There is a new book out this week entitled Generation F*cked, and it is well worth a read whether you're a part of the generation currently being… let's say less than well served by corporate America and current government policy, or simply someone trying to figure out how making ends meet has become so much more difficult in today's economy and what to do about it. But, if there ever was a generation that seemed destined for hardship, or f*cked, in the recent past, it would have to be the one coming of age around 100 years ago, unaware that a stock market crash was about to bring a close to the roaring twenties. The New Deal helped a generation that had grown up during the First World War grapple with the onset of the Great Depression that followed, and successfully laid the groundwork for beating back the rise of fascism overseas during the Second World War. A new book from Belt Publishing looks at one of the great successes of the New Deal, the WPA, and the intimate lives of the workers who were a part of it. Take those two books, along with a look at how data has "shaped civilizations and upheld empires" long before our age of surveillance capitalism, and "a love letter to ambitious people everywhere who are disorganized, undisciplined, and distracted," and you have a wonderful week of reading ahead.

All four titles are available online and on local bookshop shelves today. Interested in buying multiple copies for your team, book club, or employee resource group? Follow the links below or give us a call to purchase the books, or check out our services for bulk book buyers to learn more about how we can help.

Unless otherwise noted, all descriptions of the books below come from the publisher.

American Made: Stories of Work from the WPA, edited by Anne Trubek, published by Belt Publishing

"A mesmerizing combination of voices ... Readers will be hooked." —Publishers Weekly

During the Great Depression, out-of-work writers—including Ralph Ellison and other now famous authors—were hired to interview over 10,000 workers about their jobs and lives. The arrangement, funded by the New Deal’s Federal Writers Project (a subset of the Works Progress Administration), gave us one of the most comprehensive looks ever into working conditions of the American people, especially blue-collar workers. From meatpackers in Chicago to fishermen in Massachusetts, farmers in Nebraska, and construction workers building the New York City subway, these workers met with writers at kitchen tables, in break rooms, and in union halls. The results—most of which have never been published—were candid, compelling life histories. 

At a time when much is being said about bringing jobs back to the United States, American Made offers a curated selection of these accounts from back in the “good old days,” many of them from immigrants with stories of perilous journeys to the country to match their stories of work. Their words put into relief how America has—and has not—changed since.

Data Empire: The Power of Information to Organize, Control, and Dominate by Roopika Risam, published by Harper

From clay tablets to the algorithmic state, a groundbreaking new lens on human history arguing that information has always been the seed of power, for readers of Nexus and The Age of Surveillance Capitalism.

Long before writing existed, at the dawn of civilization in Mesopotamia, rulers pressed marks into clay to keep track of land, people and grain. To rule, they had to keep count. It is no accident, then, that the first written name in human history was neither a god nor a king, but an accountant.

As ships and navigation expanded our horizons, a new age of European empires took control of more than 80 percent of the world’s surface using censuses, maps, and ledgers to decide who belonged, who owed, and who could be sacrificed. Today, we live in the third great era, when trading our information for access can feel harmless or inevitable—yet from targeted advertising to border policing and mass surveillance, data shapes the course of our lives.

Both a sweeping history and a sharp critique, Data Empire is a call to recognize the power data holds—and to imagine what resistance looks like in an age defined by it. In looking at the history of data, readers will understand:

• Data made civilization possible: Long before algorithms and AI, systems of counting, recording, and organizing information enabled everything from agriculture to taxation. The infrastructures of data are as old as cities themselves, and they are the precondition for large-scale human coordination.
  
• Every system of data is also a system of power: From clay tablets in Mesopotamia to colonial censuses to modern databases, data determines who is visible, who is legible, and who can be governed.
  
• The modern data state was built in moments of crisis: In the twentieth century, governments became vast information-processing systems. What we now think of as "data” was created in response to economic collapse and geopolitical conflict.
  
• The “data” we know now is built on much older inequalities: Today’s digital systems inherit the logics of earlier recordkeeping regimes, including those shaped by colonialism, racial classification, and forms of government that extract from land and from populations. The biases we see in algorithms are not new but continuations of a long history.
  
• We are living through a transformation in who controls data—and therefore power: For most of history, data infrastructures were largely state-driven. Today, they are increasingly owned and operated by private corporations, even as they structure public life. This shift raises urgent questions about accountability, sovereignty, and the future of public life.

With our earliest tools like ancient cave markings and knotted strings, to colonial record-keeping and the algorithmic state, Data Empire reveals how data has always been the seed of power: a technology of control that has shaped civilizations and upheld empires. Empire was never just about weapons or ships. It was built on collecting information on us, to rule us.

Easy Discipline: An Unconventional Way to Achieve Ambitious Things by Jia Jiang, published by Simon Acumen

From the bestselling author of Rejection Proof, a guide to achieving your goals—the easy way—for anyone who struggles with distractions, disorganization, and discipline.

Most people think that because great achievements are difficult, they must also feel difficult. But great accomplishments are rarely achieved through mental toughness. Rather, the most successful people find ways to make hard actions repeatable and enjoyable.

Drawing on stories from his own battles with ADHD and procrastination, as well as twelve epic stories from history and pop culture, bestselling author Jia Jiang outlines the four principles of Easy Discipline—Enjoyment, Artistry, Systems, and Yourself—so you can take hard actions on a consistent basis, and love your work in the process. Each principle offers a mindset of Easy Discipline, as well as powerful, practical tools to turn mindset into action. You’ll learn:

• How to harness the power of the One Action Goal system—and why it’s the only system you’ll ever need
  
• Why “Changing the Game” can turn dreaded tasks into energizing pursuits
  
• How to curate your media consumption to educate and inspire you toward your goal, the way developers fine-tune AI machines
  
• How to create an “Inspiration Index” that concretely ties your efforts (inputs) to measurable outputs
  
• Why “Repetition with Variation” is the key to success

A love letter to ambitious people everywhere who are disorganized, undisciplined, and distracted, Easy Discipline will give you the mindsets and tools to turn flaws into assets, obstacles into stepstones, and dreams into realities. Work can be fun. Focus can be automatic. And success can be easy.

Generation F*cked: How Millennials and Gen Z Were Robbed of the American Dream and How We Can Fix Our Futures by Freddie Smith, published by BenBella Books

Our economic system has changed, and younger generations are being locked out of the opportunities our parents once had. Generation F*cked exposes how the system broke, why the old rules no longer work, and what Millennials and Gen Z can do to reclaim their financial futures.

Cancel your subscriptions. Make coffee at home. Go to college. Don’t rent. Buy a house to build equity. That advice was built for a different economy. Today, those choices come with far less certainty.

With rising inflation, unaffordable housing, stagnant wages, and crushing student debt, the traditional ‘rules of success’ for many working- and middle-class young adults no longer lead to the outcomes once promised. This leaves younger generations searching for strategies that actually work in today’s world.

Drawing on Freddie Smith’s personal journey and data-driven insights, Generation F*cked explores the uncomfortable reality of how the American Dream—homeownership, family, and a secure retirement—has become increasingly difficult for people under forty-five. With a frank, solutions-oriented approach, this modern guide to our financially f*cked reality will help you:

• Understand how the economy became so unequal and which institutions profit as the cost of living rises
  
• Talk about the generational wealth divide with older generations in ways that encourage empathy, understanding, and productive conversation
  
• Decide whether renting or homeownership makes sense for your life, and take meaningful steps toward clearing debt, investing, and saving
  
• Build a retirement plan without relying on Social Security or sacrificing your work–life balance
  
• Stay informed, advocate for change, and redefine success on realistic, modern terms

The current system isn’t sustainable. By pairing big-picture clarity with actionable, ground-level guidance, Generation F*cked offers a path toward a more stable, fair, and achievable future, serving as a guide for generations navigating a radically different economy.