Complete book coverage for Oct. 25, 2009

How Sunday services -- and child care -- gave one writer several precious, uninterrupted hours and also some guilt.

Kristin Cashore’s ‘Fire’ and Barry Lyga’s ‘Goth Girl Rising’ tackle the difficult subjects of young women’s budding sexuality and the power of gender from engaging perspectives.

In ‘Dreamer and Dissenter’ and ‘The Dark Side of Literary Brilliance,’ Ingar Sletten Kolloen and Monika Zagar, respectively, daringly take on the vitriolic writer.

Although billed as a sequel, it’s not really. But what it is is a tale that pushes the story in unexpected directions while remaining true to the dark heart of the Transylvanian vampire-king.

With the undead now firmly ensconced into the pop culture firmament, the 80 tales in this collection offer an absorbing overview of who they are and where they came from.

Irving doubles back in this novel, going over ground he traveled before in his earlier writings, and yet the story is fresh and excellent.

A compelling look at the biggest forest fire in American history.

A critic’s intoxicating efforts to describe an overlooked European painter.

In her first book of fiction, Landis explores the uncontrollable power of the girl.

Plus: “Cherries in Winter” and “Beauty and the Soul”

Fiction Weeks on list1.The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown (Doubleday: $25.99) Harvard professor Robert Langdon uses his symbology skills to find a missing Freemason in Washington, D.C.5 2.The Help by Kathryn Stockett (Putnam: $24.95) The lives of a maid, a cook and a college graduate become intertwined while changing a Mississippi town. 20 3.Juliet, Naked by Nick Hornby (Riverhead: $25.95) A woman acquaints herself with the songwriter whose album caused the breakup of her recent relationship.2 4.Nine Dragons by Michael Connelly (Little, Brown : $27.99) An LAPD detective travels to Hong Kong to solve the murder of a Chinese immigrant.15.Blood’s a Rover by James Ellroy (Knopf : $28.95) A bank heist sets off an escapade through ‘60s L.A. with run-ins with the mob, the FBI and Howard Hughes. 36.South of Broad by Pat Conroy (Nan A.

Fiction 1. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson ($14.95) 2.