Weekend picks for book lovers

What should you read this weekend? Paste BN's picks for the weekend include a new biography of designer Diane von Furstenberg.

Diane von Furstenberg: A Life Unwrapped by Gioia Diliberto; Dey Street, 272 pp.; non-fiction

Using the advertising tag line "Feel like a woman, wear a dress!" and her own slinky sex appeal as a modern woman of power and passion, Diane von Furstenberg became a designer whose look defined an era.

Her life has been as dramatic as her design career: The Belgian-born daughter of a survivor of Auschwitz, Diane worked as a receptionist for legendary financier Bernie Cornfeld and at 19, fell in love with and later married the charming Prince Egon von Furstenberg.

The fashion-obsessed Egon gave her the wealth and the confidence to make a go of the tough world of fashion. Her wrap dress became a fashion sensation in the 1970s.

Amid the ups and downs of DVF's fashion brand, this bio recounts Diane's affairs with Omar Sharif, Warren Beatty, Richard Gere and publisher Mort Zuckerman, as well as her happy marriage to media mogul Barry Diller.

Paste BN says *** out of four. "Rich with delicious details …von Furstenberg's story is a timely tale of a woman who knows what other women want: Everything."

Muse by Jonathan Galassi; Knopf, 358 pp.; fiction

Two literary publishers in New York joust for decades for the affections and copyrights of poet Ida Perkins, a modernist master.

Paste BN says ***. "An excellent read."

The Oregon Trail: A New American Journey by Rinker Buck; Simon & Schuster, 416 pp.; non-fiction

A Northeastern journalist drives a three-mule wagon train from Missouri to Oregon, recreating a journey made by hundreds of thousands of Americans in the 1800s.

Paste BN says *** out of four. "A joy to read."

Finders Keepers by Stephen King; Scribner, 448 pp.; fiction

A teenage boy and a convict about to get out of prison are both obsessed with a Salinger-like writer.

Paste BN says ****. "The new book is so good, being at least mildly obsessed with it is understandable."

The Truth According to Us by Annie Barrows; The Dial Press, 512 pp.; fiction

Layla Beck, a young Washington, D.C., socialite, arrives in Macedonia, W.Va., to research a history of the town for the Federal Writers' Project.

Paste BN says *** out of four. "Engaging."

Contributing reviewers: Patty Rhule, Kevin Nance, Ray Locker, Brian Truitt, Martha T. Moore