Complete books coverage for Feb. 8, 2009

A radio DJ invited listeners to submit “improvements” of the poem read on Inauguration Day.

A new biography shows how Darwin’s theory of evolution was inspired by his experiences of human slavery and desire to show our common humanity.

Louis Adamic is the forgotten Boswell of early Los Angeles, perhaps the first writer to tune himself into the then-youthful city and report back.

T.C. Boyle’s new novel is set amid Frank Lloyd Wright’s fascinating life, but there are confusing choices in its design.

A talk with the prolific author about his novel of the life of Frank Lloyd Wright.

Where do humanity’s expressions of art come from? The author contends that they are biological--not only cultural.

Out of My Skin A Novel John Haskell Farrar, Straus & Giroux: 212 pp., $14 In 1923, the Italian writer Italo Svevo published “Confessions of Zeno,” a novel in which middle-aged businessman Zeno Cosini undergoes psychotherapy to quit smoking.

Compassion is tested by a pal who is dying but outrageously demanding.

The Winner of Sorrow A Novel Brian Lynch Dalkey Archive Press: 364 pp., $14.95 paper William Cowper, born in England in 1731, wrote hymns and poems inspired by his love of nature and his devotion to evangelical Christianity.

Fiction weeks on list1.Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer (Little, Brown: $19.99) Bella must choose between her lover and a friend, between life and death. 29 2.The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski (Ecco: $25.95) A mute dog breeder is banished by his uncle à la “Hamlet.”28 3.Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer (Little, Brown: $22.99) The final book in the “Twilight” saga finds Bella choosing immortality.26 4.Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw by Jeff Kinney(Amulet: $12.95) Greg’s dad enlists him in organized sports in order to toughen him up.25.Agincourt by Bernard Cornwell (Harper: $27.99) A commoner, a king and a nation’s army fight a medieval battle immortalized in Shakespeare’s “Henry V.”16.The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows (Dial Press: $22) A writer corresponds with islanders after German occupation.267.The Host by Stephenie Meyer (Little, Brown: $25.99) Aliens take over the minds of humans. 258.On the Grind by Stephen J.

Fiction 1. The Shack by William P. Young ($14.99) 2. The Reader by Bernhard Schlink ($13.95) 3.

Literary and author events

Movie openings: Last Sunday’s list of movies opening this past Friday included movies that had opened the previous Friday: “New in Town,” “Of Time and the City,” “The Secret of the Grain,” “Serbis,” “Taken” and “The Uninvited.”