Up on Cove Mountain: Adventure, Tragedy, and a Quest for Meaning on the Appalachian Trail

Up on Cove Mountain: Adventure, Tragedy, and a Quest for Meaning on the Appalachian Trail by Early Swift (2026), 368 pages 

I seem to be on a kick of reading novels where middle-aged men revisit an adventure from their youth. Between Mississippi Solo, Walking with Sam and Up on Cove Mountain, I have found the latter to be the most interesting. BUT, if I was likely to actually undertake one of the three treks, it would definitely be the Camino de Santiago (then the Mississippi River with the Appalachian Trail a far third). Why? Because Swift does an excellent job of conveying just how hard and long the trail is. I cannot imagine doing it twice, with the second time being 66 years-old. Swift notes how the trail has changed over 34 years and how climate change has affected the availability of resources (especially water) for hikers. I learned a lot about how people hike the trail, trail culture, and what it means to thru-hike. I thought it meant you did the hike in one long fell-swoop. Apparently, it is not uncommon to leave the trail and come back many times and, as long as you complete it within a year, you are considered a thru-hiker. Swift also touches upon a tragedy that happened during his first thru-hike: the murder of a young couple on the trail. He had interacted a few times with this couple and their murder shocked him and the otherwise insular AT community. While this is an interesting sub-plot, the majority of the book is devoted to what it means to hike the trail and the self-discovery it brings along the way.

Heartwood

Heartwood by Amity Gaige (2025), 309 pages 

This is a slow-paced book with a fast-paced plot. I thought there would be a lot more suspense and drive as the story revolves around a missing hiker on the Appalachian Trail. Instead, there are heartfelt asides and side character reminiscences that dissipate any sort of urgency you might feel for the protagonist. Gaige touches upon several interesting ideas, but it is all surface level, which becomes a bit frustrating. It would have been worth the book being longer for her to more fully develop these ideas and help the reader connect on a deeper level. It reads like a first draft and I would have loved to have read the next, expanded iteration. 

The Girls Trip

The Girls Trip by Ally Condie, 320 pages

Hope, Ash, and Caro met in a Zoom book club, but soon branched out into their own Zoom meetings to chat and connect with other women going through difficulties in life. Hope is an actress who is losing herself in the glare of the spotlight; Ash has a successful business as a florist, though her success has put a strain on her marriage; and Caro's an anesthesiologist who recently lost a patient and is struggling to find her way back to work. So when Hope suggests meeting in-person for a glamping and hiking trip off the grid, Ash and Caro jump at the chance to connect in real life, and leave their worries behind. However, things don't go as planned, and soon, one of them is missing, leaving the other two second-guessing everything they thought they knew about each other.

For the first 75% of this book, it was compelling, with distinct main characters and a ratcheting sense of tension and distrust. However, the last quarter of the book went a bit off the rails, and the bad guy seems to come out of nowhere, almost like the author picked the character out of a hat. It was particularly disappointing, given how invested I was the rest of the book. I just really wish it had stuck the landing.

Every Step She Takes

Every Step She Takes by Alison Cochrun, 384 pages

Sadie has never truly enjoyed a date she's been on, despite her mom and sister constantly setting her up with perfectly fine guys. Maybe it's because she's too wrapped up in her work selling and refurbishing antiques — after all, she can't remember the last time she went on a vacation or got a chance to relax. When she's presented with a chance to take her travel influencer sister's spot on a trek along Portugal's Camino de Santiago, Sadie decides to go for it. Perhaps some time away from home, work, and her family will help reset her brain a bit. But then the combination of wine and turbulence on her flight to Europe prompts Sadie to spontaneously tell the stranger sitting next to her that she might be a lesbian, and suddenly Sadie has a lot more to consider. Especially when Mal, the stranger from the plane, turns out to be a fellow hiker in Sadie's tour group.

While there are a couple of eyebrow-raising elements in this romance novel (I'm not sure I fully buy into the "hey, we're kissing for practice, since you've never kissed a woman before), overall it's a lovely exploration of self-discovery with  a swoony, supportive romance. And it really makes me want to take the 100-mile trek of the Camino pilgrimage. That's not too far, right? :) Anyway, I highly recommend this to readers of Casey McQuiston's The Pairing who wanted a bit less spice.

A Walk in the Woods

A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson, 284 pages

In this excellent memoir/natural history book, Bryson recounts his experience hiking the Appalachian Trail. Starting at Springer Mountain in Georgia with the goal of reaching Mount Kahtadin 2,198 miles away in Maine, Bryson and his pal Stephen Katz embark on a journey for which they are woefully unprepared. The book tells of their mishaps and unlikely small victories, and the oddballs and good Samaritans they meet along the trail. Woven throughout is a history of the trail and the wilderness it traverses. Because the book was published 25 years ago, some of the facts and figures are a bit outdated, but it's still an excellent read. I listened to the (excellent) audiobook on a cross-country trip with my dad, and we both found it hilarious, horrifying, suspenseful, and astounding in turn. A fantastic story, wonderfully told.

O Josephine

O Josephine! by Jason, 174 pages.

The last book I remember reading by Jason was his 2017 effort On the Camino. At first, this work seems that it will continue in the same vein, with the author hiking another famous trail, this time the Wicklow Way, in Ireland. What was at first autobiographical (or at least I presumed) becomes altogether different with Jason's interpretation of the live of singer / songwriter Leonard Cohen. In this recounting of his live, Cohen has many adventures and several fights with the famous, punching George Harrison, Bob Dylan, and Morrissey. I don't know enough about Cohen to tell where this narrative might stray from the truth, so I'm willing to believe it all. I'm a little more skeptical of his account of Napoleon Bonaparte dating both Josephine and another Josephine, but that was a fun story. Jason's art is character-focused, with almost everyone portrayed as a dog, a bird, or a cat. Jason uses a minimum of scenery or background, but what is there is presented with clean lines and a comforting detail.

Two steps forward

Two steps forward / Graeme Simsion and Anne Buist, 366 pgs.

Artist Zoe is reeling from the death of her husband and decides to reconnect with her friend from college.  Martin is reeling from a difficult divorce and impending unemployment.  They both end up hiking the Camino de Santiago de Compostela, a path through France and Spain that attracts pilgrims.  This walk will change your life.  Told in alternating perspectives, Zoe and Martin cross paths with each other and a larger set of interesting characters.  They stop and start a bit of a romance but the interesting parts are about the walk and the relationships with others along the way.  Not as good as Simsion's The Rosie Project and maybe a little too long, I was intrigued that the author's have done the hike themselves. 

On the Camino

On the Camino by Jason, 186 pages

Graphic artist Jason recounts his journey on a 500-mile stretch of the pilgrimage route from St. Jean-Pied-du-Port near Biarritz, France to Santiago de Compostela, Spain. Part of the author's journey involves learning to interact with the people he meets along the way; walking with or near them during the day or sharing a meal at the hostels at night. Justin conveys the mix of loneliness, and companionship he felt, along with a bit of the wonder and spirituality (or something like spirituality that he finds and feels along the way.
Not really explained in the book is that Santiago, or St. James the Great, was, of course, the disciple of Jesus, who after he was "decapitated in Jerusalem with a sword by Herod Agrippa himself, his body was taken up by angels, and sailed in a rudderless, unattended boat to Iria Flavia in Iberia, where a massive rock closed around his relics, which were later removed to Compostela" (thanks, Wikipedia). His tomb was discovered in 814 and pilgrims have been making their way there ever since. An interesting book with compelling art.

A Walk in the Woods

A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson, 469 pages

In this humorous and informative book, Bryson recounts his attempt at hiking the 2,200-mile Appalachian Trail, which stretches from Georgia to Maine. In the late 1990s, Bryson and his friend flew to Georgia and started hiking north, dealing with heavy packs, sore muscles, a snowstorm, some mysterious creatures in the night, and severe noodle fatigue. While they only ended up hiking just under 40 percent of the massive trail, they did so in bits and pieces, hitting the south, the north, and several points in between. Interspersed with this trail journal is a history of the trail, its ecology, and surrounding communities. It's a fun, informative story; a somewhat lighter tale than that other book about long-distance hiking in the U.S. (Cheryl Strayed's Wild).

Notes from a Small Island

Notes from a Small Island by Bill Bryson  324 pp.

This has been on my "to read" list for a long time. I'm sorry I didn't read it sooner. This is such a fun book. Bryson details his travels about his adopted homeland of England traveling by foot mostly but taking the odd bus, train, or ferry when necessary. He gives droll descriptions of the small towns and their inhabitants and revels in the scenery to be found in the remotest of locations. Other times he rants about the curious inability to get to nearby places without roundabout trips via bus or train. In between he provides tongue-in-cheek commentary on such things as peculiar town names (Farleigh Wallop, Pinhead, West Stuttering...), inexplicable guest house "instructions", surly, entertaining, and/or just odd people he encountered, and other characteristics that make Britain British. I found myself laughing out loud during many parts of this book. This one is well worth giving a go.

A walk in the woods

A walk in the woods: rediscovering America on the Appalachian trail/Bill Bryson 284 pgs.

I listened to the excellent audio version of this book.  Bill Bryson and his friend Katz hope to hike the Appalachian trail so suit up and get ready with new equipment and the guts to start walking.  This book tells of their adventure and gives some background and history of the trail and the forces that affect it.  Enjoyable and fun to read/listen to, it easily convinced me this is something I should not attempt.

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