With Memorial Day weekend in the rearview mirror, bikini season is just around the corner. There’s still time to find the right exercises, sunscreen, bathing suit, sundresses and salad recipes to get you prepared for the upcoming sweltering heat.
Long before there were selfies, there was Self magazine, the paean to narcissism that turned into a movement that has taken over many of the bookstore and magazine shelves. While much of the magazine offers the standard fare of workouts and sporty-looking bathing suits, we were impressed by the spread on salads — really.
The photos were fresh and the recipes inventive. Who knew there was a steak and peach salad? If we get one new idea we think we’re golden, but here’s another: replace croutons with roasted chickpeas. We also liked the Western wear spread and a nice promotion of chunky white sandals you can actually walk in. And you’ll have to walk, because you won’t be able to afford taxi fare after forking over about $1,200 for a pair of Christian Louboutins.
Women’s Health offers more of the same — with more emphasis on health than on working out. The design isn’t quite as mod as Self’s, but we’ve always been a fan of yellow highlighting, even if the phrase being highlighted is as inane as, “You have to kiss a lot of frogs — more than a dozen before you find a prince.”
Probably the biggest health tip is an article called “Exposed: Sun Mistakes You’re Probably Making.” It’s a good idea for a refresher course in case the sun ever comes out this summer. But our favorite is a really tragic story about country star Miranda Lambert, who thought she was chunky at a size 8 and lost 20 pounds to avoid tabloid shame.
When a magazine is called “Shape,” perhaps it’s not surprising that it has 22 boring pages of women with toned abs wearing crop tops and yoga pants in various exercise poses. Then there’s “The View” co-host Jenny McCarthy, who just wears her bikini panties and ties up a T-shirt under her breasts to make the same point before donning exercise gear to do a “star workout.”
We did like the series of swimsuit layouts in various designs, from flowers to candy, primarily because having one model surrounded by several bikini options reminded us of dressing paper dolls. But seriously, how many bathing suits does a magazine need to offer? The June issue of Shape, in case you’re wondering, has dozens.
Fitness is the least interesting of the bunch, we’re sorry to report, but at least it had only nine pages of exercise poses. We did find its sunburn warnings helpful, and we also were impressed by a feature on kickboxing, which took the exercise tips to a new level. Another article, on new ways to use the grill — like peach and rhubarb crumble — was unusual enough to merit a read.
The timing should be right for a behind-the-scenes look at Hillary Clinton and how the assumed Democratic presidential candidate responds to Karl Rove’s suggestion, later softened, that she might have brain damage. New Yorker’s renowned media critic Ken Auletta offers a cover story that’s just a tease with few real details. Auletta provides more insight on the conservative media attacking Hillary than Hillary herself. This feels like he missed the story.
Clinton is close to publishing a memoir, “Hard Choices,” giving her side of how as secretary of state she handled the Benghazi, Libya, attack that killed an American ambassador. Auletta gives no details as to what the former secretary of state plans to say in her defense, even though her explanation of the alleged cover-up may be the key to her election prospects. Elsewhere there’s an interview with Richard Williams, father of tennis greats Venus and Serena. He reveals how he wore a Ku Klux Klan hood to launch a sneak attack against a white man when growing up in Shreveport, La.
Time Inc. is preparing to spin off from Time Warner June 6, becoming essentially a new company. And to raise more revenue the new Time has a barely visible advertisement on its cover under the bar code. The good news is the new issue tackles some interesting and under-covered topics. A cover story on “Saving Preemies” details advances in just the last two years.
We also like a feature on hedge-fund billionaire Tom Steyer and his campaign to fund candidates who aim to do something about climate change. He plans to spend $50 million on 2014 campaigns. There is an ironic twist in that; while severe drought is gripping much of the country, climate change is not polling as a big political issue. So Steyer, to a degree, is having a hard time getting politicos to champion his cause.