Saturday Good Reads

There were other things happening in the world this week besides the Kavanaugh confirmation hearing. This was saturated media coverage at its best and its worst. One aspect of the story that almost all the major media missed was religion -- and Julia Duin has the story.

It was a good week for Tolkien. Zak Schmoll talked about why we need The Lord of the Ringsnow (personally, I think it’s time the Ents went after Washington, D.C.). John Pletcher at the Institute for Faith, Work, & Economics found some Monday motivation from Tolkien. Loren Paulsson mourned the passing of the elves.

Maggie Smith

The media, social and otherwise, came in for some scrutiny (there can never be enough media scrutiny). NPR got itself caught in not wanting to call an abortion doctor an abortion doctor. Joshua Benton at the Nieman Lab considered what happens when newspapers kill print and go online-only? (Print newspaper readers go away.) Did you know that tech gurus don’t let their kids have smartphones? Jenny McCarthy at The Spectator asked why. Tim Challies looks at applying the 9^thcommandment – thou shalt not bear false witness – to the social media world (well, there go Twitter and Facebook).

Interesting faith stories this week as well. William Black at Aeon suggests there’s a way to fight a “total work culture” – bring back the Sabbath. Thomas Kidd asks if evangelicals were really silent about Roe v. Wade when the decision was handed down. Justin Taylor looks at what an evangelical is (other than the common stereotype). Natasha Crain has 10 signs that the Christian authors you’re following are teaching unbiblical ideas. James Faris at Gentle Reformation has an old, old story about what makes an elder.

And Ann Farmer at The Imaginative Conservative has a poem – about actress Maggie Smith.

More Good Reads

Poetry

The Ordinary Time – Dana Littlepage Smith at Image Journal.

Diane Tucker – D.S. Martin at Kingdom Poets.

God in the Trash Fire: Thomas Traherne Endures – Ed Simon at The Millions.

James II

Writing and Literature

The Great Crossover Crime Novel – Stuart Turton at CrimeReads.

British Stuff

The Jacobite Rebellion of 1715 – Morag Edwards at English Historical Fiction Authors.

Beyond the Warrior Queen – Eleanor Parker at History Today. 

Art and Photography

The Sacred Process – Jack Baumgartner at The School for the Transfer of Energy.

Engraved Saddlebags – Tim Good at Photography by Tiwago.

The Gardens Behind Monet’s Masterpieces

Painting: Woman Sitting on a Sofa, Reading; oil on canvas by Henri Lebasque (1920).