New Book Releases for the Week of June 17, 2025

We're midway through June, and the official start of summer is within arm's reach. Maybe you're feeling antsy. Maybe you want to shake things up somehow. The following four books will nudge you to chase that inkling by inviting more creativity and courage into your life, questioning the status quo, and leaning into the one-of-a-kind aspects of your personality.

The Porchlight staff members choosing books each week include Porchlight's Managing Director, Sally Haldorson, and the marketing team of Gabbi Cisneros, Jasmine Gonzalez, and Dylan Schleicher. As expert booksellers, we browse publisher catalogs and explore new titles from across the book industry to discover what captures our interest, and we're excited to share our findings with readers like you.

Unless otherwise noted, all book descriptions are provided by their respective publishers.

Our Recommended Books This Week

Gabbi's pick: The Creative's Mind: How Exceptional Artists Think, Make, and Perform by Jim Afremow, PhD, and Phil White, published by BenBella Books

No matter your medium, you know that you can’t wait for inspiration to strike when it comes to honing your skills. This is true not only for your craft, but a crucial and often-overlooked aspect of the creative process: your mindset.

From Jim Afremow, author of The Champion’s Mind, and Phil White, co-author of The Leader’s Mind, this new guide takes you inside the mental game of some of the world’s top directors, photographers, writers, and musicians, and shows how their mindset has become their biggest competitive advantage.

Learn from the mental game and creative process of these top artists:

• Destin Daniel Cretton, director of Spider-Man 4 and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
• Chris Burkard, award-winning photographer and filmmaker
• BT, Grammy-nominated musician, producer, and composer
• Erik Larson, New York Times bestselling author of The Devil in the White City and The Demon of Unrest
• Dom Streater, fashion designer and winner of Project Runway and Project Runway All-Stars
• Tim Allen, animator for two Academy Award–winning films, Pinocchio and Peter and the Wolf
• Keegan Hall, artist and philanthropist
• Suzannah Bianco, Olympic gold medalist and Cirque du Soleil performer
• Stephen Wiltshire, architectural artist
• Graham Thompson, founder of Optimo Hats
• Ashley Stegon, visual artist for The Mandalorian
• David Greusel, architect and cofounder of Convergence Design

Filled with motivating stories and hard-earned advice, The Creative’s Mind will equip you with powerful tools to maximize your potential, persevere through hard times, and leave a lasting legacy.

Dylan's pick: Fake Work: How I Began to Suspect Capitalism is a Joke by Leigh Claire La Berge, published by Haymarket Books

While headlines blazed with doomsaying prophecies about the looming Y2K apocalypse, Leigh Claire was quickly introduced to the mysterious workings of The Process—a mythical and ever-changing corporate ethos The Andersen People (her fellow consultants) believed held world-saving powers. Her heroic task: printing physical copies of spreadsheets and sending them to a secure storage facility somewhere in the bowels of New Jersey.

After performing a series of equally mundane tasks, one well-timed deployment of an anecdote about a legendary quarterback catapulted her into the ranks of middle management. It wasn’t long before she found herself jet-setting on the firm’s dime to thirty-minute lunch meetings in Johannesburg, and giving impromptu lectures to Japanese executives about limiting liability at the end of the world.

By the end of her brief time as a businessman at a fake firm, in a fake industry, dedicated to solving a fake crisis, Leigh Claire had accumulated a lifetime’s worth of lessons about the absurdity of work and the nature of financialized capitalism. Fake Work blends memoir with post-facto theoretical interjections on the philosophical problems posed by contemporary corporate culture—from the inadequacy of poststructuralist inquiry to the alienation of office jobs—to tell the story of the techno-armageddon that wasn’t.

Jasmine's pick: Fired Up: How to Turn Your Spark into a Flame and Come Alive at Any Age by Shannon Watts, published by The Open Field

Too many of us are living on autopilot. We believe we’re too old, too busy, or too inexperienced to go after what we really want. Shannon Watts has a message for you: Think again. If you are ready to stand tall in your greatness, Fired Up invites you to shatter your self-imposed limitations and unleash your potential so you can finally start living the life you deserve.

Since starting Moms Demand Action, the nation’s largest grassroots organization against gun violence, Watts has helped thousands of women step off the sidelines and into their power. What most women don't realize is that inside all of us is a spark waiting to be ignited. Your spark is the catalyst for your life’s meaning and joy. When nurtured, it has the potential to transform not only your life, but the world.

Whether you want to stand up for yourself at work, launch the business you always dreamed of, or leave a toxic relationship and reclaim your confidence, Fired Up shows you how to identify, light, and feed the fire inside you. As Watts says, "That’s not an indulgence—it’s a requirement for living the most authentic life possible, without regrets."

Sally's pick: The Gift of Not Belonging: How Outsiders Thrive in a World of Joiners by Rami Kaminski, published by Little, Brown Spark

Were you the kid who never wanted to join after school clubs or go to sleepaway camp? Do you loathe parties but love spending time with close friends one-on-one? Are you allergic to teamwork but thrive creatively and professionally when working alone? Do you struggle to fit in? If so, you are likely an otrovert.

Otroverts are not natural born joiners. Unlike introverts, they are not shy or quiet, and do not quickly tire from one-on-one socializing. Yet in large groups they feel uncomfortable, alienated, and alone.

Unlike those who have been excluded or marginalized, otroverts are embraced and often quite popular. Yet they never feel like they truly belong.

In a culture that puts a premium on joining, many otroverts have gone through life feeling misunderstood. But, contrary to what we have been taught, argues psychiatrist Rami Kaminski, belonging is not a requirement for living a rich, rewarding life. Quite the opposite.

When you have no affinity for a particular group, your self-worth is not conditioned on the group’s approval. You can enjoy deep connection in individual relationships without the obligation to follow the rules the group follows, or care about what the group cares about. Best of all, you know of no other way to think or be, other than for yourself.

The Gift of Not Belonging urges otroverts to embrace their unique gifts, and equips them with the knowledge and tools to thrive in a communal world.

Buy these recommended new book releases and more directly from Porchlight Book Company.

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