Book Reviews
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March Reading Recap
This year I’ve decided to be more intentional with tracking my reading … which means I’ve started logging everything on Goodreads. I read five books in March. Here’s the list in order of when I finished them and my quick thoughts on each one: Wards of the State: The Long Shadow of American Foster Care…
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February Reading Recap
This year I’ve decided to be more intentional with tracking my reading … which means I’ve started logging everything on Goodreads. I read seven books in February. Here’s the list in order of when I finished them and my quick thoughts on each one: Anxious for Nothing (Young Readers Edition): Living Above Anxiety and Loneliness…
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January Reading Recap
This year I’ve decided to be more intentional with tracking my reading … which means I’ve started logging everything on Goodreads. I read six books in January, a solid start to the year. Here’s the list in order of when I finished them and my quick thoughts on each one: The Tangle Box (Magic Kingdom…
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Handing Down the Faith: How Parents Pass Their Religion on to the Next Generation [review]
![Handing Down the Faith: How Parents Pass Their Religion on to the Next Generation [review]](https://matthewmcnutt.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/handing-down-the-faith.jpg)
I’ve had Christian Smith’s and Amy Adamczyk’s book, Handing Down the Faith: How Parents Pass Their Religion on to the Next Generation, on my reading list for a while now. I’m glad I read it, but it is a very research and data focused book. It’s not a ‘how to’ manual, it’s a report on…
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I Am in Here: The Journey of a Child with Autism Who Cannot Speak but Finds Her Voice [review]
![I Am in Here: The Journey of a Child with Autism Who Cannot Speak but Finds Her Voice [review]](https://matthewmcnutt.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/i-am-in-here-book.jpg)
Based on a recommendation from a parent in my church, I recently read Virginia G. Breen and Elizabeth M. Bonker’s I Am in Here: The Journey of a Child with Autism Who Cannot Speak but Finds Her Voice. It’s not a book without divided opinions about it; Breen’s hope that her daughter Elizabeth’s autism can…
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Teenagers and Mental Health: A Handbook for Parents, Pastors, and Youth Leaders [review]
![Teenagers and Mental Health: A Handbook for Parents, Pastors, and Youth Leaders [review]](https://matthewmcnutt.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/kwon-blog.jpg)
Monica Kim and Danny Kwon’s Teenagers and Mental Health: A Handbook for Parents, Pastors, and Youth Leaders is a must read for parents and youth workers. It’s a unique combination of authors; Monica Kim is a psychologist and biblical counselor with over twenty years in her profession, Danny Kwon was a full time youth pastor…
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The Anxious Teen [review]
![The Anxious Teen [review]](https://matthewmcnutt.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/anxious-teen.jpg)
Brock Morgan’s The Anxious Teen: Ministry with Stressed and Fearful Students has actually been on my list for a while now. I bought it while I was still in the middle of my doctoral studies so I finally got to it the other week. Originally published through the Youth Cartel, it’s now part of the…
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NeuroTribes: The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity [review]
![NeuroTribes: The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity [review]](https://matthewmcnutt.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/neurotribes.jpg)
I recently finished NeuroTribes: The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity by Steve Silberman (Kindle version currently on sale for $1.99). I really enjoyed it, although it wasn’t quite what I expected. The description of the book sums it up this way: “NeuroTribes considers the idea that neurological differences such as autism, dyslexia,…
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Saying is Believing [Book Review]
![Saying is Believing [Book Review]](https://matthewmcnutt.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/saying-is-believing-2.jpg)
I’ve had Saying Is Believing: The Necessity of Testimony in Adolescent Spiritual Development by Amanda Hontz Drury on my Kindle for a year and a half now, and I’m glad I finally read it. Drury makes a compelling case that testimony isn’t just a nice tradition, it’s essential for the spiritual growth of young people.…
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New Explorations in the Lost World of Genesis [Book Review]
![New Explorations in the Lost World of Genesis [Book Review]](https://matthewmcnutt.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/walton-genesis-blog.jpg)
I went into New Explorations in the Lost World of Genesis: Advances in the Origins Debate expecting a revised edition of The Lost World of Genesis One, but it’s much more than that. Walton doesn’t update his earlier work; this is an expansion. In it he refines and deepens the conversation. This book feels like…