Review: The 40-Day Social Media Fast

The 40-Day Social Media Fast book cover on blue background

I really wasn't expecting to do this fast concurrently with The 40-Day Sugar Fast, but I'm very grateful that I was challenged to do The 40-Day Social Media Fast during this past Lent as well as I found both to be helpful in focusing my time and attention on God.

Book Synopsis

Are you addicted to your phone? Do you find yourself engaging online but unengaged at home with the people right in front of you? Do you spend hours scrolling through Facebook, Instagram, newsfeeds, and YouTube videos? Have your devices become divisive--dividing you from family and friends and, most importantly, God? What would happen if you took some time to fast from social media in order to get social with God and others once more?

In the pattern of her popular 40-Day Sugar Fast, Wendy Speake offers you The 40-Day Social Media Fast. This "screen sabbatical" is designed to help you become fully conscious of your dependence on social media so you can purposefully unplug from screens and plug into real life with the help of a very real God. Take a break from everyone and everything you follow online. Disconnect in order to reconnect with the only One who said "follow me."

Source: Amazon

Book Thoughts

I'll be honest in that I had no idea how much time I was spending on social media until I started getting wellness alerts on my phone. As a result, this book came at just the right time. More than simply focusing on the amount of time we spend online, I appreciate that this book also delved into topics regarding our attention, the impact of comparison on our mental and spiritual health, and our self-worth. This is a book and a fast that I would repeat again based on the powerful reminders of living life offline. It's shocking that though I left social media for almost a decade and only returned to it to share book reviews that it has started to shape my behaviour and thinking. I'm grateful that this devotional book acted as an antidote to that for the 40 days I was engaged in reading it.

Since this book seems to complement The 40-Day Sugar Fast, readers will see parallels between the content of the books where the sugar fast book does recommend cutting out social media and the social media book recommends cutting out sugar or other possible idols in our lives. I can see how these books reinforce how anything can tempt us away from being fully devoted to God. My prayer is that I can heed the lessons learnt in this book and continually apply the messages of God's acceptance and love as a way to combat the messages I see online.

Book Summary

Format of book: 🎧
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Recommendation: 👍

Comments

Review: Wes and Addie Had Their Chance - Adelaide Springs #3

After visiting Colorado, I can see why this series has won a Colorado Book Award in the romance category. It's a celebration of all things small-town and Americana with a charming cast of characters. Wes and Addie Had Their Chance by Bethany Turner is the third book in the Adelaide Springs series and it's helpful to read the first two books as they culminate in this story. This book releases July 15, 2025, so there's time to catch up on the previous titles if this clean book series is of interest to you. This is a disclaimer that although this book is published by a Christian publisher, this book falls along the lines of clean fiction, so expectations should be set accordingly. I shared the following when I reviewed Brynn and Sebastian Hate Each Other and Cole and Laila are Just Friends , and as this book follows those two, I'll adopt the same refrain again: This is more of a crossover title that fits the genre of what the author terms "pop culture-infused...

2025 Clearly Christian Readathon

Welcome to another year of the 2025 Clearly Christian Readathon ! Updated materials have now been shared with new graphics for this upcoming year. Christian Books and Coffee , Devoted to Hope , and I are so grateful to be able to continue this Readathon so that we can keep featuring Christian authors writing clearly Christian books. There are plenty of resources available in the Clearly Christian Readathon Goodreads Group if you'd like to check it out! Thanks for journeying with us for the second year of the Readathon. We can't wait to see what God has in store with such incredible stories to be told 😀

Review: A Convenient Marriage - Billionaires' Reunion #5

If you've ever had to organize a family gathering, you know it can be fraught with all sorts of complications. Thankfully, in meeting the Stone family, it's evident that there is much love shared as each sibling works through different circumstances in their lives. A Convenient Marriage by Rose Fresquez is the fifth book in the Billionaires' Reunion series about Wade Stone, and it can be read as a standalone. Book Synopsis He's her late brother's best friend. He doesn't believe in love. And now he's her fake husband. When her brother died, Claire shared guardianship of his daughter with his best friend, Wade. She could handle her one-sided crush on Hollywood’s hotshot producer while he was at arm’s length. But now that toxic relatives want custody of her niece, Claire will do whatever it takes to keep the baby, including faking a marriage with Wade. Wade excels at keeping complications at bay while navigating the glitz of Hollywood. But playing house with ...