Weekend picks for book lovers

• Real-life photographers inspired Whitney Otto's new novel 'Eight Girls'
• Springsteen biographer had inside access to the Boss and his pals
• Patrick O'Brian fans won't want to miss the seafaring biography 'Commander'

What should you read this weekend? USA TODAY's picks for book lovers include Whitney Otto's picture-perfect new novel, and a revealing biography of the Boss -- Bruce Springsteen.

Eight Girls Taking Pictures by Whitney Otto; Scribner, 352 pp.; fiction

When her maid sets her house and studio on fire, photographer Cymbeline Kelley restarts her life. Darting between "dishpan and darkroom," she creates unsentimental photographs of domestic life that make her famous.

Set in Seattle in 1917, Cymbeline's story is surprisingly contemporary. She's the thread that weaves through Whitney Otto's Eight Girls Taking Pictures.

Using flashbacks and memories, Otto tells the stories of Cymbeline and seven other photographers, some loosely based on real artists (among them Imogen Cunningham and Madame Yevonde). As with the eight women in Otto's best-selling How to Weave an American Quilt, these women will resonate with 21st-century readers.

USA TODAY says *** out of four. "Eight Girls is a moving read about the pleasures and pangs that define the lives of women today."

Bruce by Peter Ames Carlin; Touchstone, 512 pp.; non-fiction

How do you define the voice of a generation? Biographer Carlin was lucky enough to get access to Bruce Springsteen's friends, relatives and professional and artistic colleagues, and to the Boss himself.

USA TODAY says *** out of four. "An astute, engaging account of the singer/songwriter's life and career."

Elsewhere: A Memoir by Richard Russo; Knopf, 246 pp., non-fiction

The Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist (Empire Falls) offers an exploration and explanation (to himself, as much to his readers) of his neurotic mother, who was rarely happy, in this new memoir.

USA TODAY says *** 1/2 . " Russo writes … with the kind of clear-eyed compassion he bestows on his fictional characters."

Commander: The Life and Exploits of Britain's Greatest Frigate Captain by Stephen Taylor; Norton, 368 pp.; non-fiction

A biography of Edward Pellew, likely one of the models for Capt. Jack Aubrey in Patrick O'Brian's popular seafaring novels (starting with Master and Commander).
set in the early 19th century.

USA TODAY says *** ½. "Accomplished…(a) charming biography."

Astray by Emma Donoghue; Little, Brown, 271 pp.; fiction

Short stories based on small nuggets of historical incidents, by the best-selling author of Room.

USA TODAY says **** out of four. "Gorgeously written and thoroughly engrossing… Almost operatic in her ability to capture voices."

Contributing reviewers: Patty Rhule, Elysa Gardner, Bob Minzesheimer, Charles Finch and Claudia Puig