Fabulous, yet scary book
I’m in the final 10% of reading the book for my book club this month. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
It’s the story of how the HeLa cell line began and more importantly who Henrietta Lacks and her family were. At some point in the story one of Henrietta Lacks’ sons says something along the lines of
“Our mother is the most important woman in the world and we can’t even get health insurance.”
Indeed, I thought this book was going to be a science book — a story of who, what, how these HeLa cells came about in the lab. And it was a book like that. But it was so much more. Turns out its a social justice story: a story of a poor, black woman who happened to have cancer and what happened to her family. It’s a great read, but it does raise lots of scary questions.
Last month’s read was: Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand. Another heavy book, about a prisoner of war. Also a good read, but leaving behind the problems of making you think about issues. I think I’m ready for a little short, fun book. Do you have one to recommend?
The Hunger Games Trilogy. So addicting. So fun.
Try something by Stewart O’Nan. He writes good stories about interesting people.
Or maybe you’d like Farm City, by Novella Carpenter.
We just read Henrietta L for our neighborhood book club and had a lively discussion.