I know a lot of stay-at-home mothers who are offended by the title Working Mother . They would say: "Hey, we're working mothers!" And they would be right.

I like food ("too much," sez Ms. Cardiologist). I like wine ("too much," sez Mr. Parole Officer). So it would stand to reason that I'd like Food & Wine, a stylish bible for foodies and oenophiles alike. But I don't.

The music magazine embodies the earnest, anti-hipster attitude of the generation of new indie rockers. The tag line is "good music will prevail."

I feel massively gypped by the October issue of Men's Health. You see, the cover promises me "759 Ways to Improve [My] Life," yet my thorough examination of the issue reveals a mere 748.5 self-betterment hints. That's false advertising in its most noxious, hurtful form.

American Elle magazine is 21, and the editors are celebrating by putting a pregnant Britney Spears on the cover. It's ironic that this former middle-America sex kitten with her signature exposed belly is now covering her bump with an Empire-waist gown.

There is little about the Oprah Winfrey media empire that I don't find inordinately entertaining. Her magazine, however, seems to have taken her worshipful and easily led audience for granted. O, The Oprah Magazine relies on the tried and true--as well it should, given the brand's beyond-reproach status--meaning that we're treated to recipes and book lists and what I'll elegantly describe as "a really big photograph of Idaho." But while that might be a smart business decision, it doesn't exactly make for scintillating reading.

Esquire is written for men, but it is not a men's magazine--unlike, say, the new Men's Vogue.Esquire doesn't try hard to be manly--it just is, and therefore, 30 percent of its readers are women.

It was with blithe ignorance that I picked up the 35th anniversary issue of Foreign Policy, the unashamedly wonkish title published by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. While it doesn't exactly make foreign policy palatable for the unwashed masses, it explores globalism in a way that's neither preachy nor Pollyannish. As such, maybe it's a little surprising that Foreign Policy isn't often mentioned in the same breath as The Economist or The Atlantic Monthly.

The premiere issue of Men's Vogue, edited by Jay Fielden, a former Vogue editor, is well done, and it definitely hits the more masculine side of the fancy boy trend--although it basically covers the same departments as its sister pub: fashion, beauty, art, food, design, and rich people.

Whether gazing at butterflies or enduring the vulgar spectacle of "The Swan," I'm fascinated by before-and-after transformations. So when the Travel Savvy folks sent along their newly spiffy September/October issue along with copies of pre-redesign older ones, I decided to size them up with the practiced snobbery of Simon Cowell at a fourth-grade vocal showcase.