Be a Cactus Podcast

Hello Friends, I’m writing this on Halloween, hoping that the kids come by for candy before the rain sets in. I thought of writing about Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump by Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan and a particularly creepy story in there about the Epstein files and Trump assaulting a girl. To remind us of what we are dealing with as the election comes up. But...

The Future of Nonfiction? Over the next few months, I’d like to discuss some ‘of the moment’ nonfiction I’ve been reading. I say discuss rather than review because I find them all to be good, worthwhile books. Yet, I’ve borrowed these books from the library rather than bought them because I know about their subjects from reading legacy media stories and some paid-subscription to political Substack...

Hello Friends, It’s our week for ‘Library and Banned Books News,’ to which I don’t usually add an audio record. However, I’d like to make an exception this week because I want to include a book review in the discussion. We just finished up Banned Books Week yesterday with “Let Freedom Read Day.” During the week, PEN America published Banned in the USA: National Findings for the 2025-2026 School Ye...

Hello Friends, This is not our scheduled week for ‘Library and Banned Books News’. It is, however, Banned Books Week, an annual event highlighting the freedom to read. In the U.S., it’s promoted by the American Library Association. (Is there a Banned Books Read-in near you this week? Check the map. ) I know that Amnesty International also promotes it elsewhere. If you are outside the U.S., is it a...

Hello Friends, This is our week to talk about books. (Audio included.) I feel I have so many books I’d like to discuss after reading people’s comments on Theo of Golden . For now, I’ll mention a few ‘feel good’ books that I enjoyed and then focus on Into the Wood Chipper: A Whistleblower's Account of How the Trump Administration Shredded USAID by Nicholas Enrich. Thanks for reading Be a Cactus! Su...

Hello Friends, I’d like to discuss some books at length. Don’t forget you can choose to listen to the audio (located above). I read Claire Keegan’s Small Things Like These (Shortlisted for the 2022 Booker Prize , Winner of the Orwell Prize for Political Fiction, One of the New York Times’s 100 Best Books of the 21st Century, The Irish Times Best Book of the 21st Century) and wanted to learn more a...

Background I knew nothing about the novel Theo of Golden , but I wanted to read it because I was heartened by the story of an older writer going viral with a debut after self-publication and then being picked up by Simon & Schuster. I asked for it for my birthday, and I received it (along with several other birthday books; I have a lovely family and friends). As a general rule, I only discuss book...

Hello Friends, I’m putting on my librarian hat today and, rather than writing an essay, I’m providing some sources that discuss what’s next for the publishing industry concerning AI. I hope my organization of the articles means that one leads into another. Before I get into today’s topic, I figured we could all use some good news, so I’m linking to a recent article on Reasons to Be Cheerful . (Is...

Hello Friends, Today, I’d like to discuss a few banned and often challenged books: Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo, a YA multiple award winner and Lucky by Alice Sebold, which should be withdrawn from libraries, but not for the reasons it is being banned. Before we dive into these books, I want to note that this week Utah banned another book in all of its public schools: Stephen Kin...

Hello Friends, While this is not our “Library and Banned Books News” week, (that’s next week), I do want to mention that the Knox County, TN schools reversed the banning of Alex Haley’s Roots . And that was because of community and national blow back. Fighting back matters! Good job, book ‘freadom’ fighters! I had another cataract surgery last week, and wasn’t seeing clearly again, so I had the ch...

Hello Friends, I hope you are feeling and doing well. I have several bookish things going on lately that I hope you’ll find interesting. But first, because life is rough, here’s something I found very hopeful on Reasons to Be Cheerful . Endangered Butterflies Are Thriving Behind Bars In the tender, methodical work of rescuing an imperiled butterfly species, incarcerated women are finding a sense o...

Hello Friends, There are some things I wanted to discuss about this crazy week, so I’ll put off the final discussion of Enshittification . Next week we’re starting the new schedule of alternating the “Library and Banned Books News” with these review posts rather than having both within one week. So—next Sunday is about libraries and censorship. ¡Sí, se puede! Yes, we can! I read in two newspapers...

Hello Friends, While the frightening and exhausting aspects of life seem to overtake us, let’s not forget that good people do good work and we should keep up with that, too. Remember, every Sunday, Jess Craven posts lots of good things happening. Here’s a little thanks I got for giving blood in 2025. That felt good.  Although I am still mostly reading research books for a novel I’m working on, I’v...

Hello Friends, Tonight, I’m picking the winners for the book giveaway and will be sending the books out ASAP (hopefully tomorrow). Thanks to those who participated. Today, I’m discussing Enshittification by Cory Doctorow and then following up with some links for writers. This is a ‘Part One’ because there are many issues Doctorow illuminates, and then he concludes with some ideas for changing onli...

Hello Friends, I decided to celebrate, dive into gratitude, and relax this weekend rather than write an essay. And read a bit of a book about Mexicans in the 1920s fleeing the Cristero War as research from the novel I’m just starting. I want to celebrate that we here on Be a Cactus are now a group of over 500 subscribers, a thing I am very grateful for! So—I’m having a book giveaway for U.S. subsc...

Struggle is a never-ending process. Freedom is never really won, you earn it and win it in every generation.— Coretta Scott King Hello Friends, I hope you have been enjoying the Olympics. We had a birthday celebration this weekend, and I got to try a Himalayan restaurant (Indian, Nepali, and Tibetan food) and have ultra-chocolatey cake (recipe below). I’m also happy that my vision has cleared up a...

Hello Friends, Here’s another set of quotes from Sojourners I thought you’d like: There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love. - 1 John 4:18 may the tide / that is entering even now / the lip of our understanding / carry you out / beyond the face of fear - Lucille Clifton, “blessing the boats” A...

Hello Friends, I’m writing this a bit early because I’m going out of town, first, to attend the life celebration of a friend’s mother, and then to go with my friends to hear George Saunders in Santa Cruz as he tours for his new novel Vigil . I confess: my husband wanted the audiobook, so I listened to Vigil the day it launched. My friends and I will be getting signed copies at the event, and then...

So let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest time, if we do not give up. - Galatians 6:9 “Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced,” —James Baldwin “People can cry much easier than they can change.” —James Baldwin Hello Friends, I missed posting last Sunday because I was sick for a week over the holidays. I have a lot...

I had finished writing this post but hadn’t gotten a chance to record it yet when I heard the news that people were shot, injured, and killed at Brown University. Thoughts and prayers, yes, but without systemic change, our “unthinkable nightmare” will continue to be routine. Fear is inevitable, I have to accept that, but I cannot allow it to paralyze me. - Isabel Allende Hello Friends, I don’t kno...

Hello Friends, Everyone I know is focused on giving right now, which is pretty nice. However, I found myself getting stressed out on ‘Giving Tuesday’ because there were innumerable worthy groups I wanted to contribute to. I did manage many by carrying over to Wednesday. One thing I don’t like is when I donate to a charity, and they send me an email the next day saying something like ‘There’s still...

Hello Friends, I hope you’ve had a long weekend full of gratitude and blessings. My husband and I did a lot of cooking and housecleaning. Holidays make me feel my age. For years, I would never leave dirty dishes from holiday cooking on the counters/in the sink overnight. I couldn’t stand the idea of waking up and having to deal with the mess. Now I can’t stand dealing with the mess on the day of t...

To be the instrument of God’s peace is not to confine oneself to the field of personal relationships, but to concern oneself also with the problems of human society, hunger, poverty, injustice, cruelty, exploitation, war. - Alan Paton There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children. - Nelson Mandela Hello Friends, I hope you have a happy Thanksgiv...

The exercise of imagination is dangerous to those who profit from the way things are because it has the power to show that the way things are is not permanent, not universal, not necessary. - Ursula K. Le Guin Hello Friends, Is there any way to have a conversation without talking about the events of the past week or so? (Hint: No.) Recently, I had a very kind friend reach out about a Substack post...

Hello Friends, I had what I think of as a ‘short week.’ I was catching up after last weekend’s screw up with having my car locked in a parking garage . Thursday and Friday, I spent out in the IE again. I took my husband and his aunt to the Ontario Airport for their trip to see relatives in Portland. (Maybe they will catch some great inflatable costumes.) I was able to go to the California Botanic...