Inside Aaron Judge's record-breaking 2022 season.On Oct. 4, 2022, the Yankees outfielder smashed his 62nd regular-season home run, breaking the American League record set in 1961 by another Yankees great, Roger Maris. Sluggers Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire, and Barry Bonds broke Maris' record decades ago, but as various observers note in this book-including Maris' son, who contributes a foreword-those were steroid-era achievements, and Judge likely stands alone as the "clean home run king." However you cut the numbers, Judge had a remarkable season, and Hoch, a Yankees beat reporter for Major League Baseball, had excellent access to the triumphs and grind of the season. Speeding through Judge's backstory-adopted, mixed-race, very tall, and prodigiously talented-the author offers a clout-by-clout rundown of every homer, but he works some interesting side stories into the main narrative. The question of whether Judge would sign a new deal with the Yankees loomed over the season, and his efforts to serve as a team leader intensified as the season dragged on. The team suffered a serious second-half slump, and divisive teammate Josh Donaldson fielded accusations of racism after an on-field confrontation with the White Sox's Tim Anderson. Interspersed with Judge's story are flashbacks to Maris' 1961 record-setting run, which entailed a lot of understandable stress and (less understandably for an athlete) cigarettes. Hoch can be fussy on pitch-by-pitch approaches and other minutiae (what did the Yankees offer fans in exchange for those home-run balls?), and the ending is anticlimactic: The Yankees fell short in the playoffs, during which a gassed Judge hit an anemic .139. Still, the book holds interest as a tale of leadership claimed and tested; Judge's earning the rare title of Yankees team captain the following season, it's clear, was no small feat.Solid baseball reporting, rich with both stats geekery and human-interest stories.

Irma S. Rombauer-s Joy of Cooking, first published in 1931, gets a massive overhaul in this impressive, timely volume by Becker, Rombauer-s great-grandson, and his wife, Scott. The authors hope to recapture the original-s -vital spark,- they write in their introduction to this ninth edition, which includes more than 4,000 updated recipes and 600-plus new ones. The result is both familiar and refreshing as it globe-trots to include Jamaican curried goat and fiery Indonesian tempeh. The signature method of interweaving ingredients with instructions remains, supplemented with rich troves of information, like a three-page spread on mixing and matching salad greens. There are recipes for items as elementary as popcorn and as complex as a gingerbread house (complete with diagrams). The recipes range from classics to more unusual options: the shellfish chapter covers turtles, and ostrich and emu fillets appear under poultry. Helpful charts abound, and contemporary devices and techniques are incorporated so seamlessly that it-s difficult to spot new bits: for example, the grains section includes recipes for Instant Pots, and, tucked in the breads chapter are instructions for using gluten-free doughs. Becker and Scott have improved upon a classic without bending it so sharply that it will feel dated in a decade-quite an achievement indeed. (Nov.)