Book reviews are an endangered species. So this independent bookstore decided to start publishing its own.

Porter Square Books launched The Porter Square Review of Books this month, an initiative to revive newspaper-style book reviews. The independent bookstore's booksellers and writers-in-residence are publishing weekly reviews on its website every Thursday. These reviews, approximately 500 words each, offer more in-depth analysis than typical "staff picks" found in stores or on online platforms like Goodreads or StoryGraph. The reviews are also shared on Bluesky and will be compiled in a monthly newsletter. This move by Porter Square Books comes amidst a significant decline in published book reviews, particularly within traditional newspaper formats. The Washington Post recently eliminated its Book World section as part of broader layoffs, following similar cutbacks at publications like the Associated Press, which stopped publishing book reviews last fall. Metro dailies had already reduced or eliminated standalone book sections over the past twenty-five years, leaving The New York Times Book Review as one of the last remaining discrete newspaper book sections, according to former Washington Post nonfiction book critic Becca Rothfeld. Josh Cook, a co-owner of Porter Square Books, noted the loss of accessible book reviews that were once readily available through local newspapers and alt-weeklies like The Boston Phoenix and DigBoston.