Battle of the Books–a Slate article about the problem with YA “problem novels.” Link via Kevin at Collected Miscellany.
Andy Crouch writes about “Visualicy.” the ability to read and create visual images. If this is really a skill, I am a-visual.
Debra at As I See It Now has a lovely outlook on housework in Housework Philosophy 101.
Rebecca Writes is linking to Top 100 Lists during the month of June. Check out the children’s book list or the list of Top 100 Wonders of the World (Not one of these wonders is in Texas. Well, now that I think about it the Rio Grande isn’t much to look at, and Big Bend consists of a bunch of rocks. What about Johnson Space Center–man-made, but definitely a wonder.)
At Evangelical Outpost,, Joe Carter apologizes–for everything.
Eduardo blogs from Asuncion, Paraguay at The Grey Shadow. He tells the story of The Boombox Incident to illustrate how many evangelical Christians have turned ugliness and poor quality into a virtue. In other words, if it’s branded “Christian,” it must be better and more virtuous than anything “secular.”
Carla writes about financial reality in a post I could almost have written myself. Sometimes it’s a struggle to see how to divide the pie so that everything gets the right amount of financial attention.
Best discussion of the week at Amy Loves Books. Amy blogs passionately about public schools, at-risk children, and the church’s responsibility.
“I’d like to see Christians, whether they have school age children or not, and whether they choose to send their school age children to public school or not, to begin a conversation about ways in which the church can reach out and offer advocacy, support, and presence to the children in at-risk schools.”
“We are afraid of poor people. Poverty is like a visible symptom of what is often considered a lack of morality. It’s okay to build a house for Habitat on the weekend, or volunteer at a soup kitchen, but when it comes to actually living among them, we get nervous. Without a doubt, don’t want our children exposed. I realize that those are strong statements, but I confess that I have been guilty of these exact thoughts and worries. I’ve thought things and made assumptions about people who struggle in poverty that I am ashamed to even put into words.”