put the kettle up, lock up the kids, and smack you man with a wok!!! (Take A Break)

Member Name: mrbusy62

Product:	Take A Break
Date:	12/09/09 (26 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: always a chance to win a prize

Disadvantages: feminist slant

Okay, so it's a woman's magazine. And I'm a bloke. But I still love this magazine. I rarely read the big article though. That's my wife's job. I buy this in the vain hope that my puzzle entry will be drawn from the millions of others and I get a cheque for £3000 or a holiday or a care.

Now priced at 78p it's a cheap alternative to a lot of weekly mags and it does what it sets out to do. It provides short ten to fifteen minute breaks away from housework, work, the kids, whatever. I do all the puzzles except the codeword and rarely struggle with the answers. Often you can guess the prize word and still have half a puzzle left to do. I have never won yet, though I am sure you will hear me if I do.........I'll be in the big plane overhead on my way to Barbados cheering all the way.

The puzzles range from crosswords to word search, Sudoku to find the picture. They are occasionally taxing but mostly logical. They take no more than the 15 minutes you have spare and make a cup of tea more enjoyable. Let's face it. You'd probably end up watching Jeremy Kyle otherwise.

There are a lot of true reader's stories (okay I have read a few). They are not literary works of art but they are sincere and some people will find this upsetting. Then there is the photos at the front with comments like 'Look how cute my 2 year old niece is with chocolate sauce smeared from top to toe'. I have a good laugh at these as I can imagine the pictures making an appearance at an embarrassing 18th birthday.

There is also a section where you can put your man in the stocks of he's forgotten your birthday or like the last one I read bought his wife a wok for their 47th anniversary. How she never made the 'I battered my man to death with a wok on our 47th anniversary' headline is beyond me. Still, it's all in good fun and the campaign for women to have the weekend off and men do all the work is hilarious.

There are also the usual adverts for boring, sensible shoes and incontinence products promising a drier life. In addition you get the occasion insert for a table shaped like a pile of books that serves no real purpose. And every week without fail is an insurance plan for over 50's endorsed by June Whitfield or some other aging celeb.

So why do I get it, like I said, chasing the money. It's a good way to kill a tea break at work or an excuse to sit on my butt for a bit and zone out of high decibel kids.

And yes, it is aimed at women, but this is one man who is in touch with his feminine side and doesn't mind a bit.

Summary: excellent magazine for the money