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
Consumer or Consumed? BusinessWeek reviews two books about brands
Book Review by Porchlight
Yesterday Dylan did a nice job of summing up the latest reviews and discussions about business books in business magazines. Sometimes it's hard for us to keep up with everything, so here's one from a few weeks ago. In the June 19 issue of BusinessWeek, writer Susan Berfield reviewed two books that "explore the question of whether brands control us, or vice versa": Buying In: The Secret Dialogue Between What We Buy and Who We Are by Rob Walker, and Obsessive Branding Disorder: The Illusion of Business and the Business of Illusion by Lucas Conley.
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Outsmart!
Book Review by Porchlight
Jim Champy is coauthor of the business classic Reengineering the Corporation: A Manifesto for Business Revolution, which is, without a doubt, one of The 100 Best Business Books of All Time (we love manifestos). He also wrote the follow-ups Reengineering Management and X-Engineering the Corporation, and just released a new book, Outsmart! , in March.
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The Pixar Touch review in the New York Times Book Review
Book Review by Porchlight
The Pixar Touch, which was a Jack Covert Selects in May, was reviewed in this past Sunday's New York Times Book Review. Read the review here.
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The Future of the Internet
Book Review by Porchlight
You guessed it! Another book was brought to my attention the other day when someone called and placed a mass quantity order for their employees to read, the other day. The book was: The Future of the Internet.
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First Stop in the New World
Book Review by Porchlight
I've commented before on how small the world is getting and how business attitudes have and must change to comply this fact. Many places around the globe are either losing their stance with the global economy because they may have not recognized the need for change or they just lost the "IT" factor; while other countries are picking up the flack, so to speak. First Stop in the New World: Mexico City, the Capital of the 21st Century gives such a locale as an example that many people have either not thought about being in a power position or just written off because they don't know much about the city.
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The Word of Mouth Manual: Volume II
Book Review by Porchlight
Dave Balter seems to love proving people wrong. People thought he was crazy when he created one of the first word of mouth media companies, BzzAgent. But, through his work, he has proven that people are not only willing, but actually want to be involved in learning about brands and products, and helping spread the word about them, if engaged with and listened to.
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Personal Days
Book Review by Porchlight
Just how absurd (silly, mundane, hypocritical, etc - pick one or use your own) has the workplace gotten since the introduction of new technologies and the seemingly endless barrage of office politics? In his new novel, Personal Days, Ed Park examines the culture of business like it has never been examined before. He makes up a New York company, adds a bit of George Orwell, dabbles in office romances and starts it all off with a certain employee getting a phone call on a Sunday from the office.
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Superclass
Book Review by Porchlight
A company recently ordered a bunch of copies of a book called Superclass the other day and I had to look into getting them some copies. Boy, did it sound interesting once I did some research! So interesting in fact that I had to get a copy for myself.
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Guilty Pleasure: Miss Walters' New Book
Book Review by Porchlight
OK, I know this is getting quite a bit of media attention already, but I'm going to add to it here and now regardless. This past weekend, our sister company, Harry W. Schwartz Bookstores brought Barbara Walters in for a signing/interview session at Alverno College .
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Book reviews in The Economist
Book Review by Porchlight
The Economist regularly reviews history, business, and nonfiction books in its "Books and arts" section. This week, two reviews caught my eye. Here are brief excerpts from the reviews.
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