The Coffee Table (2022)

In 'The Deluge', Adam Tooze provides a panoramic view of the struggle for global mastery from the battles of the Western Front in 1916 to the Great Depression of the 1930s. The book explores how the Great War reshaped the global order, leading to the collapse of empires, the emergence of new nations, and the rise of the United States as a dominant global force. Tooze argues that the war marked the beginning of an American-centered world order, which would be challenged by leaders like Hitler, Mussolini, and those of Imperial Japan in the subsequent decades. The book also delves into the economic and political implications of this new order, including the role of Woodrow Wilson's 'peace without victory' and the global economic instability that followed.

Ohio is a powerful debut novel by Stephen Markley that follows four former classmates who return to their rust belt hometown of New Canaan, Ohio, on one fateful summer night in 2013. The story captures the fractured zeitgeist of America through the lens of a region devastated by the Great Recession, the opioid crisis, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The narrative intertwines a murder mystery with a social critique, portraying characters haunted by their pasts and the disillusionment of their generation. Markley's novel is praised for its lyrical prose and insightful depiction of a nation’s struggles at the dawn of a turbulent new age.