for their stories. But Redbook gets it directly from the source. I like hearing their personal stories. It beats having a model on the cover who serves no real purpose and adds personality to the magazine. For instance, Kelly Preston and her newborn daughter grace the cover of September, while Michelle Pfeiffer was on August’s cover and talked about her family in the article. There are never tasteless captions on the cover you would hate for your child to see like Cosmopolitan has.

Even Better Inside

I love that Redbook has what I call short attention span articles. They have numerous mini articles on many pages. I can skim through and read a couple when I have a few minutes to spare.

They also have monthly features which are in each magazine. In the magazine’s introduction, Lesley Jane Seymour, Redbook’s editor in chief and a young mother, speaks about one of the featured stories that month. For instance, if the subject is stress, she goes into detail about the stresses in her own life. It it’s food poisoning, she will relate a personal experience on that. After that, the magazine’s other monthly features begin:

Red Letters-In this reader’s letters section, a Red hot reader of the month is shown with a short article about their personal life.

Free Stuff-This is a giveaway section with products from perfume to furniture you may register to be eligible for. A limited amount of merchandise is given to those selected.

Red Alert/Ob Gyn-This is a page of short articles on a woman’s gynecological health. Medical updates, tips and questions and answers are included. There is also the ‘embarrassing question of the month’.

Red Alert/Body & Mind-News on mood, behavior and general health. For instance, anger management, losing weight, sleep disturbances.

Red Alert/Health- A more in-depth health article taking up several pages.

Red Alert/Eat Smart-All the latest news on diets, weight loss and eating healthy.

Red Alert/Fitness-Step-by-step demonstrations of exercises you can perform and discussions about which area they target.

Red Hot Hair-Hairstyles for all lengths of hair, sometimes featuring celebrities, styling products and tips.

Red Hot Beauty-All the latest makeup styles and tips for application.

Red Hot Fashion-The latest in shoes, clothes, trends and accessories.

Red Hot Sex-very short articles and Q & A’s about sex.

Love-Features guy’s confessions about love and short articles.

Red Hot Celeb-A short intervies with a different celebrity than the one featured on the cover or several celebrities giving an answer to the same question asked to all of them.

Passionate Monogamy with John Gray-Questions from readers answered by famous author John Gray about love and sex.

Secret Self-Advice on spending quality time alone recharging, sometimes given by other readers.

Red in The Face-This is my favorite. Readers send in their most embarrassing stories. It never fails to make me laugh out loud.

Stress-Free Zone-Simple ways to add calm to your life, including tips from readers and a question and answer.

Saving Time-Time saving tips. For instance: 5 secrets to getting out of the office at 5:00, save 20 minutes every morning, quick party planning.

Mommy Strategies-Parenting tips and advice.

Keeping Them Healthy-Tips on children’s health.

Be a Better Parent-Yet another informative parenting article.

There are also several pages of great recipes that I’ve found to be both easy and delicious. In the monthly article Quick Fix, four simple versions of a specific recipe such as pie, fruit dessert, or cake are given.

Last Laugh-The final page is devoted to a cartoon reminiscent of Mad Magazine. They are always hilarious.

On top of that, it’s full of terrific articles on real people. There was the mom who lost her son to a tainted hamburger, a woman with a serious gambling problem, women who were stalked, a mother who pinned a murder rap on her own teenager and much more.

There is always an in-depth and tastefully done article on sex or marriage-nothing hard core. Recently there was a Hunky Husband contest including a centerfold of the winning man and two pages of runners up and their adorable babies.

Frequently there are list-type articles. What I mean by that is there are stories titled, “101 ways to…” or “10 reasons to..”. I enjoy them when they are short. Sometimes it becomes tedious when they are very long.

There is lots of advertising in the magazine, all of it pertaining to makeup or hair products. There are no diaper ads or cleaning product ads. Frequently, good coupons are included, and occasionally even some free offers.

One thing I miss is a monthly serial they used to run called, ‘The Diary of B’. It was a short fiction article about the secret life of a married woman I enjoyed very much. They ended the series and changed it to the ‘Diary of V’ for a short time. That article can still be found in the magazine’s website: http//www.redbookmag.com. Instead of the series, there is often a short fiction story.

There is always something to keep me reading. When I’m done, I pass them on to my mom. Redbook is truly a magazine almost any woman can enjoy.