Thoughtworthy: Boy Books v. Girl Books and MORE!

:: 1 ::

I rarely read books that are “boy books” or “girl books.” What I mean is, most of my children find all of the read alouds attractive — or, on the rare occasions when some of them don’t, the divide is not boys versus girls but some other point of interest. Anyhow, this week, we began Anne of Green Gables as our lunchtime selection, and my oldest rolled his eyes. When he was 11, I put this book in his free reading pile. I told him he didn’t have to read it, but he could if he liked. He tried it, and decided he despised Anne.

Wah.

Turns out, it’s okay if it is read aloud. So that’s a good thing.

One of the things I try to do is keep our read alouds balanced. So, for example, if one is fantasy, the other is not. In this case, since one is a “girl book” I decided that the next book in line would be a “boy book.” I decided on The Four Adventures of Richard Hannay by John Buchan, which is technically four books in one, but I maintain this was a good decision. I mean, what’s not to like about a bunch of spy fiction?

 

:: 2 ::

I have listened to not one but two fantastic podcast episodes on poetry lately. The first was The Mason Jar podcast in which Cindy Rollins interviewed the poet Sally Thomas. Sally read a poem aloud that made me tear up. Thankfully, no one saw it, so my reputation remains. The second was from The Gospel Coalition podcast (a big thanks to Dawn Duran for pointing it out to me!), and it was actually a workshop from one of their old conferences by Kathleen Nielson. It was So. Good. As in: not to be missed!

 

:: 3 ::

Speaking of podcasts, the Deeper Theology podcast on the polemical theology in Exodus is WOW! It’s multiple episodes long, so that link just takes you to the main page. I recommend listening to every Exodus episode. So good!

If you aren’t familiar with polemical theology, but want to be, the podcast recommends the book Against the Gods by John Currid. I haven’t read it yet, but I think it might be perfect for one of my summer reading lists.

 

:: 4 ::

This October, because I was traveling, I picked up a little bottle of Biotrue contact lens solution. I have worn gas permeable contact lenses since I was about 16 or so. These are, in my opinion, way harder to wear than the soft lenses that are so popular. But, I have a unique eye problem for which soft lenses (and glasses) do not help. Needless to say, contact lens care matters to me.

Oh my word.

I am so glad I tried this. For years I have used various generic brands of solution. I never noticed a difference. No matter what I used, my eyes were always irritable. I just assumed it came with the territory.

But this stuff? This stuff is amazing.

It’s quite a bit more expensive than what I was buying before, but I recently realized it works so well, I’m not using nearly as much solution as before, therefore the bottle lasts longer, therefore the price isn’t really as expensive as I thought. I mean, it’s more … but it’s not as much more, if that makes sense.

Anyhow, I thought I’d mention it in case any of you have irritable eyes. You might want to try it.

I have to use a separate cleaner because this isn’t sufficient for gas permeable lenses, but even so I’m using it for rinsing and moisturizing and basically anything not involving a cleaner and I am so happy with it.

 

:: 5 ::

This month in 2016:

This is especially good to read if you have listened to my memory talk because what I describe there is not what I do now.

 

:: 6 ::

This week’s links collection:

• The Bleeding of the Evangelical Church by David Wells
  • This is a lengthy but worthy read. Make sure you have a cup of coffee with you!
• Meryl Streep’s Speech Is Why the Left Wins from National Review
  • I didn’t watch the speech, and I don’t plan to. But the article was interesting…
• The mind-blowing AI announcement from Google that you probably missed. from Free Code Camp
  • A little over the top, but also interesting.

 

:: 7 ::

Answering your questions:

• Question: I noticed you read the book The End of Acne. Is it worth purchasing? I buy so many health related books that end up not being worth the cost. I would appreciate any commentary you feel comfortable providing!
  • Answer: My answer is … maybe yes, maybe no. Ha. So, on the one hand, it’s a good read. It’s written interestingly, so even folks who don’t normally read health and nutrition books would probably like it. On the other hand, I really do not think she’s discovered the problem for all people with acne. Actually, it’s more that I don’t think there is one single cause of acne. My guess is that it is much more helpful if the issue is cystic acne. I think she added some good things to my repertoire of how I approach acne in our home, but I ultimately do not think her answer is appropriate for us. With that said, my oldest is only 14 and no one in our home has cytic acne. I do think there is a difference. This is one that would probably be worth buying on Kindle rather than paying the extra $5 or so for a hard copy. Does that help? If not, I recommend reading up on what the best acne treatment for your skin profile is in this post by the Acne Foundation.

 

:: 8 ::

If you missed it, AfterCast Episode 3 came out this week:

You can use the podcast player at the bottom of the page, or you can listen in your favorite podcast player.

As an aside, if you wanted to leave a review — especially in iTunes or Stitcher — I would really appreciate it!