"The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot

Synopsis:
Henrietta Lacks, as HeLa, is known to present-day scientists for her cells from cervical cancer. She was a poor Southern tobacco farmer who worked the same land as her slave ancestors, yet her cells were taken without her knowledge and still live decades after her death. Cells descended from her may weigh more than 50M metric tons.

HeLa cells were vital for developing the polio vaccine; uncovered secrets of cancer, viruses, and the atom bomb's effects; helped lead to important advances like in vitro fertilization, cloning, and gene mapping; and have been bought and sold by the billions. Yet Henrietta Lacks was buried in an unmarked grave.

The journey starts in the "colored" ward of Johns Hopkins Hospital in the 1950s, her small, dying hometown of Clover, Virginia -- wooden slave quarters, faith healings, and voodoo. Today are stark white laboratories with freezers full of HeLa cells, East Baltimore children and grandchildren live in obscurity, see no profits, and feel violated. The dark history of experimentation on African Americans helped lead to the birth of bioethics, and legal battles over whether we control the stuff we are made of.

My review:
Due to my reading slump, it actually took me months to finish reading this book.  I started it at the end of September 2013 and I just finished it this week.  It was an interesting read and I did enjoy it very much.  Despite the complex science involved in biochemistry and genetics, the writing is done in such a way that you could understand it.  The main focus of the book is the search for the identity of HeLa and the personal history of Henrietta Lacks and her family.  It's a mix of biography and science history book with more emphasis on the personal story.  The writing style felt like the author were talking to you rather than trying to teach you something.  I liked how the topic of race relations in general but most specifically regarding Lacks and her progeny was interwoven with the history of biochemistry and genetics.  It was an enjoyable read and I'm glad I finally finished it.

Read on,
Paula

Rereading

Sadly, I am still suffering from a reading slump.  That being said, I am still reading.  I have been rereading books I've already read.  And I have been dipping in and out of a variety of non-fiction books. I think part of the reason for my book slump is an underlying fear of reading a book that I don't like.  I have so many books on my TBR that I worry that anything I pick to read won't appeal to me and I won't like it but that it's just a matter of timing.  Most of my reading is done by whim based on how I'm feeling.  And since there is so much change in my personal life, I am having difficulty finding previously unread books that interest me enough to actually read them.  But I long for the days when I can get lost in a book that I love.  I miss them very much.

Read on,
Paula

Rereading children's books

Listening to The Readers podcast episode about children's classics reminded me of when I reread the first book in the Nancy Drew series (The Secret of the Old Clock) last year.  I had bought a reprinted edition a few years ago and had never gotten around to reading it.  I LOVED the Nancy Drew series when I was a girl.  I loved that it was a smart young woman who solved mysteries.  I loved the stories that featured hidden passageways.  I had such fond memories of the series.

And then I reread the first book in the series.  Bad idea.  As an adult, the book just didn't stand up to my childhood fascination.  The plot was unrealistic.  I found it so different from my remembered expectations and so unpalatable to my adult mind that I couldn't even finish it.  And that's part of what the episode of The Readers is about: how rereading childhood favourites can be detrimental to your love of the books.  I have also found this to be so with beloved childhood television shows.  They just don't stand up to the test of adulthood.  And I so wish that were not the case.

Read on,
Paula