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Weekend picks for book lovers

USA TODAY
  • Bio detailing Streisand's rise to the top earns 3.5 stars
  • Try Philip Norman's entertaining portrait of Jumpin' Jack Flash
  • Kate White offers career tips for working women
'Hello, Gorgeous: Becoming Barbra Streisand' by William J. Mann

What should you read this weekend? USA TODAY's picks for book lovers include two celebrity bios (hello, Barbra Streisand and Mick Jagger!), plus career tips for "gutsy girls" from Kate White.

Hello, Gorgeous: Becoming Barbra Streisand by William J. Mann, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 500 pp., non-fiction

Trying to figure out the Barbra Streisand mystique is no easy task, but William Mann expertly captures the launch of her remarkable career in the early 1960s, when a unique "star was born."

Mann (who has also written books about Katharine Hepburn and Elizabeth Taylor) sheds light on the formative years that shaped Streisand's persona, debunking myths and providing a cultural snapshot of the wild and free-spirited era in which Streisand blossomed.

Indeed, the Brooklyn-born Streisand was "the real deal," whether you liked her or not. She was kooky and hip, original and old-fashioned, charming and seductive, disarming and alluring all at once.

USA TODAY says *** ½ out of four. "Mann's meticulous research and insightful analysis go deeper than any previous biography."

Mick Jagger by Philip Norman, Ecco, 622 pp., non-fiction

An unauthorized chronicle of the 69-year-old rock god surveying all his foibles, philanderings and fatherings.

USA TODAY says ***. "Norman is far ahead of the journalistic pack… (he) marshals myriad detail."

I Shouldn't Be Telling You This: Success Secrets Every Gutsy Girl Should Know by Kate White, Harper, 345 pp., non-fiction

In this self-help tome, Cosmo's former editor in chief combines the story of her own career path with interviews and research to impart sensible lessons about getting ahead in the world while still having a personal life.

USA TODAY says *** ½. "Whether you are a just-hatched college grad or a sacred elder in need of an occupational overhaul, Kate White can help."

Live By Night by Dennis Lehane, William Morrow, 402 pp., fiction

In the Prohibition era, Joe Coughlin, the youngest son of Boston's deputy police chief, grows up to be a gangster, or as he prefers to think of himself, an outlaw.

USA TODAY says *** out of four. "A gangster/love story with familiar themes about betrayal and loyalty…a delight to read."

Love Anthony by Lisa Genova; Gallery Books, 309 pp., fiction

Genova (Still Alice) tackles one of today's hot-button medical issues -- autism. Her new novel is about a young boy (Anthony) who dies before he reaches the age of 10, and his family's struggles with the challenges of raising an autistic child.

USA TODAY says *** ½ out of four. "Beautifully written and poignant to the point of heartbreak… Try not to weep."

Contributing reviewers: Bill Desowitz, Matt Damsker, Deirdre Donahue, Bob Minzesheimer and Craig Wilson

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