Complete books coverage for Sunday, Jan. 18, 2009

As Obama’s inaugural nears, several writers consider how he may affect culture.

The last eight years were sobering, as real-life plot lines outpaced fictional plot lines. Now, there is reason for (cautious) optimism.

The arrival of a literary, mixed-race president could help end the persistent segregation in our nation’s creative storytelling.

Suddenly, being of mixed race isn’t so ‘marginal.’ Pop culture, which supposedly reflects society, never saw it coming.

So Obama wants to help the arts? Maybe start by revisiting this whole ‘freedom of expression’ thing, which is so old school.

New president, same world. The work of pushing the cultural imagination ahead goes on.

With a couple of possible exceptions -- JFK and Nixon, perhaps, in very different ways -- our commanders in chief have been largely missing in action.

With his Obama portrait, an outsider artist has found greater recognition from the mainstream -- but is that a good thing?

What happened in FDR’s hectic first Hundred Days is presented in a nuanced, nimble fashion by the author.

The 200th anniversary of his birth arrives with many cities waging ‘the Poe Wars’ and the publication of tributes, stories in his honor and new editions of his work.

Also: ‘The Daily Coyote,’ by Shreve Stockton, and ‘Experimental Geography,’ by Nato Thompson and Independent Curators International

Fiction weeks on list1.Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer (Little, Brown: $22.99) The final book in the “Twilight” saga finds Bella choosing immortality.23 2.Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer (Little, Brown: $19.99) Bella must choose between her lover and a friend, between life and death. 26 3.The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski (Ecco: $25.95) A mute dog breeder is banished by his uncle à la “Hamlet.”25 4.A Mercy by Toni Morrison (Knopf: $23.95) A slave girl is sold by her mother in late-1600s America to give her a better life.85.The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K.

Fiction 1. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer ($10.99) 2. New Moon by Stephenie Meyer ($10.99) 3.