The October 13, 2012 Economist included its quarterly business book reviews. Here is a listing.

For those interested in the articles, you can find them through some of our electronic resources (I recommend our Custom Newspapers database, available from home with a library card — I have put a link to the articles from Custom Newspapers after each title) or on The Economist's website (if you're a subscriber). For those who are too impatient to read those, I've included for each book, based on the articles, a short squib.

Click on any of the titles below and place a hold to request the item. Remember to update your contact information (phone number or e-mail address), so you are notified when the book arrives for you at your local library. Don't have a library card yet? It's simple! Find out how to get one.

Makers: The New Industrial Revolution, by Chris Anderson (Economist Review) (Also available as an ebook.)

"[I]ndustrialising of the do-it-yourself spirit."

Heart, Smarts, Guts, and Luck: What It Takes to Be an Entrepreneur and Build a Great Business, By Anthony Tjan, Richard Harrington and Tsun-Yan Hsieh (Economist Review)

Ya gotta have heart! And luck, which "the authors believe is something that can be influenced".

A Slice of the Pie: How to Build a Big Little Business, by Nick Sarillo (Economist Review)

For the author, "even local pizza joints can be as good as a global leader."

Innovation Economics: The Race for Global Advantage, by Robert Atkinson and Stephen Ezell (Economist Review) (Currently, only available in a reference copy, circulating copies should be available soon.)

The authors warn that "America's leadership in several areas [of innovation] has eroded much more rapidly than most Americans think."

How Do We Fix This Mess?: The Economic Price of Having It All, and the Route to Lasting Prosperity, by Robert Peston (Economist Review) (Should be available from NYPL soon.)

"For a tale of how the British banks blew up, readers will find juicy details." However, if "looking for resolutions to current woes [they] will be disappointed by this book."

Positive Linking: How Networks Can Revolutionise the World, by Paul Ormerod (Economist Review) (Should be available from NYPL soon.)

According to the author, "policymakers should practise 'positive linking', understanding network effects and trying to use them and influence the design of networks to achieve better outcomes for society."

Plus, for those who may be interested, several other new (non-business) books are reviewed in the October 13th issue:

Contagion: How Commerce Has Spread Disease, by Mark Harrison (Economist Review) (Should be available from NYPL soon.)

Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic, by David Quammen (Economist Review)

The titles tell all! The second book has been nominated for the Helen Bernstein Book Award for Excellence in Journalism, so stay tuned for a possible discussion in a future posting about that title.

Masters of the Universe: Hayek, Friedman, and the Birth of Neoliberal Politics, by Daniel Stedman Jones (Economist Review)

Only in the 20th Century could philosophical movements be blamed on economists!

Enjoy!