Social Media Reset: A 30-Day Guided Journey to Unplug, Reconnect with God, and Reclaim Your Joy
By Allie Marie Smith
Reviewed by Lorilee Craker
Start 2026 with a social media reset. Need help curbing mindless scrolling, toxic comparisons, and other phone traps? Allie Marie Smith’s book, a worthy and compassionate guide, invites readers to reset for 30 days and seek deeper rest and a more authentic, grounded life.
It’s definitely not easy to unplug from social media; our brains have learned to come there for hits of dopamine. For Smith and many readers, social media became “a means through which I searched for connection and human approval but never found it.” She guides readers in becoming more intentional and using it for good. Smith enjoys using her socials to “encourage others, keep up with friends, talk about my work, and share special moments of my life. Knowing my purpose for social media helps me avoid using it mindlessly.” (Tyndale Refresh)
Veritas
By P.O.D
Reviewed by Jeremiah Basuric
Punk-rock-rap-metal-reggae band P.O.D. achieved success after 9/11. Their positive, faith-filled message was a balm. Since then, P.O.D (Payable on Death) has been a perpetual underdog, never accepted by mainstream Christian music nor fully embraced by the world. But they have stayed true (veritas) to themselves and their calling.
This newest album is an homage to their rock-rap roots and a reflection on their collective experience through COVID, when it was hard to discern truth from lies (listen to “DEAD RIGHT”); hard on mental health (listen to “LIES WE TELL OURSELVES”); and hard on the heart (listen to “LAY ME DOWN”).
But it was also a time of resilience. Tremendous loss can reverberate an echo of eternity into the heart. This truth was payable on death in Christ. (Mascot Records)
The Big Relief: The Urgency of Grace for a Worn-Out World
By Dave Zahl
Reviewed by Lorilee Craker
“We are all carrying so much,” Dave Zahl says in his wise, wry treatise on grace, “the Big Relief at the heart of Christianity.” It’s a relief from stress, legalism, guilt, and feeling like we don’t belong. I wish Zahl’s book was on the syllabi when I was a Bible college student. He effortlessly weaves pop culture references with nods to antiquity and sagas from his own life story to illustrate what grace is and why it is so compelling.
Anyone who keeps trying to earn the approval of others or God will find a healing balm in these engaging pages. Because of the God who “descends Jacob’s ladder to muddy himself with the cares and concerns of everyday people,” we can rest in grace. We can exhale in the Big Relief. (Brazos Press)
When I Hear Spirituals
By Cheryl Willis Hudson. Illustrated by London Ladd
Reviewed by Sonya VanderVeen Feddema
In this exquisitely illustrated and narrated ode to African American spirituals, young readers will encounter a wonder-filled girl who reflects on the emotions she experiences when she hears her ancestors’ songs and recalls the lyrics they sang.
As the girl looks at doves flying in the sky above her, she thinks, “When I hear spirituals, / Sometimes / A big, full feeling / Grows in my chest. / My heart pounds / So fast and so hard / Seems like / It will / Overshadow / The sounds / Of the beautiful songs.”
Passionate, worshipful, and relevant, this picture book could be a springboard for parents and children to talk about God’s desire for all his children to be free—spiritually liberated from sin and sorrow and physically unshackled from chains. (Holiday House)
The Lowdown
Matins: This book by Calvin University professor Otto Selles gathers poems, photographs, and oil paintings to reflect on mourning, memory, childhood, and parenting. Its title, Matins—“mornings” in French, “morning prayer” in English—points to the spirit of reflection that prompts us to consider our place in the world. (Pandora Press)
Starring Milo Ventimiglia: After the breakout success of the song “I Can Only Imagine,” MercyMe's Bart Millard is living the dream with sold-out arenas, a devoted fan base, and a thriving career. However, Millard's past soon threatens the family he's built in I Can Only Imagine 2. (Feb. 20 in theaters, Lionsgate)
Beloved Series Returns: A new era of the sitcom Scrubs begins midseason on ABC. The show reunites regular cast members Zach Braff, Donald Faison, Sarah Chalke, Judy Reyes, and John C. McGinley. (Feb. 25, ABC)
Keeper of Lost Children: In this time-jump novel, Ethyl Gathers is living in Germany in the 1950s with her GI husband when she finds an orphanage filled with children of German women and Black American GIs. Ozzie Phillips volunteers for the desegregated army in Germany in 1948. And in 1965 Maryland, Sophia Clark discovers a secret that turns her world upside down. Written by Sadeqa Johnson. (37 Ink)