In Why Nations Fail Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson update Adam Smith’s classic The Wealth of Nations and David Landes brilliant The Wealth and Poverty of Nations. Where Jared Diamond saw nations failing because of Germs, Guns, and Steel, Acemoglu and Robinson’s research shows that institutions largely determine whether a state will prosper or fail. They give plenty of evidence that elites (yes, that pesky 1%) that are uncontrolled lead to rampant corruption and eventual societal failure. Acemoglu and Robinson persuaded me. If you’re going to only read one book of political analysis in 2012, make it Why Nations Fail. GRADE: A

I enjoyed the movie version of The Hunger Games. Part of that enjoyment came from James Newton Howard’s soundtrack. Although the musical snippets accentuate the action on the screen, they stand alone as compelling pieces. I’ve long enjoyed James Newton Howard’s work. His best soundtracks are The Sixth Sense and Blood Diamonds, but Howard has composed dozens of great soundtracks over three decades. My only complaint with The Hunger Games soundtrack is its length: it’s only 45 minutes long. I wanted more. GRADE: B+
Track List
1. The Hunger Games 1:11
2. Katniss Afoot Bonus Track 1:51
3. Reaping Day 1:38
4. The Train 1:27
5. Entering the Capitol 2:29
6. Preparing the Chariots 1:04
7. Horn of Plenty 2:01
8. Penthouse/Training 3:36
9. Learning the Skills 1:42
10. The Countdown Bonus Track 1:59
11. Booby Trap 2:37
12. Healing Katniss 3:06
13. Rue’s Farewell 5:01
14. We Could Go Home 1:19
15. Searching For Peeta 1:27
16. The Cave 3:14

Subterranean Press continues to publish excellent books like this wonderful collection of Jack Vance stories. These stories were first published in the 1940s to the 1970s. There’s a bit of a mystery in each of Vance’s stories. Although Vance writes about the far future, he makes that future both strange and accessible. Terry Dowling and Jonathan Strahan have done a great job editing this edition and providing a useful Introduction to Jack Vance’s work. If you’re a Jack Vance fan, Dream Castles is a must-buy!
Table of Contents:

• The Dogtown Tourist Agency
• Freitzke’s Turn
• I’ll Build Your Dream Castle
• Golden Girl
• Sulwen’s Planet
• Cholwell’s Chickens
• A Practical Man’s Guide
• The Narrow Land
• The Enchanted Princess
• Son of the Tree

I enjoy controversial historian, Niall Ferguson. For one thing, he takes an economic and financial view of history which I find enlightening. In his latest book, Civilization: The West and the Rest, Ferguson asks why the West emerged as the leader in wealth and technology over the rest of the world. His answer is that the West developed “killer apps” that pushed them head-and-shoulders over the rest of the world. The “killer apps” are: competition, science, property rights, medicine, the consumer society, and work ethic. The West’s status is threatened, according to Ferguson, because the rest of the world is finally catching on and they’re working on implementing those killer apps for their countries. If you’re in the mood for a provocative read, Civilization will agitate you. GRADE: B+

William Gibson is the author of Neuromancer, the science fiction novel that coined the word “cyberspace” back in the early 1980s. Later, a movie based on Neuromancer was made called Johnny Mnemonic starring Keanu Reeves. Gibson has written nine novels, but this is his first volume of essays. In his Introduction, Gibson admits he’s not an essayist or non-fiction writer. These collected pieces range in subject matter from essays on Tokyo to book introductions. The best essays reveal something about the reticent William Gibson. Gibson writes about the death of his parents and how he was alone at 18. In another essay, Gibson admits he was addicted to buying high-end wrist watches on eBay. If you’re a Gibson fan, you’ll enjoy Gibson’s patented takes on Reality. I, on the other hand, hope Gibson returns to what he really does well: write novels. GRADE: B-

Jeffrey Eugenides won a Pulitzer Prize with his clever novel, Middlesex, in 2002. The Marriage Plot is a different kind of a novel based on Eugenides’ experience attending Brown University in the early 1980s. Eugenide’s main characters, the moody Madeleine Hanna who loves to read and wants to get a Ph.D. in English, Mitchell Grammaticus who is deeply into religion, and the troubled, brilliant science major, Leonard Bankhead, are funny and tragic. Mitchell loves Madeline, but Madeline loves Leonard. And Leonard has “issues.” Diane and I listened to all 14 hours of The Marriage Plot. The excellent narrator, David Pittu, kept us interested even when the story seemed to sag. I could have done with less focus on Mitchell’s trip to Greece and India. Although there is a marriage plot here, the novel has an incomplete feel to it. Hopefully, Eugenides will write a sequel to tie up the loose ends. But if college life in the 1980s pushes your nostalgia button, The Marriage Plot is for you. GRADE: B

John Sutherland’s massive The Lives of the Novelists is a browsers delight! From the 17th Century and Daniel DeFoe to the 20th Century and Fredrick Pohl (yes, a science fiction writer made the list!) you’ll find hours of entertainment and enlightenment in these pages. Yes, the lists are quirky. Many canonical novelists aren’t included and some surprising authors are. Sutherland includes information that you might not be familiar with. For instance, did you know Edgar Allan Poe spent the last hours of his life delusional, walking the streets of Baltimore wearing someone else’s clothes, calling out for “Reynolds”? The major writers are here: Jane Austen, Henry James, James Joyce, Stephen King, etc. But it’s the quirky picks that create much of the fun. If you’d like to take a look at the list of 294 novelists, just click here.  This is the best browsing book  of 2012 so far!  GRADE: A

Season One of The Killing ended up with almost universal frustration. Viewers who had invested many hours into watching the series felt like the rug had been pulled out from under them in the concluding episode. Now, Season Two is about to begin and the producers of The Killing claim they’ve learned their lesson and that they won’t pull a switcher-roo at the end of this season. We’ll see. I still admire Detective Sarah Linden (Mireille Enos) in her role of the lead investigator. Her druggie partner, Detective Stephen Holder (Joel Kinnaman) seems to be playing a duplicitous game. Although I got over my frustration with Season One, if I feel Season Two is wasting my time, I’ll bail out. Tonight’s 2-hour episode starts at 8 P.M. EDT on AMC followed by MAD MEN. A jammed Sunday night…