While communism, collectivism, worms, dry rot and casual looting failed to destroy the majestic wooden churches of Russia, it may be ordinary neglect that finally does them in. Dwindled now to several hundred remaining examples, these glories of vernacular architecture lie scattered amid the vastness of the world’s largest country. Just over a decade ago, Richard Davies, a British architectural photographer, struck out on a mission to record the fragile and poetic structures. Austerely beautiful and haunting, “Wooden Churches: Traveling in the Russian North” (White Sea Publishing; $132) is the result. Covering thousands of miles, Mr. Davies described how he and the writer Matilda Moreton tracked down the survivors from among the thousands of onion-domed structures built after Prince Vladimir converted to Christianity in 988.

How awkward! Michelle Rodriguez (35) got very visibly drunk and sloppily kissed model Cara Delevigne (21) at the January 7 New York Knicks game, in what has to be the greatest public waste of court side seats of all time. Photo: Detroit Pistons vs. New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden, January 7, 2014. Actress Michelle Rodriguez and model Cara Delevingne sitting in the front row during the 4th quarter. The two were hugging and touching each other and Rodriguez appeared to be very intoxicated. (Photo by Anthony J. Causi/Charles Wenzelberg/The New York Post)

“Kim Jong-il, also written as Kim Jong Il, birth name Yuri Irsenovich Kim (according to Soviet records) (16 February 1941/2 – 17 December 2011), was the supreme Leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea). He was the General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea, the ruling party since 1948, Chairman of the the National Defence Commission of North Korea, and the Supreme Commander of the Korean People's Army, the fourth-largest standing army in the world”. – Wikipedia

Photo: North Korean leader Kim Jong Il inspects a military unit in North Korea. (Photo by Korean Central Television/Yonhap)

What happens when you combine two of our favorite things, “Game of Thrones” and Disney animation? That's right: magic. Artists Fernando Mendonça and Anderson Mahanski are the ones responsible for the abundance of joy you'll find below and all we can think is, will Disney ever take on Westeros and give us “Mother of Dragons and the 7 Kingdoms”?

Hardy Dutch swimmers brave the icy North Sea on January 1, 2012 in Scheveningen, Netherlands. A record number of 10,000 people took the plunge in this year's traditional New Year's dip. The high turnout was attributed to the mild weather with a sea temperature of 8 degrees compared to 4 degrees last year. (Photo by Jasper Juinen/Getty Images)

Damaged vehicles sit on Yeongjong Bridge in Incheon, South Korea, Wednesday, February 11, 2015. Two people were killed and at least 42 were injured on Wednesday after a pileup involving about 100 vehicles in foggy weather on the bridge near the Incheon International Airport, South Korean officials said. (Photo by Suh Myung-gon/AP Photo/Yonhap)

A boy catches a trout while ice fishing on a frozen river during a fishing contest in Hwacheon, South Korea, Saturday, January 14, 2017. The contest is part of an annual ice festival which draws over 1,000,000 visitors every year. (Photo by /Ahn Young-joon/AP Phot)

Indigenous women from the Kamayura tribe take part in a demonstration of Huka Huka fight at the first World Games for Indigenous Peoples in Palmas, Brazil, October 29, 2015. (Photo by Ueslei Marcelino/Reuters)