Lights Popular Books

Lights Biography & Facts

Lights Valerie Anne Poxleitner-Bokan (born Valerie Anne Poxleitner; April 11, 1987), known mononymously as Lights (previously stylized in all caps), is a Canadian musician, singer, and songwriter. Her debut album, The Listening (2009), included the singles "Drive My Soul" and "Saviour". Her second album, Siberia, which featured the single "Toes", was released in 2011. Her work has earned multiple Canadian Independent Music Awards, and Juno Awards including Pop Album of the Year for her third album Little Machines, which included the single "Up We Go", and fourth album Skin & Earth, in 2015 and 2018, respectively. Lights' fifth studio album, PEP, was released in 2022. History 1987–2007: early years Lights was born as Valerie Anne Poxleitner in Timmins, Ontario, to missionary parents Virginia and Eric Poxleitner on April 11, 1987. She has one older sister, Jess. She spent her childhood in many parts of the world, including the Philippines, Jamaica, and Hanover, Ontario. She was home-schooled by her mother, and was taught guitar by her father. Lights produced her first song "Saturn's Rings" with an eight-track recorder she purchased with inheritance money from her grandmother in 2001. In high school, Lights played the guitar and sang in the metal band Shovel Face and accumulated a following through her Myspace page. She moved to Toronto at the age of 18 and changed her name to Lights, a nickname derived from her surname. Although there was already a signed band named "Lights", officially changing her name allowed her to use it despite the prior claim.Lights began her music career writing for Sony/ATV Music Publishing and composed music for the CTV television series Instant Star. She and Luke McMaster are credited with composing "Perfect", sung by Alexz Johnson in the role of Jude Harrison. In 2007, she contracted with Jian Ghomeshi, who acted as her manager until late 2014. 2008–2013: The Listening and Siberia In early 2008, Lights toured cities in the Great Lakes region, in Canada and the United States. Around the same time, her song "Drive My Soul" rose to No. 18 on the Canadian Hot 100 chart. In late 2008, she toured the United States. In August 2008, Lights signed a record deal with Toronto-based label Underground Operations and an American partnership deal with Warner Bros. and Doghouse Records. Her self-titled EP was released on iTunes in July and on vinyl in September. Her second single, "February Air", which had been used in a commercial for Old Navy in early 2008, was released in December and sold about 12,000 copies. She released a third single, "Ice", accompanied by a homemade video in March 2009.The commercial success of the EP and its singles enabled Lights to release the full-length album The Listening in September 2009. She promoted the album with the August 10 release of a music video for "Saviour", the first single from the album. The single was released on September 22 in Canada. Its US release was held until October 6 while she left Underground Operations for her own record label, Lights Music Inc. Lights re-recorded "Ice" for the new album and released a new video on November 10. According to Lights, the artwork for the album cover was inspired by Watchmen, 28 Days Later, and Sailor Moon. Lights won the 2009 Juno Award for New Artist of the Year. The Listening sold more than 80,000 copies and was certified gold in Canada. In September 2009, Lights toured with the British band Keane on their Canadian/Pacific Northwest tour. She also contributed vocals to Ten Second Epic's song "Every Day". Its music video was nominated for Best Independent Music Video at the 2010 MuchMusic Video Awards. She is also featured on the soundtrack (songs "Ben" and "Climbing") for the 2008 Canadian film One Week, starring Joshua Jackson. She was a guest vocalist on the album A Shipwreck in the Sand, released in 2009 by post-hardcore band Silverstein from Burlington, Ontario. From January to May 2010, she toured with contemporary synthpop artist Owl City in Canada, the United States, and Europe. Lights released an acoustic EP titled Acoustic in July 2010, with a special performance at the University of Waterloo, where she had received most of her inspiration for the album. Later that month, she began a six-date US tour. In September, she joined Hedley for the eight-show Ontario leg of their Canadian tour. Lights appeared as a guest vocalist on the songs "Crucify Me" and "Don't Go" of Bring Me the Horizon's 2010 album There Is a Hell Believe Me I've Seen It. There Is a Heaven Let's Keep It a Secret. and on The Secret Handshake's song "Used to be Sweet". In October 2010, Lights released the digital single "My Boots" and began a concert tour with Jeremy Fisher. At a November show in Toronto, she was presented a trophy by the Canadian Recording Industry Association for The Listening's gold certification, having then achieved 40,000 units in sales.At the June 2011 Utopia Music Festival, Lights performed three new songs, "Toes", "Where the Fence is Low", and "Everybody Breaks a Glass". The first of these songs was released as a single in August, to promote her second studio album, Siberia. She had signed with Last Gang Records, and concerns by label executives about her shift in style to a more gritty sound delayed the album's release to October 4 in Canada and the US, and later that month in Australia. Siberia received positive reviews and was nominated for a Juno Award for Best Pop Album of the Year. It debuted at No. 3 on the Canadian Albums Chart, and sold more than 10,000 units in its first week. Sales surpassed 40,000 and the album was certified gold in Canada on April 27, 2012. She was also featured in "The Yacht Club" on Owl City's 2011 album All Things Bright and Beautiful, and appeared in his music video for "Deer in the Headlights".In March 2013, Lights released an acoustic version of "Cactus in the Valley", featuring Owl City, as a single in the UK. Siberia Acoustic was released in April 2013, and reached No. 7 in Canada. She toured North America in support of the album, with Dear Rouge opening some dates and Lianne La Havas opening others. 2014–2019: Little Machines and Skin & Earth In July 2014, Lights' third studio album, Little Machines, became available for pre-order on iTunes with its lead single, "Up We Go", available to download. The album was released on September 23 in the US and Canada. It debuted at No. 5 in Canada. "Running with the Boys" received radio play in early 2015 as the second official single, while "Portal" and "Same Sea" received promotional releases. In October, Lights parted ways with her long-time manager Ghomeshi.Lights continued touring extensively in support of Little Machines into 2015. On April 8, 2016, she released the acoustic EP Midnight Machines, which included acoustic versions of six songs from Little Machines and two new songs: "Follow You Down" and "Head Cold". Lights and her band were featured in the 2016 video g.... Discover the Lights popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Lights books.

Best Seller Lights Books of 2024

  • The Way of Kings synopsis, comments

    The Way of Kings

    Brandon Sanderson

    From #1 New York Times bestselling author Brandon Sanderson, The Way of Kings, Book One of the Stormlight Archive begins an incredible new saga of epic proportion.Roshar is a world...

  • How the Light Gets In synopsis, comments

    How the Light Gets In

    Louise Penny

    How the Light Gets In is the ninth Chief Inspector Gamache Novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Louise Penny."There is a crack in everything. That's how the light gets i...

  • The Little Paris Bookshop synopsis, comments

    The Little Paris Bookshop

    Nina George

    Monsieur Perdu can prescribe the perfect book for a broken heart. But can he fix his own?   Monsieur Perdu calls himself a literary apothecary. From his floating bookstore in ...

  • Christmas Light synopsis, comments

    Christmas Light

    Jolyse Barnett

    Adirondack girlintransition Jade Engel comes home to recharge after ending a career she never truly wanted, but soon realizes she’s in danger of also being swept off her feet by th...

  • A Trick of the Light synopsis, comments

    A Trick of the Light

    Louise Penny

    A New York Times Notable Crime Book and Favorite Cozy for 2011A Publishers Weekly Best Mystery/Thriller books for 2011 With A Trick of the Light, Louise Penny takes us back to the ...

  • There There synopsis, comments

    There There

    Tommy Orange

    PULITZER PRIZE FINALIST NATIONAL BESTSELLER A wondrous and shattering awardwinning novel that follows twelve characters from Native communities: all traveling to the Big Oakland ...

  • Under the Lights synopsis, comments

    Under the Lights

    Abbi Glines

    In the followup to Abbi Glines’s #1 New York Times bestseller Until Friday Nightwhich bestselling author Kami Garcia called “tender, honest, and achingly real”three teens from a sm...

  • Humpty Bumpkin synopsis, comments

    Humpty Bumpkin

    Sam Cheever

    She's just a country girl who loves her dog. But her life is about to get less countrified and more...erm...homicide. Deer Hollow is a small community built in a verdant, rolling ...

  • Nineteen Minutes synopsis, comments

    Nineteen Minutes

    Jodi Picoult

    Jodi Picoult, bestselling author of My Sister's Keeper and Small Great Things pens her most riveting book yet, with a startling and poignant story about the devastating aftermath o...

  • Wild With You synopsis, comments

    Wild With You

    J.H. Croix

    A swoony, small town firefighter series from USA Today Bestselling Author J.H. Croix! ✔️ Single father with axeswinging hotness ✔️ Polar opposites attract ✔️ Barn burner chemistry ...

  • Lone Wolf synopsis, comments

    Lone Wolf

    Jodi Picoult

    A life hanging in the balance…a family torn apartNew York Times bestselling author Jodi Picoult tells an unforgettable story about family secrets, love, and letting go. On an icy w...

  • The Secret Keeper synopsis, comments

    The Secret Keeper

    Kate Morton

    From the New York Times and #1 internationally bestselling author of Homecoming, The Distant Hours, The Forgotten Garden, and The House at Riverton comes a spellbinding novel of fa...

  • The Book of Lost Names synopsis, comments

    The Book of Lost Names

    Kristin Harmel

    “A fascinating, heartrending pageturner that, like the reallife forgers who inspired the novel, should never be forgotten.” Kristina McMorris, New York Times bestselling author of ...

  • Light Bulb synopsis, comments

    Light Bulb

    David Barron

    The tale of two bulbs Ron and Roff who come through school, eventually ending up at college. Read how they both eventually see the light.Very funny and humourous and quite bright.

  • Head Over Heels synopsis, comments

    Head Over Heels

    Cindy Procter-King

    A girl. A guy. A tiny white lie. What could go wrong? (A lot).  Sweet and sexy, sassy romantic comedy from RWA Golden Heart finalist Cindy ProcterKing. “Warm, witty characters...

  • Southern Lights synopsis, comments

    Southern Lights

    Danielle Steel

    Danielle Steel sweeps us from a Manhattan courtroom to the Deep South in her powerful new novelat once a behindcloseddoors look into the heart of a family and a tale of crime and...

  • Portrait Photography synopsis, comments

    Portrait Photography

    Joe Scrivens

    This isn’t a tutorial book, it’s simply a book to inspire.  Take a look through each photograph and see the settings and equipment that were used to take each shot. It is desi...

  • Klara and the Sun synopsis, comments

    Klara and the Sun

    Kazuo Ishiguro

    NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Once in a great while, a book comes along that changes our view of the world. This magnificent novel from the Nobel laureate and author of Never Let Me G...

  • Porch Lights synopsis, comments

    Porch Lights

    Dorothea Benton Frank

    New York Times bestselling author Dorothea Benton Frank is back home in the Carolina lowcountry, spinning a tale that brims with the warmth, charm, heart, and humor that has become...

  • Christmas Lights and Cowboy Nights synopsis, comments

    Christmas Lights and Cowboy Nights

    Shelli Stevens

    Rosa Mercado is looking for something more serious with her love life, which is why she hits the brakes on the sexy cowboy who walks into her dad’s restaurant and hits on her. ...

  • Plain Truth synopsis, comments

    Plain Truth

    Jodi Picoult

    From the bestselling author of My Sister's Keeper comes the riveting story of a murder that shatters the picturesque calm of Amish countryand tests the heart and soul of the lawyer...

  • Light of the Western Stars synopsis, comments

    Light of the Western Stars

    Zane Grey

    When Madeline Hammond stepped from the train at El Cajon, New Mexico, it was nearly midnight, and her first impression was of a huge dark space of cool, windy emptiness, strange an...

  • Lights Out synopsis, comments

    Lights Out

    Ted Koppel

    NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Ted Koppel reveals that a major cyberattack on America’s power grid is not only possible but likely, that it would be devastating, and that the United St...

  • The Light Between Oceans synopsis, comments

    The Light Between Oceans

    M.L. Stedman

    The yearslong New York Times bestseller and major motion picture from Spielberg’s Dreamworks is “irresistible…seductive…with a high concept plot that keeps you riveted from the fir...

  • The Armor of Light synopsis, comments

    The Armor of Light

    Ken Follett

    An epic continuation of the series that began with The Pillars of the Earth, The Armor of Light heralds a new dawn for Kingsbridge, England, where progress clashes with tradition, ...

  • Lost Light synopsis, comments

    Lost Light

    Michael Connelly

    In this New York Times bestseller, retired LAPD detective Harry Bosch wants justice for a murdered production assistant but without his police badge, can he take down a powerful a...

  • A Light in the Flame synopsis, comments

    A Light in the Flame

    Jennifer L. Armentrout

    From #1 New York Times bestselling author Jennifer L. Armentrout comes book two in her Flesh and Fire series… The only one who can save Sera now is the one she spent her life plan...

  • All the Light We Cannot See synopsis, comments

    All the Light We Cannot See

    Anthony Doerr

    NOW A NETFLIX LIMITED SERIESfrom producer and director Shawn Levy (Stranger Things) starring Mark Ruffalo, Hugh Laurie, and newcomer Aria Mia LobertiWinner of the Pulitzer Prize an...

  • I Temporarily Do synopsis, comments

    I Temporarily Do

    Ellie Cahill

    <i>A little white lie. A little white wedding. A pair of roommates in over their heads.</i> Days before she's set to move across the country and start a prestigious gra...

  • House Rules synopsis, comments

    House Rules

    Jodi Picoult

    From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Small Great Things and the modern classics My Sister’s Keeper, The Storyteller, and more, comes a “complex, compassionate, and smar...

  • Seeing Red synopsis, comments

    Seeing Red

    Sandra Brown

    #1New York Times bestselling author Sandra Brown delivers nonstop suspense and supercharged sexual tension in a thriller about tainted heroism and vengeance without mercy. Kerra Ba...

  • Oathbringer synopsis, comments

    Oathbringer

    Brandon Sanderson

    The #1 New York Times bestselling sequel to Words of Radiance, from epic fantasy author Brandon Sanderson at the top of his game.In Oathbringer, the third volume of the New York Ti...

  • The Light We Lost synopsis, comments

    The Light We Lost

    Jill Santopolo

    The New York Times Bestseller and A Reese’s Book Club Pick  “This love story between Lucy & Gabe spans decades and continents as two starcrossed lovers try to return ...

  • The Forgotten Garden synopsis, comments

    The Forgotten Garden

    Kate Morton

    From the New York Times bestselling author of Homecoming comes a novel that takes readers on an unforgettable journey through generations and across continents as two women try to ...

  • A Spark of Light synopsis, comments

    A Spark of Light

    Jodi Picoult

    #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER  The author of Small Great Things returns with a powerful and provocative new novel about ordinary lives that intersect during a he...

  • Manhattan Beach synopsis, comments

    Manhattan Beach

    Jennifer Egan

    NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A New York Times Notable BookWinner of the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in FictionThe daring and magnificent novel from the Pulitzer Prize–winnin...

  • In Five Years synopsis, comments

    In Five Years

    Rebecca Serle

    A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERA Good Morning America, FabFitFun, and Marie Claire Book Club Pick“In Five Years is as clever as it is moving, the rare readinonesitting novel you won’t ...

  • Rhythm of War synopsis, comments

    Rhythm of War

    Brandon Sanderson

    An instant #1 New York Times Bestseller and a USA Today and Indie Bestseller!The Stormlight Archive saga continues in Rhythm of War, the eagerly awaited sequel to Brandon Sanderson...

  • A Memory of Light synopsis, comments

    A Memory of Light

    Robert Jordan & Brandon Sanderson

    The Wheel of Time is now an original series on Prime Video, starring Rosamund Pike as Moiraine! With Robert Jordan’s untimely passing in 2007, Brandon Sanderson, the New York Time...

  • Sing You Home synopsis, comments

    Sing You Home

    Jodi Picoult

    From the awardwinning, #1 New York Times bestselling author whom USA TODAY calls a “master of the pageturner,” comes the spectacular story of a woman’s complex quest to form a fami...

  • Until Friday Night synopsis, comments

    Until Friday Night

    Abbi Glines

    A #1 New York Times bestseller and the first novel in a brandnew seriesfrom bestselling author Abbi Glinesabout a small Southern town filled with cute boys in pickup trucks, Friday...

  • Words of Radiance synopsis, comments

    Words of Radiance

    Brandon Sanderson

    From #1 New York Times bestselling author Brandon Sanderson, Words of Radiance, Book Two of the Stormlight Archive, continues the immersive fantasy epic that The Way of Kings began...