The End of the Book Review. Lit Mag Submissions. Dead Sea Scrolls.

Hello Friends!I thought that today I’d be discussing some books I’ve read recently. Instead, I find myself in the middle of five different books, all unfinished. I usually read two books at once and listen to an audiobook as well. I’m not sure how I’ve gotten so out of control. But here I am 😊. I did finish In the Philippines and Okinawa : A Memoir, 1945-1948 by Robert H. Ferrell and William S. Triplet. However, I think interest among Be a Cactus readers for this one is probably pretty limited. I read it because I want to write historical fiction based on the life of my FIL, who was in Okinawa at that time. It does a good job of detailing what the U.S. Army was doing while there and the life of the soldiers, both in work and play. If you have an interest in that place and time, then I recommend it!So what I ended up wanting to do this week is:* Point you toward discussions of the ‘end of book reviews’ in legacy media* Point writers toward submitting to Inlandia Journal which recently opened* Show everyone some photos of my quick trip to the Reagan Presidential Library to see an exhibit on the Dead Sea Scrolls.With so many photos, this post will run longer than email allows. To see the entire post and all the photos, click the title above (“The End of the Book Review. Lit Mag Submissions. Dead Sea Scrolls”) to open in your web browser or read in the app.The End of the Legacy Media Book ReviewIn so many book discussions, I’m seeing conversations about the end of the book review in newspapers. Probably because the Associated Press decided they weren’t going to have them anymore. Of course, reviews in legacy media have changed over the past twenty years. I remember how I used to look forward to them in my then local paper, the Los Angeles Times, because they included cultural references. So even if I wasn’t going to buy the book, I learned something. (When was the last time your local paper took a deep dive into anything, much less a book?)Of the conversation, I most connected to Ron Charles’ comments in his 8-15-25 newsletter:Bestseller lists, celebrity book clubs and BookTok videos with 400,000 comments — I don’t disparage any of that powerful publicity. But in this dissolving sea of mass media, we still crave the intimate experience of a special book. And a review can help a wandering reader locate that particular title that changes a mood, or a life. It can encourage a debut novelist to write again — and a publisher to take another chance.At its best, a review written by a thoughtful, articulate reader who brings a breadth of knowledge to the subject can be illuminating, entertaining, even enriching. More than a mere consumer report, the good review gives a book a public arena in which its mettle is tested, its weakness exposed, its contribution to the coral reef of human knowledge celebrated.For more on the death of the legacy book review, see these links, which I found through Kathleen Schmidt’s Publishing Confidential:* Vanity Fair is eliminating reviews.* The Associated Press is ending its regular book coverage.I believe some Substack book reviewers are picking up the slack. Do you have favorite reviewers here? Please suggest them/link them in the comments!Writers Submit to Inlandia JournalI used to be the managing editor of the online journal Inlandia, which is a project of the Inlandia Institute. Some years ago, I needed to pass the torch in order to work on some projects of my own. However, I still volunteer to read/select fiction and nonfiction for the yearly fall issue, which is open to all writers.If you are a writer seeking publication of short work, I hope you will submit. There’s no money involved—it’s an all volunteer staff, and there is no pay for published work (which is generally true of literary journals). However, unlike most journals, there is no submission fee. And the biggest win is that very often, rejected submissions receive feedback. This is highly unusual, a gift, I think!Get all the info at 100 Rejections Club here. Submissions close on September 14.* For an interesting Substack read on crazy lit journal rejections, see Lit Mag News on rejection letter pet peeves.* For an interesting Substack read on manuscript rejection (particularly novels), read:The Dead Sea Scrolls TripA selection of the Dead Sea Scrolls are at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum in Simi Valley, CA through September 2. In no sense am I a fan of RR and Simi Valley is a bit of a trip, so I waited to see if the exhibit would travel and come closer. When it became clear that the answer was ‘no,’ two of my sons (both writers) and I decided we needed to get out there and see it. I love the sensation of the past coming to life in the present. That people had the presence of mind to hide these manuscripts thousands of years ago electrifies me. I loved seeing the script—in some cases so very tiny!Knowing that the longer we stayed, the worse the traffic through LA would be—we were on the freeway in the city of LA for two hours—we decided to stay after touring the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit and walk through the permanent exhibits about RR. Some of it was very interesting, but it was pretty much hagiography. A tiny, brief gloss-over about the Iran-Contra Affair (impeachable stuff) and nothing about AIDS in the section on the crises during RR’s tenure in office. This, of course, is the choice of the curators. I’ve been to the Richard Nixon Presidential Library. They do a much better job at being evenhanded and telling a true story about the Watergate scandal.I’d never been to Simi Valley, but we had to go on Wednesday to be in time for our Thursday morning reservations. We just looked for interesting stuff about the city. Much that we wanted to see was closed, including the museum on the Chumash Indians. (There was a fair portion of the history display from the Strathearn Historical Park & Museum that was dedicated to the Chumash.)Grandma Prisbrey’s Bottle VillageThis was closed, so we couldn’t see the bottle buildings, which have a sort of stained-glass-walls feel in the online photos. We did get to see a bit through the fence. Strathearn Historical Park & MuseumI didn’t take a photo, but there was a tiny library that was built in 1930 and used through 1962 (at which point there were other branches as well). I loved that during the Great Depression, this town decided to put time, talent, and treasure into a library! ❤️Junkyard CafeOne of my son’s coworkers recommended we have a meal here. It really is like a junkyard, but fascinating. The Dead Sea Scrolls The actual pieces from the scrolls are at the end of the exhibit. The beginning shows us life in ancient Israel.The text of the information sign under the mosaic floor fragment includes a translation of the words in the mosaic from Psalm 118:6-7: “The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me? The Lord is with me; he is my helper. I look in triumph on my enemies.”An ossuary, a small limestone box for storing bones. They are generally as long as the largest bone in the body. This one has a simple design, like two window frames. The Dead Sea Scrolls I know the small print on the signage under each scroll fragments is difficult to read, so I am including it as the caption for each photo. This will also act as the alt text.We also got to go into Air Force One (lots of great work space!) and the presidential helicopter. Here are a few photos from the grounds, which were beautiful and had many moving displays:A few things gave me a chuckle. One was a photo of Reagan—in a tan suit! (Which, as we know, is a thing that destroys civilization if a Black president wears it)—walking with Pope John Paul II. And here is another—too bad it isn’t the final word to the people of Canada:Thanks for reading Be a Cactus! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit victoriawaddle.substack.com