SHINE A LIGHT TODAY. AKA: SALT
The Christian & Faith-Based go-to media review series that spotlights faith-driven books, films, and podcasts worth your time.
Logos: Bible Trading Card Game
Logos is a trading card game by Ktizo Games that has a solid Biblical foundation worked into both its cards and its mechanics. Complex enough to be interesting, but simple enough to be easy to pick up, this game boasts the fun of greats such as Magic the Gathering and Yu-Gi-Oh while utilizing Biblical figures and events in an interconnected web of gameplay.
Tina (2024)
Tinā is a 2024 New Zealand choral-themed drama film set three years after the devastating 2011 Christchurch earthquake. In it, Mareta Percival must struggle to survive in the wake of losing her only daughter in a building collapse. Shut down from the world around her, Mareta finds herself working at a substitute teacher in a snobbish boarding school, wrangling kids that may seem perfect on the outside, but underneath are dealing with a variety of their own traumas and pains.
The Wingfeather Saga: Season Two
The Wingfeather Saga, Season 2 is the continuation of the Igiby Family’s flight from the Fangs after upsetting the delicate balance of the region in Season 1. While in Glipwood Forest, the Igibys (known to the audience at this point by their true name: Wingfeather) train to defend themselves and encounter set backs and peril along the way to Dugtown, from terrible fangs and treacherous brigands to unforgiving landscapes and decisions with disastrous consequences.
Erased (Anime)
Erased (2016) is a time-travel mystery thriller anime based off of a manga with the same name by Kei Sanbe. In it, Satoru Fujinuma is a 29-year-old manga artist who can’t seem to get his feet under him in the industry. He struggles through life with little passion or ambition, held back by traumatic events from his childhood he can barely remember. In addition to this, Satoru has been saddled with a mysterious event he’s called “Revival”, where he travels backwards in time to prevent disasters. After the murder of someone close to him, Satoru’s Revival takes him all the way back to his childhood, where he has an opportunity to undo the past and save the future.
Solo Mio (2026)
SOLO MIO is a new rom-com from Angel Studios starring Kevin James, Nicole Grimaudo, Kim Coates, Alyson Hannigan, and Jonathan Roumie. Left at the altar and saddled with a comprehensive Italian honeymoon tour package he can’t get a refund for, fourth grade art teacher Matt Taylor decides to see Italy for himself, grieving the relationship he lost. With the help of two unlikely — and somewhat unwanted — new friends, Matt’s solo tour of Italy comes with more than he bargained for.
The Bygone Eras of Oogerel (Issues 1 & 2)
From the Bygone Sagas of Oogerel is an ongoing comic series anthology by brother and sister duo Christian and Kelsey Hauer. Featuring the one-off story A Shrewd Defense, the first entry of the nightmarish A Rude Awakening story, and two stories of the Marvelous Mr. Motley superhero series. All tied together in the same fantastical world of Oogerel — albeit at different times and locations — this comic universe delivers the high-flying action, the stalwart adventure, and the strangeness of alien lifeforms and plenty of room to expand.
Sainthood (Video Game)
Sainthood is a 2024 indie strategy game about community and faith by the Sainthood Project. With a cozy art style and quick-to-pick-up game mechanics, this strategy game places players in the shoes of a young nun with an important mission: serve the community around her. Be that through prayer and worship or acts of charity, the needs on this little island are great and the workers are few.
The Fiery Priest (Season 2)
The Fiery Priest, 2019’s top-rated kdrama, is back for a second season with The Fiery Priest II. In South Korea’s second-largest city of Busan, Catholic Priest Kim Hae-il and his companions take on a Laotian druglord who’s moved into the area. Filled with epic fight scenes, unhinged gags, and a plot that could never quite find its feet, The Fiery Priest II falls flat on its face.
The Flock
The Flock is a children’s graphic novel by Tim Wolkiewicz, discussing and explaining the concepts of sharing the Gospel, helping those in need through fostering, and what it means to be adopted into both a human family and God’s family. The story loosely follows the lives of two sheep as they listen and obey the Good Shepherd’s teachings and work to evangelize a fellow sheep…or perhaps a wolf in disguise…
The Wingfeather Saga: Season One
The Wingfeather Saga (Season 1) is an animated show produced by Angel Studios, based on a book series of the same name by Andrew Peterson. This middle-grade fantasy series takes place in the land of Skree, where humanity is subjected by the ruthless, lizard-like Fangs. Three siblings — Janner, Tink, and Leeli — along with their mother Nia and grandfather Podo enjoy their not-quite-idyllic life under the Fangs’ control…that is until things are turned completely upside down by whispers of rebellion, a quest for legendary jewels, and family secrets finally revealed.
2nd Anniversary SALT Celebration Post!
Welcome to our continued celebration of ONE HUNDRED Shine A Light Today (SALT) review articles!! And, coincidentally, today is also our 2-year anniversary of SALT! Two years since our first review (Godzilla: Minus One) and one hundred pieces of Christian and secular media assessed, analyzed, and reviewed for your convenience!
Special: Top Rated Media from 100 Reviews!
Today is a very exciting day because — drumroll, please — this is the 100th SALT article! Woohoo!!
Kensuke’s Kingdom (2024)
Kensuke’s Kingdom is a breathtaking 2023 animated film based on Michael Morpurgo’s 1999 shipwreck adventure novel of the same name. In it, young Michael and his pet dog Stella find themselves stranded after being thrown overboard during a terrible storm. Washed ashore on an unknown island, Michael and Stella meet a Japanese man named Kensuke, who’s been in the untamed wilderness for decades.
Potter Knows Best: Breakable Crackables (Audiobook)
Breakable Crackables is the second book in Cheryl McKay Price’s Potter Knows Best book series for little kids. In this book, the Potter’s granddaughter Daisy knocks over a bunch of plates, sending them crashing to the floor. The Potter leads Daisy through a lesson on forgiveness and repair as he puts the plates back together using the Japanese art of kintsugi.
ClosetWorld
ClosetWorld is a fantastical, supernatural adventure graphic novel illustrated by John Amor and written by Matt Yocum (along with his late brother, Richard Yocum). In it, young Johnny Shepherd hears a noise coming from his closet. He gets up to investigate, finding his favorite calculator missing. Thinking it’s some kind of prank by his brother, Johnny dives into his closet, armed only with a toy blaster and pair of fuzzy, dinosaur slippers. He finds his calculator…or so it appears…and goes on an interdimensional adventure filled with angels, demons, and temptations beyond his imagination.
Sketch (2024)
Sketch is a family friendly psychological “horror” adventure movie produced by Angel Studios. The story follows a widowed father, Taylor, and his two children, Jack and Amber, as they navigate the grief that has followed their recent loss. Amber’s dark, expressive drawings step into the real world when Jack discovers a pond with the mystical ability to bring things to life. In a story of healing, sass, and glitter-covered bogeys the Wyatts must learn to navigate their grief in a healthy way…and defeat giant monsters using really cool swords.
Damien Decides
Damien Decides is a children’s picture book written by Rachel James and illustrated by Michael Bliss. In it, Damien must decide how to use his superpowers of transformation. During a particularly intense time of acting out, Damien’s Uncle Joe comes in and begins to teach Damien how to use his powers for good. Will the young boy learn to be a good man who uses his powers out of love for others or will he use his powers selfishly, out of pride and stubbornness?
Young David
Young David is a series of animated short films based around the life of King David as a youth. Loosely following the Biblical description of David’s childhood — as well as bringing in other Scriptural themes from both the Old and New Testaments — this beautifully animated series gives audiences a taste of what is to come from Angel Studio’s feature length animated movie David.
Before the Coffee Gets Cold
Before the Coffee Gets Cold is a cozy, philosophical, time-travel international bestseller. The cafe Funiculi Funicula has had a rumor swirling around it for decades: it can provide customers with the ability to time-travel. However, this ability is limited by a number of non-negotiable rules, including — but not limited to — where customers have to sit in order to time travel, the fact that they will never be able to change the past, that they can only meet with people who have been to the cafe before, and that they must complete their temporal jaunt before their coffee gets cold.
Jake Muller Adventures: Undead
The Jake Muller Adventures: Undead is the third installment of Darby Kern’s supernatural thriller audio drama series. This episode takes the private security officer Jake Muller to the bayous of Louisiana, where a movie about his life is being filmed and produced. Unable to have a normal vacation to save his life, Jake is swiftly caught up in a conspiracy involving strange new drugs, human trafficking, and…zombies? The Jake Muller Adventure series once again brings the action, the adventure, and the faith to its audience, sparing neither the Biblical gut-punch nor the epic explosions.