This is an edition of the revamped Books Briefing, our editors’ weekly guide to the best in books. Sign up for it here. The figure of the diva dominates modern pop stardom. She’s “the female version of a hustler,” says Beyoncé (who made a public appearance on Wednesday night with another contemporary super-diva, Taylor Swift; both have cemented their status with record-breaking tours this year). The Atlantic staff writer Spencer Kornhaber, whose book, On Divas, is out this week, defines the category as “soloists—mostly women—who voice their desires in ways that cause spectacle and controversy.” Also published this week was Mary Gabriel’s doorstop-size biography of one of our longest-venerated pop stars: Madonna. She’s “not just a cultural phenomenon … but a woman who intuits and manifests social change so far ahead of everyone else that she makes people profoundly uncomfortable,” Sophie Gilbert writes in a review of Gabriel’s book. In other words, she’s the ultimate diva. But first, here are three new stories from The Atlantic’s Books section: Writing about performers like Madonna isn’t easy. …