Welcome back to another bloghop, with #OpenBook. Here’s this week’s prompt.

Don’t forget to click the link to see what everyone else has to say on this week’s subject. It’s at the end of my post.

What was/is your favourite periodical from back in the day?

When I was at sea, I’d read anything, even the labels on the cereal packets. People would join the ship with up-to-date newspapers and a variety of magazines. They would be passed around and read until they fell to bits.

In a lot of foreign ports, you could also get English-language newspapers and periodicals. The date on them wasn’t too important. It was the content that you were after, that connection to life at home. There were the staples of news and current affairs like Time and Newsweek, as well as more UK-based offerings such as Punch and Private Eye, with their satirical look at life.

Because of the variety of what was on offer, and my desire to read as much as I could, I absorbed a lot of knowledge about things that I might not have otherwise taken an interest in.

Before the days of the internet, I liked magazines that dealt with science and technology, with new discoveries and their practical applications. I always liked reading about new inventions, then using my imagination to see what other uses they might have.

Magazines like New Scientist and Focus in the UK. Even now, in the internet age, I still look at the latest copies of them if I’m in a newsagent.

Basically, I just want to know everything there is to know about anything.

Because you never know when it might come in handy. Somewhere in my head, there’s a story evolving that’s going to need a fact I picked up many years ago.

What do you think about this week’s subject?

Let me know by leaving me a comment.

While you’re here, please click the InLinkz link to check out what my fellow writers have to say about this week’s topic.

I’ll be back with another post on Thursday. See you then. Meanwhile, have a great week.

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