Newsday reviewer Glenn Gamboa gave the album a C grade commenting "it feels like a desperate attempt to manufacture another hit" while he ultimately "ends up with cut-rate approximations of other artists ( Maroon 5 and OneRepublic)." James Dinh from " " analyzed the meanings of the songs and its contrasting lyrics and stated that "Grammer sprinkles a variety of lyrical themes throughout Magazines or Novels. Joseph concluded describing the album as "emotionally complex collection of songs". It surpasses the standard he set back in 2011". " Magazines or Novels displays a level of consistent creativity and continued talent. Judah Joseph from The Huffington Post gave a positive review of the album saying "it is in ways reminiscent of John Mayer's earlier work" and compared Grammer's voice to Gavin DeGraw and Adam Levine's. In August 2015, during his run on Dancing with the Stars, Grammer released a new single " Good to Be Alive (Hallelujah)" (also written by Ryan Met from AJR) which was included on a reissued deluxe version on November 6, 2015. It became his biggest single to date, peaking at #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 and being certified triple-platinum by the RIAA. The second single "Honey, I'm Good" was released in the US in November 2014, and eventually impacted radio in February 2015. Grammer went on the "Siren Songs" tour with Los Angeles-based recording artist Hughie Stone Fish in September 2014. The album's second single, "Honey, I'm Good" was co-written by Grammer and Nolan Sipe and produced by Sipe, Steve Greenberg and Brian West. Prior to the album's release, Grammer released a single "Back Home" on April 8, 2014, co-written by Grammer and Ryan Met of the band AJR, who co-produced the track with Jon Levine.