“Jon, you have the Wall.”

Jon Snow isn’t looking for glory and honor. Both have fallen while he lay in the arms of a wildling woman, but when the King-beyond-the-Wall throws his wargs and giants at the wall, Jon Snow pushes back. When the debris settles only Jon and a handful of brothers survive to continue the Night’s Watch. Thanks to his friends Jon finds himself voted into the place of command left vacant by the death of Old Bear Mormont.

Meanwhile, his little sister Arya, once a captive of the Hound, has taken ship for Brovos and the home of Syrio Forel. She finds shelter in the House of Black and White where her prayers may or may not be answered. “Sir Ilyn, Sir Meryn, Sir Gregor, Queen Cirsei…”

In King’s Landing, King Joffery is dead. Cirsei rules unchecked in the name of her second son, Tommen. The Imp has been a very, very bad boy. Thanks to him her daughter is off to Dorn for a future marriage; her father is slain in his privy, and Sansa Stark is missing. She is a queen surrounded by traitors ( the Tyrells) and fools (everyone else). Meanwhile, a one-hand Jamie struggles to make a place for himself in a court where his new set of ethics are as shocking as the loss of his sword hand.

Elsewhere, Littlefinger and his suddenly discovered “natural” daughter Aleyne (Sansa Stark) have taken up residence at the Aerie. Lysa Arryn is delighted to finally have her heart’s desire, but sees her niece as a rival for her husband’s attentions. Her sudden and unwilling exit by the Moon Gate places the Vale in chaos but Littlefinger has plans for Sansa which includes teaching her to play the game of thrones. The Ironborn have called for a Kingsmoot, and there is talk of dragons returning to Westeros…

Victorian women authors were, on a whole, an unusual lot. In this biography of Sara Coleridge, we learn a great deal of what it meant for a female to produce intellectual work in a society leery of such projects. The author's reading of Coleridge's life, which he narrates fairly straightforwardly, is based on a feminist deconstructionist attitude that privilages psychological interpretation. This allows the author to analyse past versions of the subject's life, which makes for good cultural history, especially since one of Coleridge's past commentators was Virginia Woolf. If you are interested in the Coleridges or womens' history, this is a decent read.

Here is a hefty book that covers gardening in America from the early Republic to today. It does this by putting the history of gardening into the larger context of the sociological and psychological needs that are and have been met by American gardens. By covering all this concisely, the author manages to convey a plausible narrative that really caches fire in the last 150 pages of the book. For the author's heart obviously belongs to California and modernity, and once he reaches this topic, the placid cynicism of his earlier voice is replaced by an intelligent advocacy that makes attractive whatever he describes. This last bit is a must read for anyone interested in the topic.

This is a good story to use when introducing toddlers to the concept of feelings. Plus, toddlers can stay interested in the story due to the simple story line and the large drawings of Grumpy Cat and Kitten.