Staff Picks Book Reviews
Porchlight is a company filled with voracious readers—talented, creative individuals who know books, and who excel at moving them. Whenever we can, we like to do that by telling you about the books we’re reading.
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Blog / Staff Picks
The Light We Give: How Sikh Wisdom Can Transform Your Life
Book Review by Jasmine Gonzalez
Author and religious scholar Simran Jeet Singh provides a deep dive into understanding key concepts of Sikhi and gives us a new way to perceive and learn from the 2012 tragedy in Oak Creek.
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Blog / Staff Picks
The Elsewheres (in the Heart) of America
Book Review by Bryan Rogers
What happens when residents reclaim their rightful place in local government? What happens when towns devastated by citywide poverty transform themselves into models of restoration and resiliency?
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Blog / Staff Picks
Milked: How an American Crisis Brought Together Midwestern Dairy Farmers and Mexican Workers
Book Review by Jasmine Gonzalez
Milked focuses on how farmers and immigrants have been pitted against one another, but in many ways, it is a broader metaphor for how all Americans are pitted against each other. Yet it is not about the doom and gloom of it all—it is about hope.
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Blog / Staff Picks
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow
Book Review by Gabbi Cisneros
Sam, Sadie, and Marx's stories may begin in similar places, but it becomes evident how a significant part of their lives is determined not by their goals but by their mindsets. They rely on virtual lives over physical, at least until the two become more intertwined.
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Blog / Staff Picks
Everything I Need I Get from You: How Fangirls Created the Internet as We Know It
Book Review by Jasmine Gonzalez
For those that haven’t lived through the firsthand experience of being in an online fan community, Everything I Need I Get from You offers a well-researched, holistic view of what it means to be a fan.
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Blog / Staff Picks
Last Summer on State Street: A Novel
Book Review by Emily Porter
Toya Wolfe graces us with her debut novel, a coming-of-age story set on the South side of Chicago, showing it as, yes, a hardened and dangerous neighborhood, but also a strong and resilient community.
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Blog / Staff Picks
Think Like a Horse: Lessons in Life, Leadership, and Empathy from an Unconventional Cowboy
Book Review by Bryan Rogers
For better or for worse, animals tend to be our favorite mirror of choice. In Grant Golliher's new book, our initially skeptical reviewer Bryan Rogers found it was, in the end, for the better.
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Blog / Staff Picks
Disconnected : How to Stay Human in an Online World
Book Review by Emily Porter
Emma Gannon brings us this easy and fast read to guide us in reassessing our relationship with the devices that surround us each day.
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Blog / Staff Picks
We Were Dreamers: An Immigrant Superhero Origin Story
Book Review by Jasmine Gonzalez
We Were Dreamers is not just the story of Simu Liu’s journey to stardom, but a tribute to his family that is equally heart-wrenching and beautiful.
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Blog / Staff Picks
Streaming Now: Postcards from the Thing That Is Happening
Book Review by Gabbi Cisneros
Many of us would probably love to forget the yoyo-ing between monotony and madness of the early pandemic's everyday, but I think books like Streaming Now are essential to continue cultivating our consideration for ourselves and others, extending the learning that was thrust into motion in early 2020.
Categories: staff-picks