Sections of the Sunday New York Times, Ranked in Order From Most to Least Favorite

I think this is very revealing.

Book Review

I love curling up with the Book Review. I love books, and I like reading reviews of books that I might want to read, or at least know about. The inside back cover usually has a piece on some quirky literature/publishing topic. And the letters section often features some snobby academic catfight – those are fun to read.

Magazine

First of all, it’s got the Sunday crossword and the secondary puzzle – a double-crostic every other week, alternating with a Cryptic Crossword or a Diagramless (my favorite) or something random. And I usually find at least a couple of the extended magazine pieces interesting. I almost always like the first piece in the magazine, which explores some political topic. I find Deborah Solomon’s short interviews annoying; the Ethicist is fun, Rob Walker’s “Consumed” is okay, and William Safire’s “On Language” is delightful. I’m not sure what to make of the new Funny Pages. I like Chris Ware’s comic, but I have no interest in the “humor” piece or in Elmore Leonard’s ongoing serial.

Arts & Leisure

Theater news, theater ads, TV news, classical music, film – who wouldn’t love this? I like Jesse Green’s theater pieces.

International/National News

The meat and potatoes of the paper. International is not as interesting as national, though.

Metro

Same as above. News is good.

Styles

When this section first began appearing, my dad would jokingly refer to it as “the comics.” Yeah, this section plays to the worst stereotypes of snobby Manhattanites, but it’s a fun read. In the last few years I’ve paid more attention to the wedding announcements – every so often there’s someone I remember from childhood, and I love seeing University of Virginia references. The Modern Love column is hit or miss – sometimes interesting, sometimes whiny.

Week in Review

I read the editorials, op-eds and letters every day, but Sunday also has Frank Rich; he’s so cathartic. Plus a few political cartoons and several nice articles that have more analytical takes on the week’s news and politics.

Real Estate

I like the “Living In” page, I like skimming “The Hunt.” I like seeing if Montclair is listed in the New Jersey row of the sample housing chart. I like “On the Market” and enjoy looking at the “pros” and “cons” of each listed property. The “cons” are often unintentionally funny as the writer tries to come up with some drawback about what looks like a fabulous piece of property. My favorite from last week, about a loft: “For privacy, some buyers might want to add walls inside.” Uh, it’s a loft.

The City

Nice NYC neighborhoody-type stuff. Reading this makes me feel like a real New Yorker. I much prefer this to the New Jersey section, which came with the paper when I lived in Jersey City.

Television

Now that I have TiVo, there’s no point in looking at the guide, and this section doesn’t even have feature stories anymore.

Travel

I rarely travel, even though I’d like to, so this section usually just frustrates me and leaves me feeling inadequate.

Sports

I’m not generally a sports fan, but I get somewhat interested in baseball rankings and scores as the post-season approaches. I also like reading articles about the Olympics, and I usually glance at UVA’s football ranking, out of a minimal curiosity. And there are often (ahem) nice photos.

Business

The headlines often seem promising, but then I get bored. I usually feel obliged to skim this section even though I don’t find much of it interesting. Ben Stein’s occasional column makes me feel like an indolent, irresponsible lout.

Job Market/Classified

I like skimming Lisa Belkin’s column, but career stuff in general just gives me anxiety.

T: The New York Times Style Magazine

They’ve been printing these too often lately – Men’s Fashion, Women’s Fashion, Design, etc. There are usually some nice pictures, but it’s way too long when you have the rest of the paper to read. Because I’m obsessive-compulsive about the Sunday Times, I have to flip through every page to see if there’s something interesting. What a burden.

Automobiles

Pretty much zero interest, except it’s nice to look at the front-page photos of new cars.