Leafing through magazines is a summer pasttime.

One of the great indulgences of a late summer vacation is not only reading books, but flipping through the September fashion magazines.

Except I couldn’t find any in Maine, despite searching two grocery stores and three pharmacies for the Vogue featuring Serena Williams on the cover. Thanks to my friend, Annie, I got a bonus vacation for just us moms when she invited me for a long weekend only a week after my family and I left Vacationland. 

For years, as our kids played in the sand, we would leaf through the magazines: Vogue, InStyle, Elle, Harper’s Bazaar. Now, many have pivoted to digital with some putting out occasional special print versions. Magazine racks at stores have shrunk or disappeared.

I love magazines. When I was a kid, I’d go with my mother to the grocery store and head  to the magazine rack, the best kind of baby sitter. There I would read Mad, Seventeen and TigerBeat while she shopped. (One of my favorite things now is to go to Barnes and Noble in the Colonie Center mall and spend some time in the vast magazine section. I usually pick up Dwell, Domino and the always gorgeous Upstate Diary.)

As I got older, I subscribed to Seventeen and tried to style my new school clothes like the models. I hoped to write for Mademoiselle, but that magazine disappeared before I started freelancing.    

During the pandemic lockdown, I subscribed once again to magazines. My eyes hurt after hours on the computer with virtual meetings, so I rested my eyes by feasting on fashion. I missed clothes and dressing up. 

I stored the pile of Vogues I accumulated during the pandemic in my older daughter’s room/guest room and she enjoyed looking at them when she came home for a visit.  

Magazines are being replaced by Instagram and digital newsletters. Social media and reels come at us fast. It’s hard to process or remember. I save many images online, but rarely go back. A magazine slows you down.

Back in Maine, all was not lost despite the dearth of magazines. We read our books on the porch and on the beach. On a stormy afternoon, we checked out the excellent Katherine Bradford exhibit at the Portland Art Museum (free on Fridays). We then hit Sherman’s Maine Coast Book Shop. I highly recommend having a bibliophile friend like Annie. We kept showing each other titles that we read and pointing out books we want to read. We were on an Elizabeth Strout kick, fitting since she’s from Maine and many of her books are set there. Annie had picked up “Oh William!” on our earlier summer trip to New York City, which made me buy it at home. Then I found “Anything is Possible.” She looked for “Olive Kitteridge,” but they were out. When our kids were little, we read another Maine author on the beach: the late Anita Shreve, who lived not too far from where we vacation. 

I found “Olive Kitteridge” for her at our tiny grocery store in Maine, where they sell books, along with sandwiches, sunblock and their famous cinnamon buns. 

The Vogue thing still bothered me. Later, when I got home, I found the magazine at my local CVS. Annie also tracked one down. I then got a birthday surprise. Annie texted me to say a gift was on its way and she was going to call in as well. When I checked my email, there was a ticket to Strout’s Sept. 20 Zoom talk about her new book, “Lucy by the Sea.” 

Like I said, I highly recommend a friend like Annie.

Since 2006, Donna Liquori has written the Bibliofiles column, which explores the culture of reading, and also contributes features for the paper. A former Associated Press and Times Union staffer, her work's appeared in the New York Times and other publications. She lives in a century-old house in Delmar and can be reached at donnaliquori@gmail.com.