This week was unusually light on great content to pick from — which is a sign that I need to add more sources to my information diet and mix things up a little. Still, I think these are the best stories you should try and read this weekend.

• My life as a retail worker: Nasty, brutish and poor: A veteran reporter Joseph Williams lost his job and went to work for a sporting goods store. This is his story.
• What the collapse of the Ming Dynasty can tell us about American decline: I am not quite sure what to make of this piece, for despite our problems, I am an unabashed believer in America, which to me is more a philosophy than just a landmass.
• Why does test cricket run in families?: Why indeed. By the way, same goes for baseball families too.
• O.K., Glass: Make Google eyes: This is what a Silicon Valley scandal looks like through the lens of a purveyor of celebrity vanities, Vanity Fair.
• One-hit wonders: James Surowiecki on what’s next for the makers of Candy Crush saga.
• Shaken and stirred: How the earthquakes in the Barnett Shale turned some small town folks into environmentalists. Great Texas Monthly piece by Erica Greider.
• Missed alarms and 40 million stolen credit card numbers: How Target blew it. A Businessweek investigative report that is worth reading.