News of the Week: New Books, Babe Ruth’s Jersey, and It’s Way Too Early for Pumpkin Spice

Read This!

The Bookshop by Evan Friss. This is a history of the American bookstore, from Benjamin Franklin’s Philadelphia store to the big chains like Barnes & Noble, and draws on diaries, letters, oral histories, and other archival documents.

McMillion$ by James Lee Hernandez and Brian Lazarte. The subtitle is “The Absolutely True Story of How an Unlikely Pair of FBI Agents Brought Down the Most Supersized Fraud in Fast Food History.” (It’s about the McDonald’s Monopoly game.) Here’s an excerpt.

The World She Edited: Katharine S. White at the New Yorker by Amy Reading. The wife of E.B. White and mother of Roger Angell was a trailblazing editor and writer in her own right, editing some of the New Yorker’s top writers for almost four decades.

The Mysterious Mrs. Nixon by Heath Hardage Lee. The subtitle to this in-depth biography is “The Life and Times of Washington’s Most Private First Lady.”

Sherlock Holmes and the Telegram from Hell by Nicholas Meyer. Meyer was the writer and director of the Holmes movie The Seven Percent Solution (as well as many other films, including Time After Time, The Day After, and three Star Trek movies), and his new novel has Holmes and Watson trying to stop Germany’s secret plan to win World War I.

What to Cook When You Don’t Feel Like Cooking by Caroline Chambers. I would say that the answer to what to cook when you don’t feel like cooking is “takeout,” but Chambers has come up with dozens of great recipes for busy people at every skill level. (She also has a fun newsletter with the same name.)

The Old Farmer’s Almanac. What’s the weather going to be like in the Midwest the third week of February? The 2025 edition of the popular weather/gardening/advice guide will tell you!

Stuck in Space!

The next time your flight home is a little late, think of astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who have to stay on the International Space Station until next February.

The Shirt Off His Back

One of the Babe Ruth’s claims to fame was the 1932 World Series game in which he pointed to the bleachers while at bat, indicating that’s where he was about to hit a home run. And he proceeded to do just that on the next pitch, though a lot of people are skeptical that’s what Ruth meant when he was waving his hand (there’s even video from the at-bat, but he could have been shooing away a fly).

The jersey that Ruth was wearing that day just sold at auction for $24 million, a new record for a piece of sports memorabilia.

And I guess I have to add the phrase “a lot of people are skeptical” of this part of the story too, because the way they authenticated the jersey was to have a bunch of experts look at three photos from the game and compare the jersey with the jersey in the photos. Not really a CSI-level analysis but how else are they going to do it?

I once hit a grand slam and a bases-loaded double in Little League. In the same game! I don’t know where that jersey is today.

Pumpkin Spice Is Here Already, and It Just Ain’t Right

People are so impatient these days. And by “people” I mean corporations, who seem to be on a crusade to get the seasons over quickly, have holidays celebrated all-year-round, and just ruin good things in general. Some cable networks have been running Christmas rom-coms all summer, you can listen to SiriusXM’s Christmas station all-year-round, and stores now have Black Friday sales any month they choose. It’s madness.

Now Starbucks has already brought back their pumpkin spice latte. It’s still August, Starbucks! Drinking a pumpkin spice drink while you’re wearing shorts doesn’t make any sense.

Headline of the Week

“Massachusetts Homeowner Struggling to Sell Her $1M House Over Noisy Feud with Pickleball Players at Nearby Club”

RIP Roger Cook, Peter Lundgren, Leonard Riggio, Rudi Franchi, Russell Malone, Scott Bloomquist, and Eric Butler

Roger Cook was the landscape contractor on PBS’s This Old House for 40 years. He died last week at the age of 70.

Peter Lundgren coached such tennis champs as Roger Federer, Stan Wawrinka, Grigor Dimitrov, Marat Safin, and Marcelo Ríos. He died last week at the age of 59.

Leonard Riggio built Barnes & Noble into the largest bookstore chain in the U.S. He died Tuesday at the age of 83.

Rudy Franchi was a dealer in vintage movie posters and collectibles, a writer, a publicist, an appraiser on Antiques Roadshow, and more. He died earlier this month at the age of 85.

Russell Malone was an acclaimed jazz guitarist who played with people like Harry Connick Jr., Ron Carter, and Diana Krall. He died last week at the age of 60.

Scott Bloomquist won over 600 dirt-track races, including nine championships. He died earlier this month at the age of 60.

Eric Butler was an anti-violence youth counselor and the subject of the documentary Circles. He died earlier this month at the age of 49.

This Week in History

National Park Service Created (August 25, 1916)

The parks have been called “America’s best idea,” but overseeing them is no picnic.

Leonard Bernstein Born (August 25, 1918)

The famed composer was featured in our June 16, 1956, issue.

This Week in Saturday Evening Post History: Heinz Ketchup (August 25, 1934)

When I was a kid, the Hunt’s brand was still called “catsup.” They changed it to ketchup in 1988.

September is National Condiment Month

If you can’t quite read the recipes in the above Heinz ad, how about these recipes that feature ketchup and other condiments?

Taste of Home has these Sweet ‘n Spicy Meatballs and the Best Shepherd’s Pie. Both include ketchup. If you’re a mustard fan, Food & Wine has Classic Deviled Eggs and a Chicken and Leek Stew. Salsa? The Kitchn has an Easy One Pot Cheesy Taco Pasta.

Dessert? That’s easy: the Big Red Heinz Ketchup Cake.

Next Week’s Holidays and Events

Labor Day (September 2)

I still miss the Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon.

NFL Season Begins (September 5)

The Kansas City Chiefs host the Baltimore Ravens at 8 p.m. on NBC.

This article contains affiliate links to bookshop.org.