Back in my flush days as a public library assistant, I actually subscribed to Publishers Weekly magazine, which is a weekly publication and can get quite pricey.* But it didn't matter--I loved my PW, and read it from cover to cover each week without fail.
Now that I no longer subscribe, I haven't looked at a PW in a long time. So imagine my shock when I picked up an issue from the library and it felt like a shadow of its former self. It used to be quite the dense magazine, packed with articles and reviews and sales charts, and each issue actually had some heft. No longer...although I see the per-issue price is still a hefty $8.
It may be a shadow of its former self, but I still enjoy it as a magazine. It glories in its nerdy love of books, bookselling, and book reviewing; in the issue I read there was an article about the National Book Awards, how the Bible is a perpetual bestseller, a list of hot new books internationally, and the story of a small indie bookstore in Wisconsin. And, of course, there were the same old publisher ads (which I love to peruse) and the reviews, which I always found refreshingly honest, even though PW is a magazine that is definitely interested in selling books. There is no lame policy here (like there is at Booklist) of only printing positive reviews, and some of the negative book reviews in PW have been the ones I've enjoyed the most.
I won't be subscribing anymore. But I'll have to remember to pick PW up at the library once in a while again.
*This should tell you how much one can make as an editorial freelancer--when one can look back at one's library paycheck as the "flush days."
I used to subscribe in the eighties. Flush days, indeed. I learned so much from those pages. I also used to subscribe to Horn Book. Do you know it?
Posted by: Nan | 24 November 2010 at 08:57 AM
Ah, flush days. May they return.
I've heard of Horn Book but never looked at it--sadly, kids' books have never really been of much interest to me. (Nobody tell CRjr.) Is Horn Book a good publication?
Posted by: Citizen Reader | 24 November 2010 at 10:44 AM
Horn Book only does positive reviews giving starred reviews to the best books.
I have a new YA books for you - Numbers by Rachel Ward. A great debut novel by a British author. Best of all - quick read!
Posted by: Venta | 24 November 2010 at 03:18 PM
You can get online access, although it's trickier to navigate. The review link is WAY down on the bottom of the screen.
Posted by: Sarah | 30 November 2010 at 11:42 AM