For an introduction to blogs and how to subscribe to their RSS feeds, check out my previous post. But with that simple introduction, the next quest is to find great blogs in cyberspace.
And so I write this post.
It’s sometimes difficult to find good blogs around the internet, unless they are recommended by another blog, website, or person. So I thought it would be a good idea to spread to others the wealth of good blogs that I’ve found over the last few years.
I currently have 142 “subscriptions” in my Google Reader (meaning that I am subscribed to 142 different blogs or websites), and Google’s statistics tell me that I read on average about 180 posts per day (except on Sundays, when I typically don’t read any). However, I say “read” lightly; on an average day, out of those 180, I usually read all 180 headlines, skim about 75 articles that seem of particular interest to me, and read in-depth about 30 of the most alluring articles. This total process, scattered throughout the day, probably takes up a total of about an hour-and-a-half. The wealth of information, news, spiritual writing, and theology I read during that hour-and-a-half would have taken weeks to acquire a couple of decades ago.
So aware of the riches available when blogs are read efficiently, I decided to share my 75 favorite blogs; the blogs I most look forward to reading each day. The higher ranking a blog has on my list of 75, the more likely I am to read each new article in its entirety; the lower the ranking, the more likely I am to skim its headlines.
Two things should be noted. First, this grouping of blogs is incredibly subjective; they all float within my own personal interests and preferences, so be forewarned that some of these may be of very little interest to you. Second, it was incredibly difficult to rank the blogs I follow through any type of quantitative comparison. To make the list I created ten tiers of blogs, and attempted to rank the blogs within each tier before stacking the tiers on top of each other. I’m sure I could spend many, many hours adjusting and readjusting the rankings, but at present they present a picture of relative goodness, hazy though it may be.
I hope, at the very least, that you’re able to find at least a few new blogs that you haven’t read before.
Well, here we go:
75. Tech Tips for Catholics (Christian–Technology)
A group of writers who aim to help Christians embrace and harness the power of New Media; postings aren’t particularly regular.
74. Army of Martyrs (Christian–Catholic)
A convert to Catholicism writes semi-regularly from a heavily theological perspective.
73. Zondervan Blog (Christian–Books)
A blog on new releases and author interviews from a popular Christian publisher.
72. Take the Poor With You (Christian–Simplicity)
A blog by a Catholic woman who seeks to live as a radical steward in the world.
71. Wisdom and Folly (Christian–Media)
A husband-and-wife blog that features articles and plenty of reviews of movies and media from a Christian perspective.
70. Cool Tools for Catholics (Christian–Catholic)
Shows how Catholics can harness technology and internet tools. Posts are made sporadically, usually only once a month or so.
69. Prodigal Magazine (Christian–Men)
Articles from an online magazine geared towards Christian men.
68. Musings From A Catholic Bookstore (Christian–Catholic)
The official blog of the “Aquinas and More” Catholic Bookstore that posts updates on sales and products.
67. Central Florida Coalition For the Homeless Blog (Christian–Local)
Updates and news from Central Florida’s largest anti-homeless organization.
66. 20SomethingFinance (Other–Finances)
A finance blog for 20-somethings and other young adults covering financial basics.
65. Point Haired Dilbert (Other–Microsoft Excel)
Tips and tricks for Microsoft Excel.
64. ESPN NBA (Other–Sports)
Headlines and stories from the NBA.
63. Catholic Media Review (Christian–Catholic)
Books, TV shows, and movies reviewed from a Catholic perspective.
62. Wise As Serpants (Christian–Economics)
A blog co-authored by a couple of professors on Florida State University that explores issues of compassion and justice within the field of economics.
61. US Catholic (Christian–Catholic)
Writings on issues relevant to Catholics in America; focuses heavily on news commentary.
60. Florida Catholic Blog (Christian–Catholic)
Articles and news items from the monthly Florida Catholic newspaper.
59. Finding the Inciting Incident (Christian–Personal)
A relatively new blog by a good friend of mine looking at parts of our lives–parts of our stories–that force us to change; he is one of the best storytellers I know.
58. Official Google Blog (Other–Technology)
Information on current and future products from Google.
57. Chesterton and Friends (Christian–G.K. Chesterton)
A series of writings from a group of G.K. Chesterton devotees.
56. Pilgrimage of the Heart (Christian–Personal)
Personal blog of Jeff Goins; geared towards missionary activity, social justice, and aimed at young-adult Christian audience.
55. The League of Bearded Catholics (Christian–Catholic)
Writings that center around J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, G.K. Chesterton, and Hilaire Belloc–four literary-Christian giants of the twentieth century.
54. Sonitus Sanctus (Christian–Catholic)
Offers free Catholic audio clips from around the internet; especially old homilies and talks.
53. Get Rich Slowly (Other–Finances)
Personal finance tips, strategies, and advice in down-to-Earth language.
52. Christianity Today – Books and Culture (Christian–Books)
Book and media reviews from one of the most popular Christian Magazines.
51. Freakonomics Blog (Other–Economics)
Fascinating posts and links to economic quandaries in the world. If you liked the book “Freakonomics”, this is a daily dose of the same.
So, that’s the first batch. Be on the lookout for #50 to #26 soon. Finally, if you’d like to list some of your favorite blogs, then feel free to leave a comment below; I’m always open to finding great blogs!