Your New Playlist - by Jon Acuff & McRae Acuff (Hardcover)

At its core the message is appropriate for all ages, but with Jon's daughters' perspective and cultural bullseye, it makes this a GO-TO book for all my parent friends - in other words - YOU. Take turns reading to each other (or listen to it on Audible together - I love that Jon reads his own books!)

There have been a handful of books that I have finished reading and thought, "I wish I had read this before I __________________" Things like; before I got married, before I had kids, before I took that job, etc. But this book is one you might just wish you had read before, well...anything. As a follow-up to Jon Acuff's best-selling book, Soundtracks, he and his two daughters have written a version of that book specifically for teenagers and young adults. Acuff's two daughters mainly author the book; he edits and provides an introduction and the wrap-up at the end. The girls, one a college freshman and the other a high-school junior, write an excellent handbook for changing the thought patterns that constantly run through our minds to be positive and empowering rather than negative and debilitating. And they do it with engaging stories and humor that made me want to lean in and learn more. I was so impressed by the writing and content of this book that I had my 17-year-old son and my 21-year-old daughter listen to the audiobook with me in the car. Both had moments where they laughed out loud, and my son asked to listen to the rest of the book because, as he says, "That's one book I can actually learn something from." So yes, I highly recommend that everyone read this book. But I especially want to encourage parents to read it themselves before giving it to their kids so they can have some really good conversations about the concepts and principles shared in the book. And if I were still leading my group of preteens and middle-schoolers, I would 100 percent be using this book as a group study!

wish I would have learned about broken soundtracks when I was a teenager, All teens need to know they are not alone in their thinking and that when they think negative thoughts ( broken soundtracks) they have the ability to change them. This in turn can change their lives. This book written by Jon and his teen daughters has a great way of explaining this fact. It’s an easy read and will help teens learn how they can change their lives just by changing their thoughts. This is a powerful concept and is something every teen should learn how to do. I highly recommend this book and encourage all parents to buy this book for their teen.

I truly think that this book has the potential to be life-changing for kids. I was a HUGE fan of Soundtracks, by Jon Acuff, so I was super excited when I heard that he was writing a version for teens with his daughters, L.E. and McRae. And they totally delivered! L.E. and McRae share stories from their own lives about recognizing their own overthinking and negative mindsets, and how teens (and adults) can change these "broken soundtracks." The girls are both charming, and funny, and honest. The information that they share (with humor and great examples) is powerful, and I wish I had had it as a teenager. Jon Acuff's original Soundtracks was fantastic, and my teen daughter read it twice. She is super excited to read this version. We are going to listen to the audio version as a family together. Great job, Acuff family!

It is specific about what will help you, making sure you’re aware of obstacles that will come as you change your playlist. It speaks to teens in a relatable way, through humor and real things teens face every day. Knowing that there isn’t one switch that will make your whole life work out is such an important thing to learn, and something that this book helped me realize. Over time, changing the playlist I listen to every second of every day, my life will begin to improve: not overnight. If you are a teen, you need this book. If you know a teen, they need this book! This book can change now-a-days culture. (Written by a 15 year old)

Last year I read Jon Acuff’s book Soundtracks, and I’m not exaggerating when I say it changed my life. We all overthink, and that book took a problem I had with overthinking and changed it into a real benefit for me. I had never read a book like it before, full of practical help that makes a difference almost immediately. And then, because I’m a teacher, I desperately wished there was a version of the book for teenagers. Teenagers might just overthink things more than adults do, and I wanted the ideas of the Soundtracks book but written by and for teenagers, specifically. With the book Your New Playlist, my wish was granted. And I couldn’t be more excited for teens to get their hands on this book. Written by Jon Acuff’s two teenage daughters (with some help from their dad), this book takes the life-changing concepts from Soundtracks and puts them into the language and context of teenagers. It’s an incredibly valuable resource that, I believe, will eventually be used in some schools to help teens change the soundtracks of their negative thoughts and turn down their dials when things get overwhelming. If you’re a teacher, parent, or friend of a teenager, or if you’re a teen yourself, this is a book you need to read. I really believe that you’ll like the sounds of the new soundtracks you’ll soon be listening to.

recently read Jon Acuff’s book “Soundtracks” and it has helped me tremendously with my own “adult” overthinking . I was so excited to see this version for my teenage daughters. I have one daughter that is a freshman in high school and one that just started in middle school and I am excited to share this with them. There are so many things that I hear my daughters saying that are similar to thoughts in this book. I know this will relate to their lives and help guide them in their thoughts so that broken soundtracks will not dominate their future. I’m excited to share this with them. The Acuff family has come together on this and you can see the power of Jon’s influence on his own children’s lives by reading through this book. I highly recommend parents purchasing this book for their teens. It is a very easy read and written at a level where teenagers will enjoy it. Plenty of humor and great examples that will relate to their lives. I also recommend parents read Jon’s book “Soundtracks” prior to reading this book as well if possible. I plan to read this with my daughters and discuss each chapter! They are not sure about Dada book club but I know they will enjoy this adventure and I will be able to grow closer to them as well.

I read Soundtracks earlier this year and enjoyed every page. Jon is a master of mixing humor with research and simple, actionable, life changing advice. This book is exactly that for teenagers. He has collaborated with his teenage daughters to apply the same principles to a younger generation and it’s a wonderful resource for teens. This book should be in every home and every library. Being a teen is hard, this book can help make the teenage experience more enjoyable (or at least more tolerable!).

As a huge fan of Jon’s preceding book Soundtracks (others as well), I love that he is joined by his multi-talented daughters because I think it is so helpful for people to learn as early as possible that your thoughts turn into actions then results. The book covers how you need to pay attention to what you’re thinking and pick a good “playlist.” Turn up the volume on those ones! It demonstrates what happens when you don’t also. The authors do so by providing plenty of personal stories, some statistics for good measure, and a few dad jokes for added humor. It’s a quick read, and I highly recommend it as a gift or personal purchase for anyone from middle school through college age.

This was a fun read, and a great book for any teen who has a lot of noise in their life. I have been looking forward to this book release since Jon Acuff‘s “Soundtracks” and this complementary teen version was so much more amazing than I could have hoped for. McRae and L.E. did such a good job painting a clear picture with relatable examples of how to turn down the dial so truth can be heard. I’m looking forward to giving copies to the teens in my life that could use the positive messaging with the actionable challenges built right in. It is a light and quick read, don’t miss it!

I was such a big fan of Jon's book, Soundtracks: The Surprising Solution to Overthinking…. but I probably enjoyed this adapted version even more! He wrote this with his teenage daughters, attacking the same problem of overthinking, but from a completely different angle. This book is written for teens who haven't had as much rigid practice at repeating limiting soundtracks as their parents have. As a parent of a 12 year old, I got a lot out of the book personally (I would definitely recommend for adults) and cannot wait to have my son read it as well. Jon's daughters L.E. and McRae absolutely crushed it... officially making Jon Acuff my third favorite writer, and Acuff, in the world!

The Acuff family has come out of this first book together as the new Avengers! Heroic! Engaging! Life saving! This book is witty, engaging, inspiring, and an actionable tool for every day life. LE and McRae bring not only their insight as a teen/young adult, but they share real stories which makes this read even more compelling! I have two daughters, ages 15 and 12. We are taking this as an opportunity to engage as a family, read it together, and create a dialogue that I anticipate will last for years. If you believe in investing in yourself and the next generation, buy and read this book! And then, purchase 50 more copies for people you know and love! That is exactly what I'm doing!

I truly loved this book. I loved hearing about the power of mindset from fresh young voices, and I loved the reminders for parents, teachers, and mentors sprinkled throughout. Life for teens and young adults today is NOT the same as when my generation lived through our teens and twenties. Social media complicates things. The level of connectedness that technology makes possible has its positives and negatives. And overthinking is not a unique problem, but the main takeaway of this book is that we can use overthinking to our advantage if we change the direction of our thoughts. We can use our mental playlist to our advantage by speaking kind, encouraging words to ourselves. We can become more self-aware and also take a step back when negative thoughts come to mind to ask if those thoughts are true, helpful, and kind. If we wouldn't talk to a friend the way we talk to ourselves, then we need to rethink how we talk to ourselves. I'm already catching myself pulling information from this book into class discussions with college students as well as my ladies' Bible study group. I fully expect to make this book a staple for upcoming high school graduation gifts.

Overthinking is easily one of the most difficult parts of being a teenager, and this book is THE resource I will recommend as the remedy from now on! I loved Jon's previous book (Soundtracks), so I didn't hesitate to read this version written for teens, by teens. L.E. and McRae show such bravery and vulnerability as they share personal stories of how they have battled overthinking in their own lives. The combination of their teenage perspective with Jon's humor and experience is magic! There are so many quotes to share, but one that sums up the purpose and energy of the book best is, "If you're not kind to you, it's like hanging out with a jerk all day." *mic drop* Anyone who is looking for a way to help their teen reframe their thoughts so they are working FOR them instead of against them needs a copy of Your New Playlist in the house!

I read this book to see if it would be something my pre-teens should read, and I was blown away by the number of takeaways I, as an adult, took from it! I love a book that gives you easy-to-do adjustments, that will change your life, and this book falls into that category! Even just a few pages in, I already was making changes to the way I think and practicing what they taught. I will be rereading it, with my girls, and have already recommended it to several family members, friends, and co-workers. You will not be disappointed!