Books! Magdalene Laundries, A World Appears by Michael Pollan, Here’s to you Jesusa! …

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 BarsIn the tender, methodical work of rescuing an imperiled butterfly species, incarcerated women are finding a sense of purpose.My pandemic pups turned six years old.Hard to believe, but here they are thriving, and this is another thing that soothes these challenging days. I was moving into a period of despair when they came into my life and helped me rally. I wrote about it in my chapbook The Mortality of Dogs and Humans. I promised on my ‘About’ page to post about the dogs once in a while, so here are a few nap time photos.On Mother’s Day night, I decided to watch The Maltese Falcon because, somehow, I’d neither seen it nor read the book. This post from DocTalk, Allan N Schwartz PhD steered me to it: As a retired psychotherapist and psychoanalyst, I cannot help but view this film through the lens of symbolism and human motivation. The black bird itself, the Maltese Falcon, is not merely an object. It becomes almost mythical. Everyone in the story is obsessed with possessing it. Men and women lie, betray, manipulate, and kill in pursuit of it. Yet what fascinates me most is that the falcon has power not because of what it truly is, but because of what people imagine it to be.That is one of the great truths about human psychology.People often chase symbols rather than realities.BooksI had the chance to talk to Marla Miller about how my work as a teacher and librarian influenced my novel Keep Sweet. So much depends on what happens away from the desk!Sci-Fi Authors and Latino/Latine WritersI’m reading speculative fiction for a special (extra) issue of the Inlandia Journal right now. Submissions are open through May 31. (Side note: Submissions are also open through June 14 for their Eliud Martínez Prize. If you are a Latine writer seeking publication of a full-length manuscript [150-300 pages], have a look.)Review of Scouts’ HonorAnd I wrote a book review for the teen issue of Inlandia, “A Vow to Hide the Truth,” about Scouts’ Honor by Carlos Cortés. In general, the teen issue is all teens except the managing editor—the readers, the editors, the submitters/writers/artists. If you know a teen writer, have them look for the next submission period next winter.Thanks for reading Be a Cactus! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.Books on My TBR ListHow the Fanatical Legion of Mary Secreted Young Girls Away to Toil in Ireland’s Magdalene LaundriesLOUISE BRANGAN ON THE GIRLS WHO DISAPPEARED IN 20TH-CENTURY IRELANDExcerpted from The Fallen: The Lost Girls of Ireland’s Magdalene Laundries and a Legacy of Silence by Louise BranganI read the above linked excerpt on LitHub, and now I need to read the book. Or at least listen to the audiobook. Claire Keegan’s Small Things Like These was my introduction to the Magdalene Laundries. The power of this slim book/novella cannot be overstated. If you haven’t read it, you must. It’s the best thing I’ve read in the last several years.I’ve been checking out some recent ‘Best Of’ lists. I’m always hoping that I’ve read many of the books, maybe because it’ll make me feel like I have fine sensibilities. But honestly, there are many excellent books that critics, cuddled up in their sleeping bags in the Big Five tent, are wholly unaware of.25 Books That Capture This American Moment Time MagazineOf these, one that I haven’t read and look forward to is The Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler. I read and enjoyed (so to speak—I mean I found it powerful) her novel Kindred.100 Best Novels The GuardianThe Guardian is posting “a countdown of the greatest literature ever published in English, as voted for by authors, critics and academics worldwide.” They add 20 books per week. So far they have posted 100-61. Another 20 will post on Thursday. No unexpected titles, but I have to say, I’m surprised that Pedro Páramo is only # 96. I think it might belong in the top 50.What I’m ReadingI just finished Michael Pollan’s A World Appears, a nonfiction exploration of consciousness. I thought my kids might also want to read it, but they have a point: the final outcome of all books about consciousness is that we don’t understand it. Nevertheless, Pollan’s exploration is very interesting and wide-ranging. He interviews many scientists, philosophers, writers, and spiritual seekers and also incorporates his own experiences with consciousness-altering psychedelics.“When neuroscientists began studying consciousness in the early 1990s, they sought to explain how and why three pounds of spongy gray matter could generate a subjective point of view—assuming that the brain is the source of our perceived reality. Pollan takes us to the cutting edge of the field, where scientists are entertaining more radical (and less materialist) theories of consciousness. He introduces us to “plant neurobiologists” searching for the first flicker of consciousness in plants, scientists striving to engineer feelings into AI, and psychologists and novelists seeking to capture the felt experience of our slippery stream of consciousness.”I also just finished Here’s to You, Jesusa! which is a translation of the testimonial novel Hasta no verte Jesús Mío by Elena Poniatowska. The original Spanish was published in 1969. I was interested in reading Jesusa because I’m trying to get a sense of Mexico during the Cristero Wars. (Research for my own writing.) I can’t say it helped me much, but it is a strange book with a frustrating protagonist who is nonetheless admirable for her insights into politics and her ability to survive a variety of hells, including desperate poverty. If you want to read about a woman who fought in the Mexican Revolution and also survived the Cristero Wars, this is it.“Jesusa is a tough, fiery character based on a real working-class Mexican woman whose life spanned some of the seminal events of early twentieth-century Mexican history. Having joined a cavalry unit during the Mexican Revolution, she finds herself at the Revolution’s end in Mexico City, far from her native Oaxaca, abandoned by her husband and working menial jobs. So begins Jesusa’s long history of encounters with the police and struggles against authority. Mystical yet practical, undaunted by hardship, Jesusa faces the obstacles in her path with gritty determination.”Although No Way Home by T. C. Boyle is very good, I stopped reading it because I had to finish my library books and return them. I hope to get back to No Way soon.What are you reading? Anything you’d like to recommend?Please like and share. Thanks! I hope you have a good week. This is a public episode. 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