Read This!
Here are six new books for your post-Labor Day reading.
Replaceable You by Mary Roach. Roach, the author of such books as Stiff, Gulp, Grunt, and Packing for Mars, has a way of making deeply-researched scientific and medical topics approachable and fun. In this one she explores the things humans do when their bodies (or parts of them) start to fail.
Buckeye by Patrick Ryan. This novel about a small Ohio town spans generations, from World War II to the late 20th century, and is getting rave reviews from people like Tom Hanks, Ann Patchett, and Richard Russo.
History Matters by David McCullough. This is a collection of historical, political, and personal essays, some never published before, by the late Pulitzer Prize-winning author.
The Letters of Frank Loesser by Frank Loesser. Edited by Dominic Broomfield-McHugh and Cliff Eisen. This collects the correspondence of the songwriter, who composed songs like “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” and “What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve? He also wrote the music and lyrics for such musicals as Guys and Dolls and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.
Darkness in Primetime by Mitchell Hadley. The subtitle of this collection of essays is “How Classic TV Foresaw Modern Society’s Descent into Hell.” Hadley is the writer of the terrific, long-running It’s About TV! blog.
The 2026 Old Farmer’s Almanac. I didn’t realize you could get this annual favorite in a hardcover edition. I also didn’t realize that it was in the “Cooking Humor” category at Amazon.
The Northern Lights
They appeared across the world earlier this week, and here are some photos.
This is the first time I’ve heard the phrase “cannibal solar storm.” That could be the title of a video game.
Let’s Check in with Miss Manners
One of the things I love about the letters written to Miss Manners is the random line, the detail that probably didn’t need to be included but was anyway.
In this column, Miss Manners helps someone who has to deal with the coffee spill left by a delivery driver bringing the drink to her neighbor, with whom she shares a walkway. It was all over the place! The neighbor apologized but didn’t clean it up. Should the landlord do it?
The line I found funny: “The coffee must have been an extra-large with milk and sugar.”
Maine’s Sasquatch Calling Contest
A seven-year-old won it this year.
I do have a question though. How do they know what a sasquatch sounds like?
RIP Graham Greene, Frank Caprio, Mark Knoller, Charles Bierbauer, Floyd Levine, Pat Moore, and Randy Boone
Graham Greene appeared in such films as Dances with Wolves (for which he received an Oscar nomination), The Green Mile, Running Brave, and Die Hard with a Vengeance, as well as TV shows like Longmire, Cover Me, Goliath, Defiance, and The Red Green Show. He died Monday at the age of 73.
Frank Caprio was a beloved Rhode Island judge known for his kind demeanor. He actually had his own popular TV show for years. He died last month at the age of 88.
Mark Knoller was a former correspondent for CBS News. He died last week at the age of 73.
Charles Bierbauer was also a former correspondent. He retired from CNN in 2001. He died Sunday at the age of 83.
Floyd Levine was a veteran character actor who appeared in films like Dog Day Afternoon, Night Shift, and The Hangover, as well as dozens of TV shows over the past 50 years. He died last month at the age of 93.
Pat Moore was a top fashion model who later became a server at one of New York City’s most famous restaurants, P.J. Clarke’s. She worked there for 45 years (into her 80s!) and dated some famous people. She died last month at the age of 89.
Randy Boone starred on such shows as The Virginian, It’s a Man’s World, and Cimarron Strip. He died last week at the age of 83.
This Week in History
Titanic Found (September 1, 1985)
It was finally discovered on an expedition led by Robert Ballard and Jean-Louis Michel.
V-J Day (September 2, 1945)
This is the day that is celebrated in the U.S. and other countries, though in many places it’s celebrated on August 14.
This Month in Saturday Evening Post History: “School Supplies” by Robert Charles Howe (September/October 1973)
I love this cover by Howe, whom we featured in this column a few weeks ago. I especially love the reflection of the school in the store’s window.
Next Wednesday Is National TV Dinner Day
Do they still make TV dinners? I don’t mean frozen meals — there are plenty of those — I mean actual TV dinners, with the aluminum or plastic trays with the separate compartments. I don’t remember seeing them at the grocery store in years. Now everything is an “entree” that you’re supposed to take out of its cooking tray and put on a plate (either that or it’s a “bowl”).
If you can’t find one either, here’s how to make some of the foods you’d find in a classic TV dinner.
Allrecipes has a recipe for Salisbury Steak, while The Country Cook shows you how to make Country Fried Chicken. Dinner is Served 1972 has Baked Ham with Raisin Sauce, something I remember loving as a kid. If you want to make an entire TV dinner, complete with mashed potatoes, corn, and even the silver tray, watch this video that recreates a Swanson’s Turkey TV Dinner.
And for dessert, Tastes Better From Scratch has an Old-Fashioned Apple Cobbler, and Dying For Chocolate has TV Dinner Buttermilk Brownies.
Uploaded to YouTube by Vintage Fanatic
Next Week’s Holidays and Events
National Read a Book Day (September 6)
I truly hope you don’t wait for this day to come around to read a book.
U.S. Open Finals (September 6 and 7)
The women’s final airs on ESPN at 4 p.m. ET on Saturday, and the men’s final airs on ABC Sunday at 2 p.m.
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Comments
‘Darkness in Primetime’ sounds like a fascinating book I’d definitely like to read. The U.K. northern lights (per photo) are incredible and beautiful. Miss Manners always knows her stuff and gives the right advice. The coffee spill with milk and sugar should have been cleaned up by the person to whom it was intended for, of course.
Since it’s something that would dry as a sticky mess on shoe bottoms, attracting bugs, possibly causing a stain, a bucket of hot water to dilute and rinse it by the other neighbor is best. The bottom line: cleanup needed to be done, and someone had to step up and do it
I love the September/October ’73 ‘School Supplies’ cover by Howe also. He definitely had the classic Post artist style that was his own. In this case though I’d say it has more of a Stevan Dohanos look than Rockwell’s. The discerning eye picks up on these things. If you hadn’t identified the artist, most people would still think/say it’s a Rockwell because the default association is too hardwired.
Love that 1955 Swanson TV dinner ad, Bob! They weren’t lying about them being good dinners. My mom kept a nice stash in the freezer, and we’d eat them on the aluminum TV dinner trays. The cobbler pie dessert up in the corner was wonderful. Yeah, I haven’t seen them in the frozen meals freezer sections for years now either.
Every day should be read a book day.