My New Favourite Thing

I've been reading books on my iPhone, and then my iPad mini, for a few years now. I still read the ol'fashioned paper kind too but I have certainly come to appreciate the convenience and portability of books on electronic devices.

Heck, I used to lug three or four hardcovers on vacation with me. Now I download a few before I leave and they all fit nicely into my purse. As long as I keep the battery charged, I have hours of reading pleasure at my fingertips.

It's a pretty sweet setup.

Recently, I've made a new discovery.

Magazines.

Magazines and I have a love hate relationship.

I love them. I love buying them. I love reading them. I love the shiny pages and the fabulous photos. I love the variety and I love how much I can learn in a leisurely afternoon of page turning on the deck.

I hate how they pile up so quickly and how, once I've read them once, they sit on shelves never to be opened again. I get rid of stacks of them every few years when I start running out of room.

Imagine my excitement when I discovered that I can buy a magazine, or a magazine subscription, on my iPad.

I started off with some easy reading fluffy stuff right before my trip to Israel. I got a subscription to Vogue and one to Elle Canada. Super cheap and guaranteed to keep me occupied for at least a small chunk of my 23-hour journey.

Last month, I discovered that I could get a subscription to Triathlete magazine. The night before Gravenhurst I signed up for a year subscription and enjoyed a leisurely read in bed. I checked out pictures of the latest triathlon gear, read all about the latest training plans and learned about the best recovery foods. I felt so 'triathletic' as Doug calls it.

Yesterday, I signed up for Runners World. I've bought that magazine off the rack enough times to make a subscription worth it.

Now, every week or so, I get a notification saying that the latest issue of one of my magazines is out. I download it in a few seconds and spend the next few days lingering over the pages, the stories and the photos. (By the way, the photos are even more stunning on an iPad than they are in print.)

These emagazines are a little dangerous though. It's just too easy to click 'subscribe'. Yesterday, I almost signed up for Golf Magazine and Cycling Magazine - because I had gone golfing and cycling on the weekend and wanted to get better at both. I'm sure I would learn a lot from either of them and I'm sure I would enjoy reading them.

But c'mon! Really?!?

I've never bought either of them at the store and yet I'm willing to put down my $19.99 for a year subscription sight unseen?

I'm exercising restraint...for now.

At least until I get through my first issue of Runners' World.