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Weekend Reads - 171222

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It's that time of the year again, where we're scurrying around making sure we have a gift for everyone, but are you doing this because you fear disappointing or offending others? The first article on the list today looks at the origin of why we give gifts at Christmas. I'll give you a spoiler, it's because we were given the best gift of all. Read on to find out more.

There's also a some articles about reading and a few more about the use of laptops and when not to use them. Something to consider with your favourite beverage this long weekend, maybe when you're trying to get some alone time.

Let me take this time to say thank you for visiting my blog this year and to wish you a happy Christmas. See you again in the new year.




Christmas gift giving can, and should, be a wonderful experience — but too often it’s full of relational complexities instead of wonder. We all would want love to be the motivation behind our gifts, but if we’re honest, other motivations often muddy the waters.

As far as reading goes, here’s the big point: for most of us, a serious and growing walk with the Lord is inseparable from spending a considerable amount of time reading good Christian books.

At its most obnoxious, the command to “read widely” reflects the more-is-more ethos that courses, like an energy drink, through our literary culture.

A growing body of evidence shows that over all, college students learn less when they use computers or tablets during lectures. They also tend to earn worse grades. The research is unequivocal: Laptops distract from learning, both for users and for those around them.

When talking to Iain Sinclair about the state of London today, the author Keggie Carew described the burgeoning population of coffee shop laptoppers as “dystopian”. In the wood-panelled Daunt Books in Marylebone, the audience – apart from me – murmured and bobbed heads in accord. People say disapproving things like this over my shoulder all the time, with no attempt made to lower their voice. Online and in-print commentary goes way beyond tutting; it’s more a case of shaking fists than shaking heads.



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