March 11, 2025
Discovering your next great read just got easier with our weekly selection of four new releases.
Finding the right book at the right time can transform your life or your organization. We help you discover your next great read by showcasing four recently released titles each week.
The books are chosen by Porchlight's Managing Director, Sally Haldorson, and the marketing team: Dylan Schleicher, Gabbi Cisneros, and Jasmine Gonzalez. (Book descriptions are provided by the publisher unless otherwise noted.)
Here are our choices:
Sally’s pick: Flip the Tables: The Everyday Disruptor’s Guide to Finding Courage and Making Change by Alencia Johnson, Worthy Books
We all crave lives of meaning and purpose but figuring out how to start can feel overwhelming. The truth? Your unique gifts and perspectives are needed—right now. It just takes a little courage to tap into them.
In Flip the Tables, Alencia guides readers through three key stages of disruption:
- Disruption of Self – Break down barriers and confront the fears that hold you back from stepping into your boldest, most authentic self.
- Disruption of Vision – Radically reimagine what’s possible for your life and the world around you.
- Disruption of Community – Use your courage and fresh vision to make an impact—becoming the light needed in a dark world.
Flip the Tables is the playbook for those who want to create change—right where they are. Full of personal stories, real-world examples, and actionable tools, this guide helps readers ignite transformation by starting with their own lives.
Alencia draws from her experiences—overcoming insecurities, fighting for women’s rights, and advising top leaders and four presidential campaigns. Through behind-the-scenes insights and inspiring movements, she shows readers how to live with purpose, joy, and the belief that greatness lies within.
Because the world doesn’t just need disruptors—it needs you.
Dylan’s pick: Homestand: Small Town Baseball and the Fight for the Soul of America by Will Bardenwerper, Doubleday
What happens when a minor league team—the heart and soul of a Rust Belt town in western New York—is shut down by the billionaires who run Major League Baseball?
Batavia, New York—between Rochester and Buffalo—hosted its first professional baseball game in 1897. Despite decades of deindustrialization and evaporating middle-class jobs, the Batavia Muckdogs endured. When Major League Baseball cravenly shut them down in 2020—along with forty-one other minor league teams—the town fought back, reviving the Muckdogs as a summer league team comprised of college players. As MLB considers further cuts and private equity buys up what remains, the mom-and-pop operations once prevalent in baseball are endangered. But for now, the sights and sounds of local baseball live on in Batavia—cheap draft beer and hot dogs, starry-eyed kids seeking autographs, and breathtaking summer sunsets.
With a vibrant, unforgettable cast of characters—from a librarian and her best friend whose relationship deepens with every “crepuscular hour” they spend together in the bleachers, to the former hockey brawler-turned-team owner who greets regulars while working the concession stand, to the iconoclastic writer with a contagious love for his struggling hometown—Bardenwerper’s Homestand exposes the beating heart of small town America, friends and neighbors coming together as the crack of the bat echoes in the summer twilight.
Gabbi’s pick: Inner Entrepreneur: A Proven Path to Profit and Peace by Grant Sabatier, Avery
There’s never been a better time to become an entrepreneur. As wages stagnate and traditional jobs lose their luster, people are eager to be their own bosses and to step out of the grind. But where to begin? What are the real opportunities? How do you avoid becoming consumed by your business, with no room for yourself? Or, even better, how do you use your business to create more peace and freedom in your life.
Grant Sabatier has been through it all, and in this hands-on guide, he takes you through each step of the process—from finding the business that works for you, to scaling as big as you want, to selling your business—all without writing a business plan, needing investors, or sacrificing the things that are most important in your life. After all, you run your business. It should not run you.
Unlike “get rich quick” books, Inner Entrepreneur is truly comprehensive. This book will give you the keys to building wealth, but will also help you every step of the way, leaving no topic unexplored and offering resources and inspiring stories from people who have been there before you.
Whether you’re just starting out or you’re a seasoned pro looking for advice on your next move, Inner Entrepreneur will help you build a business and a life you love.
Jasmine’s pick: Your Brain on Altruism: The Power of Connection and Community during Times of Crisis by Nicole Karlis, University of California Press
Helping others can enhance our physical and mental well-being, boost resilience, and nurture a sense of fulfillment and connection beyond crises. In Your Brain on Altruism, health and science journalist Nicole Karlis delves into the science behind generosity and the benefits of fostering a culture of care for our health. She explores cutting-edge research on the sociology and psychology of altruism, revealing how acts of kindness during crises—such as COVID-19, natural disasters, and wars—inspire people to set aside differences and help one another.
Through interviews with innovators creating infrastructures for social connection—from a former entrepreneur leading a social prescribing movement, to doctors prescribing volunteer work and acts of kindness—Karlis shows how we all can contribute to cultivating kindness. A powerful call for a culture of caring, this book urges us to see taking care of one another as a social strength. By embracing this mindset and viewing ourselves as stewards of kindness, we can combat the epidemic of loneliness and build a more compassionate and resilient society.