Read This!
The Telephone: A New History by James Gleick. Can you judge a book by its cover? Sometimes! This one instantly makes me want to read this history of one of the world’s most important inventions, from Alexander Graham Bell to phone booths to the smartphone.
You Don’t Need a Smartphone by August Lamm. But maybe you don’t need a phone at all! At least not a smartphone, as Lamm argues in this guide. And to prove that she practices what she preaches: She not only gave up her smartphone, she’s quitting the internet entirely.
Backwater by James Sallis. When Sallis, a talented guy who could write anything, died in January at the age of 81, he left behind one more novel. This is about a jazz guitarist/ex-cop who gets a plea from an old friend to help on a case.
Peck & Peck by Bonnie Garmus. This novel, set in 1980s New York City, is about the tricky, cutthroat world of…a poetry magazine.
Monsters of Ohio by John Scalzi. This novel is about a man who returns to his hometown of Richmond after decades away. The publisher’s description? “But Richmond has other plans for Mike, his old friend Dave, and newcomer Andi. They’re caught in a swirl of local troubles, private equity, executive theft…and something extremely weird involving Jeremy Keller’s prize cow.”
The Year I Stopped Drawing by Grant Snider. This “novel-in-verse” concerns a kid who has to deal with many changes in his life, including bickering parents, a bully, a newcomer at school who is also an artist, and a feeling that he’s falling out of love with drawing.
Taste of Home Ultimate Christmas Cookie Collection. Too soon? Not when Halloween is next week. It will be Thanksgiving before you know it.
100 Years of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade
Speaking of Thanksgiving, Macy’s is bringing back an old favorite parade balloon for the first time in 42 years: Underdog!
At Least Everyone Can Agree on Circus Peanuts
My favorite candy? Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, Riesens, Ghirardelli Peppermint Bark, Russell Stover Almond Delights (RIP), Heath Bars, Dove Dark Chocolate, Mr. Goodbar, Bit-O-Honey, Werther’s Caramel, Zero Bars, and those Spree fruit-flavored candies.
That’s just a list off the top of my head.
I’ve examined three different surveys of the most popular Halloween candy in each state for 2026 (Instacart, CandyStore, and DoorDash), and two of the surveys – Instacart and DoorDash – have Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups as the number one candy for my state of Massachusetts. The CandyStore survey says it’s Sour Patch Kids, which has to be fake news or at the very least AI. (Reese’s came in forth on that list.)
Other popular candy on each list includes M&Ms, Hershey’s Milk Chocolate, Skittles, and Haribo Goldbears.
The CandyStore survey also says that candy corn is both popular (8th on the best list) yet also the number one hated candy in America. (People really have to make up their minds about candy corn.) Almond Joy also made their “worst” list. What the heck did Almond Joy ever do to anyone?
In other spooky day news, here’s what it’s like to live in Salem, Massachusetts during the month of October. I live close to Salem, but I’ve never been there on Halloween.
John, Paul, George, and Ringo
I don’t know if we “need” four different movies about the Beatles, but then again there were four of them, so why not? They’re all directed by Sam Mendes and they’re all coming out in April of 2028.
If there’s going to be a movie about each Beatle, maybe there should be a fifth movie?
RIP Richard Riehle, Michael Forest, Frank Mancuso, Betty McGuire, Robert X. Cringely, Wilfrdo Gomez, Ann Hornaday, and Gene Schwam
Richard Riehle was a great character actor who appeared in an astonishing number of TV shows and movies, too many to list here. He died last week at the age of 78.
Michael Forest appeared in such classic TV shows as Star Trek, Perry Mason, The Twilight Zone, The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Outer Limits, and I Spy, as well as movies like Beast from Haunted Cave, King Kong Lives, and Cast Away. He died last week at the age of 97.
Frank Mancuso ran both Paramount and MGM and had a hand in many movies you’ve seen, including Top Gun, Fatal Attraction, Saturday Night Fever, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Beverly Hills Cop, Crocodile Dundee, and several James Bond films. He died earlier this month at the age of 93.
Betty McGuire was an acclaimed Broadway actress who also played the grandmother on Growing Pains. She appeared on Columbo, Deep Space Nine, Hill Street Blues, Moonlighting, and many other TV shows and films. She died earlier this month at the age of 100.
Robert X. Cringely – real name Mark Stephens – was one of the first well-known technology reporters. He died earlier this month at the age of 73.
Wilfredo Gomez won boxing titles in three different weight classes and once had 17 straight knockouts. He died earlier this month at the age of 69.
Ann Hornaday was film critic for The Washington Post and a Pulitzer Prize finalist. She was the author of two books on film, including an upcoming book on the making of All the President’s Men. She died Sunday at the age of 66.
Gene Schwam was a publicist for everyone from Elvis Presley and Judy Garland to Julie Andrews and Nancy Wilson. He died last week at the age of 96.
This Week in History
London Beer Flood (October 17, 1814)
I had never heard of this incident, in which a large wooden beer vat exploded, flooding a neighborhood and killing eight people.
Al Capone Convicted of Tax Evasion (October 17, 1931)
Yup, this is how they finally got the mobster. He was released from prison in 1939 because of illness and died in 1947.
This Week in Saturday Evening Post History: “Candy Gives a Lift to Life” (October 20, 1951)
I never thought of cutting up candy bars into pieces and putting them into a bowl. It’s a good idea, but don’t hand them out kids like that. Kids hate getting unwrapped candy (and so do adults).
Candy-O, I Need You So
To be clear, these are recipes that include various candies, not recipes to make copycats of your favorite candy.
Like the Tootsie Roll Fudge from Taste of Home, the Twix Cheesecake Pie from The Kitchen Is My Playground, or the M&Ms Puffed Rice Pumpkins from the official M&Ms site.
Hershey’s has these Hershey’s Kisses Witch’s Hat Cookies, Meg Is Well has these Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Cupcakes, Recipe Girl has Snickers Bar Banana Bread, and you can take some of those Haribo Goldbears and make the boozy Gummy Bear Cocktail from Baking Beauty.
Next Week’s Holidays and Events
World Series (October 23-?)
If at the beginning of the season you predicted that the Milwaukee Brewers would be facing the Tampa Bay Rays in the World Series, congratulations! You should play the lottery tonight. Fox has the first game starting at 8 p.m. ET.
Mother-in-Law Day (October 25)
Get her something, and since she probably doesn’t even know there is such a thing as Mother-in-Law Day, you’ll score even more points with her.
National Candy Corn Day (October 30)
Yes, one of the world’s worst candies has its own holiday.
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Comments
You mention perhaps a fifth Beatle movie regarding Stu Sutcliffe. What about Pete Best, the original Beatles drummer who was unceremoniously kicked out of the band at the urging of the producers or manager because they thought his looks might be a distraction? Or so it is I’ve heard the story. So maybe a sixth movie? But wait there’s more….Billy Preston, outstanding artist and keyboard player was involved with so may Beatles recordings he should be considered as well. I guess that’s number seven?