Jason Heller

Has the end of Game of Thrones and the long wait for the next Song of Ice and Fire book got you, uh ... dragon? We've rounded up some of this year's best scales-and-wings reads to help fill the void.

Through a career that spanned six decades, the psychedelic pioneer captivated the rock establishment while remaining at an arm's length from the mainstream.

Pete Shelley, the Mancunian co-founder and singer of Buzzcocks, embedded a vulnerability and honesty into early punk's genetic code, forever changing the genre.

David Eddings' beloved Belgariad (and several sequels), co-written with his wife Leigh, follows farm boy Garion and his magical destiny. It wrapped up 20 years ago; are its powers still intact?

Ursula K. Le Guin's mastery of fiction has remained so consistent, it's easy to overlook her accomplishments in other forms — but her new nonfiction collection goes a long way towards fixing that.

Arthur Herman's new book zooms in on Vladimir Lenin, Woodrow Wilson, and the vast, conflicting historical forces they embodied — and which came to a head in the fateful year of 1917.

Harvard professor Richard F. Thomas teaches a popular class on the importance of Bob Dylan, and now he's turned it into a book, full of stories, personal history and the occasional comparison to Ovid.

Activist Bill McKibben answers his own call for topical fiction with Radio Free Vermont, a gently surreal tale about a septuagenarian troublemaker who inadvertently sparks a secession movement.

Neuroscientist Joseph Jebelli's new book about the fight against Alzheimer's draws on his own personal passions; his grandfather developed the disease and eventually stopped recognizing his grandson.

Hodgman's past few books have been jokey compendiums of fake knowledge, but with Vacationland he's getting a little realer with an achingly funny chronicle of his metamorphosis into middle age.