Recent books - September 2026 edition

Over the Edge of the World by Laurence Bergreen
Rating: ***

This is the story of Magellan's circumnavigation of the globe, sourced mostly from several first hand accounts that survive from the 1500s. Working on a ship back then was never a great job, but the 80-90% fatality rate on this trip is extreme even by those standards. 5 ships and 260 men resulted in 1 ship of about 20 mutineers bailing before the one remaining ship limped into port with about 25 near-dead sailors on board. But not Magellan, as he was killed by an angry tribe in the Philippines after he torched a village over some perceived slight.

The first half is fascinating, and then it gets a little repetitive once they get through what we all call the Strait of Magellan. Find an island, barter with the natives, piss them off, and flee for their lives. It's a mistake they made over and over again. That said, none of us should discredit the absolutely insane achievement they pulled off, circumnavigating the globe without a map.

Platform Decay by Martha Wells
Rating: ***

Book whatever in the Murderbot series. It's been a few years since the last one, so when the book just dived into the story without any backstory, it took me a while to get into the groove. But ultimately it's another fun adventure with my favorite almost human.

Never Stuff Your Dog by Alan Alda
Rating: ***

He wrote this at 70, and although overall enjoyable, it felt a little thin. Given the impact MAS*H had on both his life and the culture in general, I think he could do a book this size just on MASH, instead of giving it one thin chapter in an overall surface-level look at his life.

On the Hippie Trail by Rick Steves.
Rating: ***

I did this as an audiobook at the gym. Rick and a friend did the Hippie Trail (Istanbul to Katmandu) in 1979 when they graduated college. He found his journals from that trip during COVID, and this book is the result. It was the last year of the Hippie Trail, as turmoil in the Middle East made it impossible after that. It's entertaining, although it's difficult to imagine a world as separated and cut off as the Middle East was in 1979. This is literally an experience you cannot have today and can probably never have.

London Falling by Patrick Radden
Rating: ****

By the author of Say Nothing, the best book written about "The Troubles" in Northern Ireland, this narrative non-fiction uses the suspicious death of a 19-year-old in London to dig into the Russian oligarchs that established themselves there after the fall of the USSR and the entire culture of conspicuous consumption that they flaunted. How that impacted a 19-year-old middle-class kid that lied his way into that circle and then probably killed himself jumping from a balcony, avoiding the fallout from his deceit being uncovered, is a central conceit of the story. It's just as compulsive reading as Say Nothing, although maybe not quite as personally impactful to this American of Irish descent.

Up On Cove Mountain by Earl Swift
Rating: ****

Earl through-hiked the Appalachian Trail in 1990, spending some time with two hikers who were brutally murdered in an AT shelter in PA a few days after he had been with them. The killer never supplied a motive, and it's weighed on Earl's mind ever since. In 2024 he decided to hike the trail again, hoping to gain clarity into the murder and also to explore how doing it in his 60s is different from in his 30s. What results is an entertaining trail journal of both hikes, wrapped around a true crime story about the murders. He never gets any real answers on the murders. Sometimes bad stuff happens to good people, and there isn't a damn thing we can do about it.

It has been twenty-five years — a quarter of a century — since followers of a demonic Islamist ideology attacked our nation and murdered nearly 3,000 people. For some Americans, memories have faded. Others choose to forget or forgive. Some never experienced the savagery of that day. Someone who was five years old on 9/11 is now 30. Someone born that day will turn 25. Roughly 26 million Americans alive today were five years old or younger on 9/11.

Still, the events of September 11, 2001 brought a horror to our shores that the world must never be allowed to forget.

On the one hand, it’s easy to understand why so many remain blissfully ignorant of the events of September 11. On the other hand, it points to a serious shortcoming in an American education system that may fail to adequately emphasize the most horrific terrorist attack on our shores in American history. Too often, I see the subject of 9/11 avoided out of concern that an honest discussion of what happened — and the Islamic ideology that motivated the attackers — might offend someone. However, it's impossible to defend America if we are afraid to name the enemy and the ideology that inspires him.

For a sad example of ignorance about 9/11, watch this video of uninformed students at the prestigious George Mason University.

This summer we visited the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville, PA where the heroes aboard that plane fought back against their hijackers, causing the aircraft to crash there rather than reach its presumed target in the nation’s capital. I was genuinely surprised at the emotions and memories it evoked for me. I can honestly say I was not the only person dabbing at their eyes while walking through the museum. I hadn’t expected a place I had known about for 25 years to affect me that way. 

The same ideology that fueled those attacks still continues to inspire violence and terrorism around the world, including here in the United States. And yet, many remain complacent, blind, or willfully ignorant. 

Today we remember the nearly 3,000 victims of the terrorists, the first responders who ran toward danger, and the families whose grief has never faded. Their sacrifice and suffering deserve not only our remembrance but also our resolve.

Remembering isn’t merely looking backward; the ideology behind the attacks still requires vigilance. We must remember what was done to us on that bright September morning. We must stand firm against the ideology that inspired it. Be vigilant, for the evil one and his minions have not relented. The threat endures.

New York City, September 11, 2001

The Pentagon, September 11, 2001

Shanksville, PA, September 11, 2001

Camping at Blackwater Falls State Park 2026 Edition

Trip: 62
Nights: 203-205

For Labor Day weekend we returned to Blackwater Falls State Park in Davis, WV. This is my 4th trip to Davis in the last 15 odd years. I really love the Canaan Valley region of West Virginia. It's a little oasis of reasonableness in a state that is one of only 4 that Trump is still polling positively in.

We drove most of the way on Friday in rain, watching radar and timing our arrival purposely in a 1-hour window when we could get camp set up before the next deluge. As much as I hate my phone sometimes, that is something I simply could not have done 10+ years ago. So we did get camp set up without getting wet, the spent the night playing cards and board games in the camper as the thunder boomed most of the night. We had cell service (something I did not have on any of my previous visits), so I streamed the Red Sox win over the Orioles. We woke up to more of the same on Saturday morning, with the rain finally stopping around noon.

We headed out at noon to visit Thomas, WV, a small town that has seen better days. However, recently the hippies and liberals have moved in, and the downtown (about 1 city block) is now a series of art galleries and shops run by folks with a very pronounced left lean. It was fun; every shopkeeper we chatted with was very pleasant, and we contributed to the local economy by purchasing some original art for the house. And beer. It rained on and off all afternoon, so we passed the afternoon wandering in and out of the shops before visiting the Mountain State Brewing, where I had a disappointing IPA. I expect NEIPA's to be lacking in hops, but when your self-described "hoppy" IPA lacks hops, you are not doing it right. After dinner at a pub in Davis, where I had another disappointing beer (they had beer cooler issues, and the Devil's Backbone lager was borderline too warm), we hit Stumptown Ales, and they did not disappoint. After an excellent red ale and porter there, we headed back to the campsite for board games and an early bedtime because we are old.

Oh, and my book of choice for bedtime reading? Another non-fiction book related to a murder on the Appalachian Trail. I'm not planning this, really. We were 75+ miles from the AT, so maybe not as questionable as our July 4 trip when I spent the day on the AT, then read about an AT murder at the campground.

On Sunday we finally got good weather. It was 70F (20ish C) and sunny after the morning fog burned off. We went birding in the morning, then after lunch went to view the namesake waterfall for the park. I had another hike planned, but I wasn't feeling it, so we returned to the campground, where I spent 2+ glorious hours streaming baseball (another Red Sox win!) while I read in the dappled sun streaming through the tree canopy. After dinner I got a campfire going, and we hung out around the campfire before retiring to the camper. I looked up real estate prices in the area, and apparently being a liberal oasis in a red state is excellent for property values. That, and being within 10 miles of a premier ski resort probably doesn't hurt either. We visited Snowshoe ski resort last summer, and I was having the same thoughts I had last year. I don't ski, so investing in a ski property that might make me bank during ski season when I wouldn't be there anyway might not be the worst idea I've had recently. If my career ever stabilizes again, I might look into it.

The drive home on Sunday was uneventful. And now a short 4-day work week, in which I will probably do 5+ days of work.