I’ve always had a soft spot for magazines. It’s the MTV generation in me — we have short attention spans and are easily distracted by big, glossy pictures. Oooh, look! Pretty pictures! I’m still loyal to a good, hardback book, but I also can’t resist a good magazine, on almost any topic.

Many times over the years I’ve had to cut back my weekly/monthly subscriptions because all of those magazines were just piling up at the door. I still oversubscribe, since I don’t have much time these days to read anything more than People. Which I read cover to cover. Every week. Since 1989. That means this (and last) year’s issues of O Magazine are making a nice door stop in my living room until I have a long airplane ride or pool day to get through them.

l have a hard time not picking up any new magazine in reach. When I’m at my mother’s house, I read her Southern Livings; if I’m at the beach, I read my aunt’s Good Housekeeping; if I’m in an airport, I pick up Vanity Fair or In Style. It’s a problem, so thank goodness for recycling.

Aside from my patronage, the magazine industry — like the rest of print journalism — seems to be dying a slow death. But thanks to some enterprising editors, some magazines are reviving themselves online. That even launched a new genre for home decor magazines, now called “online shelter magazines.” My interests as of late definitely skew to home decor (still concerned with furnishing the not-so-new-anymore abode) and food (as always).  So when I have downtime at work — or, heck, make the downtime — I browse the online magazines below. The content is stellar, the photos are incredible, and no one had to kill any trees. It’s a win-win for everyone! Plus the sites launch a page viewer that allows you to flip the pages just as if you were reading it in hard copy. You don’t lose out on any of the experience, really.

If you’re bored and need something to browse online, check out these links to some of my new favorite magazines. You may find new inspiration for your home, garden or kitchen:

• Lonny — Lonny was one of the first online magazines out of the gate, or at least the first I knew about. I never read the much-lauded print magazine Domino, but when it closed in 2009, two of its staff members created Lonny. The layout is clean and the interiors and decor finds are unique and modern.
• Sweet Paul — creative but simple (and beautifully styled!) food and recipes.
• Pure Green Living — environmentally-friendly home decor, gardening tips and recipes.
• Rue — innovative and interesting home decor.