Magazines... What are you reading, and why?

Like a lot of you guys i read a lot of magazines. I'm not a huge fan of the television, so i read instead. I tend to do my reading mostly in the morning while eating my porridge. Yum! So i got to thinking, what is everyone else reading, and why? What makes it so good in your opinion? For me, for the most part i like the artwork, the photography. But i do read the articles too. I don't really stick to many magazines, and there are not many that i buy every month. One that i did buy every month and read cover to cover was the old Street Machine magazine. I bought that every month without fail, and even had the first one, man, i miss that magazine, it was great. Another magazine i miss is the old Chrome & Flames magazine, this as i remember wasn't the best from an editorial point of view, but the photos were great, and infact whenever i find myself in Germany, or France i usually end up seeking out a copy of Chrom & Flammen and buying it. The only magazine that i buy every issue of is The Rodders Journal. I have bought every one since the beginning, and i still very much enjoy the fantastic photography, and the brilliant stories. The writing in The Rodders Journal is superb, and really, there is no other magazine quite like it. Apart from that, all the magazines i buy are whatever takes my eye when i'm in the newsagents. I'll often buy Retro Cars, and Practical Performance Cars, most, but not every month, i used to really enjoy Retro Cars, but i feel it's not as good as it once was, and i find myself being lured away more and more by PPC. The other magazines i buy are even more sporadic. Every once in a while i will buy Land Rover Owner, HOT ROD, Back Street Heroes, Practical Classics, Fast Car, Top Gear, and various other magazines that take my eye at the time. I must admit though, whenever i buy the likes of Fast Car, and Top Gear, i am usually dissapointed by the content. For example, i have just bought this months copy of Top Gear, y'know, the one with the ginger fella on the cover! I'm not a big fan of Chris Evans, but i wanted to see what he had to say about being the new host of TG. Oddly, i enjoyed his article, and it was nice to read that some people have lost more money buying and selling cars than me! However, out of the whole magazine, this was the only article that i really enjoyed, the rest i found a bit to facty, and dry, and even a bit dull, but thats probably just me. I also find it a bit strange that a magazine published by the BBC has soo many adverts! And speaking of adverts, is it just me, or are the magazines getting more and more full of adverts? I remember when at one time you bought a magazine, and the stories out numbered the adverts, in the current Retro Cars magazine there are 98 pages, not including the front and back cover, but there are 27 pages of adverts (including the front and back cover). Now i understand that advertising is big business, and it makes sense to sell pages to advertisers. But, when you're paying £4.40 for a magazine, then i want a bit more car stories for my money! But as bad as that is, it's even worse if you buy a magazine from over the pond, the current issue of HOT ROD magazine costs £4.30, and has 122 pages, 62 of which are adverts! Like i say though, advertising helps pay for the magazine, and they would have us believe that without the sponsorship of the advertisers the magazine would be a lot more expensive... Or would it? Anybody read HAYBURNER magazine? I pick up an issue whenever i see the guys at a show etc, and the last one i picked up was about 6 months ago, but it's got 102 pages, and of those 102 pages it has 54 pages of adverts, i realise that this is over 50%, but here's the thing, it's free, it's well written, the photography is good, it's interesting, and it's FREE!! Although, if you subscribe you have to pay £7.99 to cover the postage! If you are an air cooled VW enthusiast it's well worth the postage fee! I'm not however an air cooled VW enthusiast, although i really do think i should subscribe and stop being such a cheap ass and hoping to run into them at shows! My point here though is this, if the guys at HAYBURNER can put out a quality magazine for free, how come the mainstream magazines can't make thier products a little cheaper?

Anyway, back to the point of magazines that i read. Some might argue that magazines like The Rodders Journal are more like books, i think people call them bookzines these days, and maybe thats a more descriptive term, as they come out quarterly, and cost about £20 a quarter (i think) and this is including postage. Ok, that is quite a bit, but that only makes it a fiver more per quarter than the likes of PPC, and the quality is better in TRJ, and there's a lower percentage of pages devoted to advertising. Other bookzines i've gotton into of late is Dice magazine, this is an interesting little publication, mostly about bikes, but with the odd car and naked lady thrown in for good measure. It's quite a nice little publication (although there is far too much swearing in it for me), and it's clear that it's put together by enthusiasts who care more about the story, and the photographs, than selling a product. I don't get it all the time, but when i see it, i usually by three or four different issues at a time, despite their thickness, they don't take long to read as they're mostly photos, which i like. The latest magazine i've got into is FUEL magazine from Australia, again, another bookzine, and a bit pricey, but a lovely product which has great photography and good stories. I initially picked up issue #15 about a year or so ago from WH Smith in Weymouth, but have not been able to find them in my local WH Smith, but i enjoyed it so much, that i finally just ordered some from Australia via the bay of E. I bought myself issues 6, 7, and 8, and when funds permit, and i've finished reading them i shall buy a few more! Speaking of bookzines, are their any published from the UK, about the 'scene' in the UK, or is it something that only gets published in the U.S. and Australia?

So what are you guys reading? Any recommendations?