It’s only been a few weeks, but I miss The New Yorker already. I’ve shared a subscription with my brother and father for the past couple of years, and found the magazine incomparable in terms of the quality and depth of its reporting. It’s the only magazine I read regularly.
When I’m traveling, I’ll sometimes indulge in lighter fare like Esquire, Details or Wired, but that’s the extent of things in the analogue world. My online reading inevitably sends me all over the place, from The Atlantic to Slate.
But July has been the month to go all-Canadian for books and magazine, so I have to give up my American magazines and magazine sites. Where does that leave me on this side of the border?
Macleans – My father used to read Mcleans religiously when I was young. I usually just read the movie reviews and Allan Fotheringham’s backpage column. It’s my impression that, in recent years, the magazine has morphed into a hyper-ventilating mouthpiece of conservative Canada, but I honestly haven’t picked an issue up in a decade. I’ll buy one and test my assumptions.
The Walrus – Early in its life, I gave The Walrus several tries. Ultimately, though, it didn’t stick. I can’t quite say why.
Geist – I’ve read Geist off-and-on for years, though I’ve never felt really compelled by its brand of showily-brainy non-fiction. As it happens, I’ve written a couple small items for this magazine, all of them at the less brainy end of the scale.
Canadian Geographic - My Mom used to get this magazine. I almost exclusively looked at the pretty pictures.
Sharp – I just discovered this in the Toronto airport. It’s seems to be positioned as Canada’s Esquire. The issue I read had Bradley Cooper on the cover. It was unremarkable.
Though I’ve never read it, several people have recommended Toronto Life to me. What’s your favourite Canadian magazine?
Just found out about your quest. Would I have the disciplineto do this? Probably not and congratulate you for your efforts. Lots to see in your archives so I better get busy.
As for magazines try “Our Canada” and “More Our Canada”, two human interest Canadiana magazines that are mostly written by the readers. It is a Readers Digest publication
Good Luck with your efforts
JB
Although it’s a little girly, Chatelaine has really become a great magazine. It’s full of interesting articles and recipes and even exercises. And if you have a hankering for some new recipes to try, Canadian Living is good for that (and they’ll also often make them with seasonal, local produce!)
Check out Eighteen Bridges- for long form journalism. It’s only 2 issues in, but my dad said, “I like this a lot better than The Walrus”
https://eighteenbridges.com/ProsePointRoot/page/spring-2011
I used to like Maisonneuve, before it got too Montreal specific and now that I’m in Alberta, I enjoy reading “Alberta views.”
I also read Quill and Quire, but that’s only likely to interest those who work in book related industries.
I have enjoyed MORE since its inception. I am now hoping that they can create another version (MORE PLUS?) for those of us who are over sixty years of age. I recycle my copies of MORE to my mother, my mother in law, and a friend from the United States who is living in Bulgaria. They all enjoy it.
You should check out https://www.magazinescanada.ca/consumer for a comprehensive Canadian magazine list. There’s SOOOO much out there. My husband really enjoys Maisonneuve (it’s a quarterly of arts, opinion and ideas). You could also check out your fellow bloggers on Canadian magazines at Canadianmags.blogspot.com.
It’s more narrow than general interest, but Spacing Magazine is always visually engaging and intellectually stimulating when it comes to the Canadian urban experience.
I loved the Walrus the first year it was out. Then something changed and it lost me. I was really hoping that the Walrus would be Canada’s answer to Harpers or Atlantic Monthly. Our subscription is almost over and if I have my way we are not renewing it.
I love Macleans. Yes they can be leaned a little to the right but I am not worried as I spend enough time listening to the Mother Corp to be influenced the ‘wrong’ way.
I hate Chatelaine. Be wary if you subscribe to Macleans, Chatelaine will try to get you too!
If you are looking for a GREAT Canadian magazine, try to find Arabella, it comes out 4 times a year and I can’t say enough great things about it. The magazine has well over 200 pages of all Canadian content. Another great thing about this magazine is the publicity, it’s NOT filled with L’Oreal, Polo, Guess or any of the other huge publicity campaigns we see in every other magazine. It’s all publicity from small to mid-size stores with or sometimes two locations. They are not afraid to put lots of great pictures. Articles can be anywhere from 2 to 12 pages. A great magazine. You can find them on Facebook as well. They even have an iPad app. The website is https://www.arabelladesign.com. Hope you enjoy it!
Darren,
How did this month go for you? Hopefully it wen’twell and you didn’t miss non-Canadian sourced books and magazines too much.
bobby
Darren, regarding books…Just last week I learned about Linwood Barclay, a Canadian author from Ontario. I bought (and read over the weekend) his thriller called “Never Look Away”. Very good and I highly recommend it.
https://linwoodbarclay.com/
Darren
Will you be writing a book of your own to document your experiences and challenges learned from this project. A book would be quite educational for all on the subject and would be no doubt interesting. When might that that book be available?
bobby
Alberta Views! Try it out, I think you’ll like it.