In this pugnacious exposé, Hall (Laughing at the Devil), an associate professor at Duke Divinity School, incisively explores the evolution and influence of a form of Christian nationalism that blends “faith, masculinity, capitalism and political power under the guise of moral leadership.” She traces the roots of this “muscular Christianity” to the mid-19th century, when Victorian cleric Charles Kingsley drew on Darwinism and Christian providentialism to explain how the “survival of the fittest” was ordained by God. The ideology gained ground in early 20th-century America, informing the ethos of elite institutions like the Rockefeller Foundation and later spreading into the evangelical mainstream. Hall scrutinizes how muscular Christianity animates today’s hypermasculine evangelical subcultures, including so-called “cowboy” and “fight club” churches that combine faith principles with a “tough-guy” ethos, as well as networks like “the Family,” a secretive organization that leverages its ties in business, academia, and politics to promote a conservative religious agenda. Despite sometimes getting lost in the weeds (with lengthy descriptions, for example, of popular gatherings held by organizations with Christian nationalist values), Hall persuasively reveals how muscular Christianity has remade the American religious landscape in ways both overt and subtle. Readers will find much to chew on. (May)

Reviewed on 03/20/2026 | Details & Permalink

Overstreet (Through a Screen Darkly), a professor of creative writing at Seattle Pacific University, explores in this affecting memoir how movies have shaped his faith. Though he grew up in a strict Baptist church that warned against “worldly preoccupations” (cinema doors were gateways “through which the devil would lure people away from the safety of Christian communities”), he found in trips to the theater new ways of seeing the joys and brokenness of a morally complex world. Among the films discussed are Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing, which recalls the biblical command to seek justice for the less privileged and revealed to the author how life “looked like a five-alarm fire through the eyes of a Black American artist,” and Peter Weir’s Dead Poets Society, in which the efforts of Robin Williams’s Mr. Keating to mentor his students out of “society’s narrow definition of success” and embrace art and imagination makes him an “imitation of Christ.” Overstreet’s graceful prose amplifies his resonant defense of art as a vehicle through which believers can construct a more flexible, complex, and rewarding relationship with God. Readers will be left with a richer understanding of both film and faith. (May)

Reviewed on 03/20/2026 | Details & Permalink

Georgia senator Warnock (A Way Out of No Way) lays out a persuasive Christian case for reforming an America divided by cynicism, inequality, and disconnection. He finds the antidote in the biblical book of Isaiah, where God assures the exiled people of Israel that “every mountain and hill shall be brought low; the crooked places shall be made straight, and the rough places smooth”—a “bold reimagining,” in Warnock’s view, of a more equitable society. He applies this philosophy to six of America’s most pressing issues, including mass incarceration, which perpetuates profound racial and financial inequality, and, according to the author, should be reformed with initiatives that enable “the uplift of all citizens” and laws like 2018’s First Step Act, which improved prison conditions and implemented fairer sentencing practices. Also considered is the epidemic of gun violence, which Warnock argues must be tackled with federal background checks and laws limiting the power of the gun lobby, a system of “legalized bribery” that blocks commonsense reforms supported by most Americans. While there’s not much here in the way of actionable steps for readers to take, Warnock’s view of the current state of the country is both clear-eyed and refreshingly optimistic. It’s a clarion call for a fairer America that speaks to the urgency of the moment. (June)

Reviewed on 03/20/2026 | Details & Permalink

As the last of the baby boomers have entered their 60s, this activist generation has “now taken on longevity—living longer, healthier lives—as their new cause,” according to this buoyant outing from wellness advocate Clinton (Roar). At the same time, however, Clinton asserts that living longer is a new normal that human society hasn’t adjusted to yet, as many older adults are not making fulfilling use of their added years. As such, he urges readers to “reimage your relationships, identity, impact, and learning agenda” for a long post-60s future. To make his case, he profiles individuals and organizations who have created new products and services aimed at dealing with the realities of longevity, such as Mike Mansfield, CEO of ProAge.org, “a UK-based charity whose mission is to equip business leaders... to create an age-inclusive culture,” and David Sable, the vice-chairman of global marketing group Stagwell, who notes that social media is now dominated by older users, prompting a reorientation in the advertising industry. Other sections spotlight groups promoting or selling travel, education, and housing to older people, as well as new routes to longevity itself (smart glasses that track what one eats, etc.). The author’s boosterish approach can leave readers wanting a more critical eye cast on some of these ideas. Still, it makes for an interesting overview of an emerging, interlocking set of age-related industries. (May)

Reviewed on 03/20/2026 | Details & Permalink

This sprawling, immersive account from historian Pearsall (Atlantic Families) explores “the effect of the world on the American Revolution” rather than the “too often” emphasized opposite. The book opens with a reflection on colonial militiamen’s powder horns, which were typically carved with “European symbols” (such as patterns derived from women’s embroidery) and Native American and African motifs (in one case, “a Maori war party canoe copied from a British magazine”). Much like the decorations on the humble powder horn, the colonists’ “demands for liberty emerged out of a wider world,” Pearsall argues. Though these “global claims of freedom... had roots in classical and biblical worlds,” they took on “novel resonance in a period of accelerating rates... of slavery.” In a roving narrative that ranges from European power politics to resistance movements of Indigenous and enslaved peoples, Pearsall spotlights many fascinating figures and milieus, among them women of the Scottish enlightenment who debated whether the pursuit of happiness “could be a radical act of equality”; the Indigenous leader Pontiac, who led a 1763 rebellion against the British in the Great Lakes region; the period’s many enslaved and indentured people convicted of murdering their masters; German peasants indentured to the British military; and American investors who looked to Guangzhou, China, for investments to shore up their fledgling nation’s economy. The result is a remarkably clarifying picture of the revolutionary spirit that swept the world in the 1770s. (May)

Reviewed on 03/20/2026 | Details & Permalink

Understanding the “maternal face of God” can help mothers find new value in parenthood, according to this compassionate debut from the writer of Back of the Flock, a newsletter for Christian moms. Unpacking motherhood’s spiritual resonances, Berget explores how “reorienting our lives around our growing babies” during pregnancy “echo[es] the crescendo of Christ’s sacrifice”; how the intensity, joy, and exhaustion of childbirth recalls God’s “birthing of creation”; and how a mother’s singular ability to breastfeed their baby mirrors how “God... knows our exact needs and bends toward us, knowing that he alone can offer what we long for.” She also touches on such difficult topics as infertility and pregnancy loss, noting that amid the “fog of loss and longing” moms can find solace in the fact that “God is tied to us just as we are to our children—the ones in our arms and ones who are not.” Weaving into the account her own alternately funny and touching motherhood anecdotes, Berget makes a strong case for eschewing reductive framings of God as a “dominant, masculine deity” for a more holistic notion that centers love, protection, and creation. This will be a balm for new and experienced moms alike. (May)

Reviewed on 03/20/2026 | Details & Permalink

Philosopher Roser (Effective Altruism and Religion) teams up with Zhang, cofounder of the Centre for British Progress, and Bauman, director of Effective Altruism for Christians, to provide believers with a pragmatic guide for maximizing their positive impact in the world. To carry out Jesus’s call to live a “hopeful and impactful life,” the authors write, Christians must exercise “broad moral concern” toward “not just our immediate neighbors, but also those who are distant or very different from us.” One way to do so is to donate to charities based in the Global South, where funds can go further than in developed countries. When it comes to choosing a cause, readers should assess the issue’s importance, neglectedness, and tractability (how likely one’s actions are to have a positive impact), and narrow down organizations by examining empirical research on their initiatives. The authors focus mostly on financial aid but acknowledge that money doesn’t always address systemic factors that perpetuate social problems. To that end, they advise readers on voting to maximize global good and choosing careers that help tackle social problems. Throughout, the authors optimistically show how faith principles can be applied in a world where the advent of modern technology has created new challenges as well as “unprecedented” opportunities for leveraging aid as broadly and wisely as possible. Christian do-gooders will be inspired. (May)

Reviewed on 03/20/2026 | Details & Permalink

Debut author McKenna, CEO of Protect Young Eyes, an organization that equips parents with resources for shielding their kids from the harms of digital spaces, provides a thorough, faith-based guide to parenting in a technology-obsessed society. He breaks down the stressors faced by children growing up with “godlike technology” that gobbles up dopamine, stands in for real-life social connections, and exposes them to threats ranging from exploitation to anxiety. Parenting tech-savvy kids, he writes, is a holistic process that involves modeling good values (love of God, optimism) and healthy tech habits; establishing trust so children feel free to bring up their digital problems; and limiting access to “addictive” technology until young brains are equipped to handle their constant stream of impulse-driven rewards. (The author recommends smartphones starting in high school and social media at age 16.) McKenna’s comprehensive program combines nitty-gritty discussions of such topics as monitoring software, illuminating explanations of the drives that make tech uniquely appealing to kids, and ideas for fulfilling those drives in healthier, more productive ways. The result is an informative resource for parents eager to establish digital safety nets for their children. (June)

Reviewed on 03/13/2026 | Details & Permalink

Tibetan Buddhist teachers Rotterdam and Oosthuizen debut with a comprehensive introduction to Chöd, the practice of “severance” or “cutting through.” Developed in the 11th century by the Tibetan Buddhist nun Machig Labdrön, Chöd teaches that reality, being, and mind are like the sky: all-inclusive, nondiscriminating, and ever-present. What keeps people from embracing them is a “root demon” that views the self as separate from the world, reinforcing the ego and causing suffering. Readers can “cut through” such attachments (to the self and the ego) via meditation practices that cultivate mindfulness and sharpen awareness, along with targeted reflections like considering what one is “holding and dragging around... unnecessarily.” Such practices help practitioners understand their oneness with the world and enter into Skymind, “the vast, luminous radiance of being,” where they can assume “radical responsibility” for their own lives and their role in the world’s “ongoing dynamics of justice and injustice, freedom and suffering.” Though repetitive descriptions of Skymind and nonduality occasionally slow things down, the authors’ smart exercises and encouraging tone make for a compassionate yet urgent call for readers to embrace the full, undiluted reality of life. It’s an excellent introduction to Chöd that honors the practice’s roots without getting mired in doctrine. (May)

Reviewed on 03/13/2026 | Details & Permalink

Capitalism falsely frames life in terms of profit that benefit the powerful and damage the human spirit, according to this energetic if imperfect treatise. Pastor Garcia (The God Who Riots) argues that capitalism “manipulates us into thinking that our true selves are found on the other side of success,” trapping people in an endless race toward professional achievement. But worth is a result of God’s “unearned favor,” according to Garcia, and readers would be better served by separating their identity from their work, remaining “genuinely open to what the present moment has in store,” and focusing on connecting with their communities. Garcia explains how to achieve this in small ways, like spending quality time with friends and family, while working toward reshaping the capitalist system by strengthening workers’ cooperatives and other community organizations, speaking out about unfair labor conditions, and pushing for higher taxes on the rich. While Garcia sometimes resorts to rhetorical gymnastics to make his points (“Positive statements are inherently reductive.... If that person is good, then they’re not bad, and if that thing is bad, then it’s not good,” he writes in a vague entreaty for readers to shed rigid self-perceptions), he effectively makes a case for redefining one’s value as innate and rooted in one’s relationship to others and to God. This resonates. (June)

Reviewed on 03/13/2026 | Details & Permalink