When I'm alone, I read books, but I'm not going to pull out a novel at the dinner table and ignore my family. My wife and I tend to casually browse Reddit and other similar sites while having a conversation.
We're looking for something analog that can keep us entertained without setting a bad example for our baby. In a perfect world, we would just put away all distractions and live in the moment, but that's not a realistic solution for us.
We subscribe to Wired magazine, but it's mostly filled with long articles. I'm looking for something with fun pictures, quick blurbs, and maybe some recipes.
For the past few days, I've been bringing a cookbook to dinner. I flip through recipes, and show my wife the ones I like. Entertainment Weekly also kind of works. Rob Anderson's mock textbook Gay Science is fun. We're looking for other ideas like these.
by il_biciclista
5 Comments
Possibly out of genre for you but Vogue magazine. They also have a coffee table book called Vogue: Fantasy and Fashion and possibly others. There are articles in Vogue but mostly it’s fashion photography, including the ads.
Oh gosh. Either of the books by Brandon Stanton who has written two books based on his Humans of New York series. They are essentially photos with elaborate captions. They make for great conversation and are beautiful coffee table books.
The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green is a collection of essays that are beautifully written and reflective.
Material World: A Global Family Portrait by Peter Menzel is one of my favorite coffee table books. Photos and descriptions of “average” households from around the world with all furniture/ household items displayed in front of the dwelling. It’s not current (~10 yrs) but fascinating. Worth hunting for a copy.
I just got a couple of coffee table books about French country estates. Mostly because the photography is lovely, but there’s a lot of great captions about the history of the houses and the regions.
National Geographic (normal, history, and they even have a “food” version), Log Cabin Living, Cooks Illustrated, Milk Street, Gastronomica