Abandoned Appalachia Series – The Twin Tunnels of Typo and Yerkes of Perry County On the north side of Hazard, the North Fork of the Kentucky River bends through a narrow valley where the slopes are so steep that the railroad disappears straight into the rock. Trains slip in and out of the hills, light fading to black and back again in a few seconds.

How much time do you spend performing various activities? In 2022, I spent 506 hours answering email, or 63 full work-day’s worth of time. At that point, my reading for pleasure had dropped to virtually nil and I just thought: this is not how I want to spend my time. After a radical reorganization of my life and work, I wanted to see how well I have done this year.

Happy new 2026 everyone! I've had a wonderful journey through Udaipur and the lake palaces, and am currently in Vijayawada exploring my ancestral village for the next few days. I've caught up on some reading, so here are my book thoughts (and podcasts for the first time) from the past year!

Appalachian History Series – The Campbell Building of Middlesboro: An 1890 Cornerstone of Cumberland Avenue The Campbell Building rises at the corner of Cumberland Avenue and 21st Street in downtown Middlesboro, where three states almost meet and the Cumberland Gap opens like a doorway in the mountains. It is an old corner in a relatively young town.

Repurposed Appalachia Series – The Train Depot of Evarts On a quiet day in Evarts it is easy to mistake the little frame depot for a simple photo backdrop. The paint is fresh, the roofline neat, and a caboose rests on a short section of rail that no longer goes anywhere. The building is small enough that you can step from one end to the other in a few strides.

Appalachian History Series – The Story of the Elkhorn City Railroad Museum On the edge of the Kentucky Virginia line, Elkhorn City sits where the Russell Fork cuts out of the Breaks of the Sandy. It looks like a small river town at first glance, but for most of the twentieth century it was also a hinge in the railroad map of Appalachia.

Abandoned Appalachia Series – The Elkhorn City Walk Bridge over the Russell Fork On a quiet morning in Elkhorn City the Russell Fork looks almost gentle. The river slides past sycamores and willows, the light catches on riffles below the cliffs, and coal trains roll along the far bank toward the Breaks.

Here are the books I read in 2025. My goals for the year were to get some more variety, and I think I managed that.

Appalachian History Series – Winchester City Hall: The Tower on Wall Street If you walk up Wall Street from Lexington Avenue and stop between the courthouse lawn and the high wall of the Brown Proctor Hotel, Winchester City Hall still commands the block.

Repurposed Appalachia Series​ – Brown Proctoria Hotel of Winchester On the corner of Main Street and Lexington Avenue in Winchester, the Brown Proctoria Hotel still fills an entire city block, its limestone base and brick walls catching the light the way they did more than a century ago. For travelers arriving from the Bluegrass and the eastern hills, this corner was once the first glimpse of modern Winchester.

Abandoned Appalachia Series – The Kingdom Come School of Linefork, Letcher County On a clear day at Kingdom Come State Park the overlooks pull your eyes outward to black bear country and the sawtooth ridges of Letcher and Harlan counties. Look long enough down into the Linefork valley though and another landmark begins to stand out. In the bottom, beside Highway 160, the roofline of a brick school building breaks the tree line.