7 years ago
February 16, 2011
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
My book club has disbanded and I'm kind of bummed about that. So now I guess I get to use my blog to talk about what I've read. I just finished reading the most fascinating book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. It's about a black woman in the 50s who died very young of cervical cancer. Some of her cancer cells were taken, without her knowledge and used in research. Her cells were very unusual at the time and have cured diseases, made millions of dollars and changed how medicine is practiced today. Her cells even helped find the cure for polio! It gave me chills just to read about all the good and bad that was done with her cells. And the saddest thing is that this whole time her family has been living in poverty and for many years had no knowledge that these cells even existed or were being used. I don't want to give away the whole book, but it really is a fascinating story that few people have heard of. If you read it, I'm dying to know what you thought!
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7 comments:
I enjoyed my book club when I was going. It motivated me to read books that I wouldn't normally read.
I will put this on my list. As soon as I finish Tear Down This Myth which really isn't all that interesting. Just rehashing what I already know.
What's up with book clubs disbanding? Mine did too, last month. It was a sad, sad day. But do continue posting book reviews!
I've got that on my "to-read" list on Goodreads. :) Glad to know you like it! I'm enjoying the book club I'm in here, but it's getting too big. We're tiptoeing around the issue, trying different things. Hopefully it'll work out and at the very worst we'll have to split, not disband!
thanks for the recomendation! I am currently reading a biography about Abraham Lincoln... but will get to this one shortly!
Sounds good, I'll add it to my reading list.
I've heard of that experiment. Awful. So the book is good?
Egads. I have too many "To Reads." And lately I come home and am just so lame and tired I veg in front of the DVR or Hulu. But I'm working on it.
I am in one bookclub. We're almost all librarians. Sad thing? We end up spending like maybe five minutes on the book we chose and then spend the rest of the time talking about other books.
I just finished the book. My review is on goodreads.
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