READING L.A.

Dan Berman, president, beauty products company:

“Power Living by Jake: Eleven Lessons to Change Your Life,” by Jake Steinfeld (Random House).

“Jake provides a terrific road map for entrepreneurship. The lessons he recommends are not only helpful but are told in an entertaining style.”

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Peggy Park Bernal, publishing director:

“Song of Survival: Women Interned,” by Helen Colijn (White Cloud Press).

“This book describes the courage of women thrown into Japanese prison camps in Sumatra in World War II. It makes you marvel at those who survived and mourn for those who didn’t.”

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Phyllis Smith, consumer services representative,

“This Year It Will Be Different: And Other Stories,” by Maeve Binchy (Dell).

“Instead of getting ‘It’s A Wonderful Life,’ I stumbled into ‘The Wolfman.’ Except for two that made me smile, these were not the kind of stories I had expected in a Christmas book.”

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Mitchell Schneider, music publicist:

“Rock Bottom: Dark Moments in Music Babylon,” by Pamela Des Barres (St. Martin’s).

“ ‘Rock-alypse Now’ is what you could call Des Barres’ stories of rock stars who skidded out of control. But she brings compassion to their lives. These artists are and were extremely gifted people.”