Travel to Bali or Your Bathroom with Digital Magazines

Illustration by Jennifer Baer, society6.com/jenniferbaer

Two years ago, Spike Jonze paid a visit to his friend Mike Diamond’s house. The Beastie Boy, whom Jonze has known since the early 90s, had broken his arm. So when Jonze needed to select some photos for Diamond and Adam “Ad-Rock” Horovitz’s Beastie Boys Book, he sent flowers and brought the images to Diamond in person.

AWWW that’s sweet. Did y’all know Spike Jonze was such a chill guy? Flowers for his dude friend. So begins a blurb that kicks off this month’s The Mix column in Rolling Stone magazine. I’m taking my iPad and the treasure trove of magazines it contains on a vacation to the bathroom. It has been a long week, it is raining outside, and all I want is a soothing bath, some Epsom salts to ease the trap muscles I’m building (GAINS) hunching over my screen every day, and a non-taxing juicy series of  blurbs to nibble on in small doses. Perhaps with a few links in case I want to shop for things and just leave them in the online cart for some retail therapy.

Variety Without Baggage

Whether it is a quarantine trip in my house or even the future day that I will be waiting for a Real ID at the DMV, I usually bring a whole raft of the newest digital magazines along. What makes digital magazines so great is aside from the obvious advantage of avoiding activities like driving across the Arizona desert with 45 pounds of potential paper cuts wedged above my head in the sun visor of a cramped rental car, you can bookmark articles, cut and paste pictures, and create mood boards or curations on sites like Pinterest. *Swoon.* Best of all they are all free with your library card!

From All Recipes to Yoga Journal, Spanish titles, lifestyle magazines of all sorts, and just pure delightful gossip, Flipster and OverDrive (Libby) deliver you browsing without the baggage.

Flipster

Flipster is your digital newsstand on your computer or mobile devices that provides access to best-selling digital magazines from top publishers including National Geographic, Conde Nast, Meredith and Bloomberg L.P. If you used Flipster in the past, you might find that your favorite digital magazines have moved to OverDrive (Libby). You still have access to more than 100 digital magazines, we just aren’t duplicating titles on the two platforms. You can check out as many Flipster titles as you want! So make sure to check both apps if one doesn't have the title you want.

OverDrive (Libby)

You may already know OverDrive. It’s kind of the grandpa of apps around here. OverDrive’s new app is called Libby. You can use either as they provide the same materials. Libby is just the newer sleeker version. There are never any lines or holds for magazines on either OverDrive or Flipster. Magazines checked out on OverDrive count toward your 10 items at a time on your bookshelf limit, so when you're done - check it back in.

From Atomic Ranch to Writer’s Digest, Flipster and OverDrive have something for everyone. Not to mention that unlike physical magazines, nobody can tell you are reading something gossipy like People from the bright dust jacket recognizable across the waiting room. You can read WHATEVER YOU WANT under the cover of your tablet or phone without concern of judgment. Find something that fits and entertains you. Take care of yourself. As the quote of mysterious origins says, “wherever you go, there you are.” So take your magazines with you.

Illustration by Jennifer Baer

But you should totally click purchase on your cart for these poster souvenirs of your stay.

Bon Voyage!