I just finished my first week of Tapestry of Grace, year four, and my interlibrary loan books are coming in like clockwork (hooray!) - which was a big worry for me!  I didn't want to buy every single book, even though my homeschool reimbursement is pretty generous - i just don't have room for a lot more books - i only want to buy ones that are really special, and then i want to buy hardcover, heavy duty, up to a lot of use books.

So i bought a gorgeous dust covered version of The Tale of Despereaux, a fun board book by Jan Brett (The Mitten), and started pulling out the books recommended in Tapestry of Grace on Monday.

But the book that has totally stopped me short this weekend has been one recommended for "Mom's summer reading" - i.e. prep reading - it's called Reading Between the Lines by Gene Edward Veith and although i'm not quite halfway through, i think this may be a BUY IT book...

I already got my son to read his section on vicarious sin, and i think his thoughts and guidelines are so helpful to me.

I had already bought a book by Cindy Jacobs about insidious themes in children's books and games, but instead of guides from the Bible, it just had statements like "Harry Potter is of course evil" (i'm not quoting, just paraphrasing).  I love Cindy Jacobs (especially "Possessing the Gates of the Enemy"), but this was not what i wanted.  What i was hoping for was someone who could tell me *why* they objected so strongly to Pokemon or Harry Potter, someone who had a system for analyzing culture as it comes to my house.

My children are already used to my worldview corrections, and are also very accepting of my "it just feels wrong" system of book rejection or acceptance, and even will bring books to me that they find unacceptable that slip through, but i wanted to give them tools to analyze their own reading (and other cultural activities/artifacts) and this book really fit the bill.

He talks about books that are bad - morally, aesthetically, artistically, and how all "bad" books offend a code inherent in creation, by our Creator.  He talks about differentiating books based on whether they glorify sin or show it's reality.  He talks about how one book may be sin for one person, and not for another, and the importance is to listen to your own heart and conscience.  He also uses examples from all kinds of literature to show the Victorian's extreme carefulness to not profane God's name (which unwittingly makes their literature appear sometimes Naturalistic or even pagan), and uses an example of Flannery O'Connor's use of profanity that is used to point to God.  He brings out the difference between obscenity, vulgarity, and profanity, and talks about how a Christian can respond to any of these in literature.

Really well written, very thought provoking, and full of good common sense, and much scripture, this is what i needed to read.  I am reading it slowly as every time i settle down this Sunday to read, a little person wants to climb on me and be loved, and i'm of the opinion that littles must be loved often and cheerfully ;) so i'll put it down to cuddle and chat, but i'm looking forward to finishing this novel, and sharing more of it with my children in our discussions this year!

I'll just share one paragraph to end this post... but i hope this book gets a wide reading among discerning homeschool moms (and all readers!)

"This process of learning how to enjoy (subjectively) what is admirable (objectively) is known as the cultivation of taste.  The rest of this book will explore the different forms and styles of literature with a view toward cultivating taste.  Obscenity is "tasteless".  Preferring ugliness to beauty is "bad taste."  Solomon observes that " a fool finds pleasure in evil conduct," whereas "a man of understanding delights in wisdom" (Proverbs 10:23).  What we delight in has a spiritual dimension.  For contemporary Christians, at sea in a mass culture, taking pleasure in excellence may be an important survival skill"