Sunday Salon - January 29

I had such high hopes this week for getting a lot of reading done. After all, it's usually cold (and often snowy or icy) this time of year and my natural instinct is to burrow in to a corner of the sofa with a warm blanket and a good book. A week or so ago, it seemed like this was the perfect week to participate in a read-a-thon.

Then life, once again, intervened. Mini-me got an apartment was was able to move in this week which meant mom, of course, had to drop everything and help pack and move. Tuesday night the Omaha Bookworms met to discuss Nicole Krauss' The History of Love. Wednesday evening Mini-him came into town and announced to his astonished parents, as we cleaned up dinner, that we needed to clean ourselves up because we were headed downtown to see Craig Ferguson (of the Late, Late Show on CBS). Finally, it was The Big Guy's birthday yesterday which meant we had to celebrate that all weekend. So it was a fun week but not a good week to get a lot of reading done.

Still, I will have finished two books by the end of A Winter's Respite today and gotten a start on a third so I'm feeling good about the read-a-thon. Better yet, I'm feeling like I've gotten my reading mojo back, something I've been missing terribly in the past few months.

The History of Love, by the way, was a spectacular bust with the Omaha Bookworms. Three people didn't bother to finish it even and those that did had a hard time with the story line and no connection to the characters. I think I was the only one that found anything to like about it at all.

I've got reviews of The End of the Affair and Left Neglected coming up this week and I will, finally, return to Fairy Tale Fridays. This week, Hans Christian Andersen will be making an appearance. For some reason, one of the songs from Disney's Little Mermaid popped into my head which meant, of course, that I had to read the original story and at least one story inspired by it.

It also meant that I'll be starting Carolyn Turgeon's Mermaid today and will also pick a new nonfiction book, although I haven't decided on that one yet. What are you reading this week?

Cat Thursday

 Once again, even though I'm not a cat person, my family has provided me with the perfect picture for Cat Thursday. Cat Thursday is hosted by Michelle of The True Book Addict.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloots
Published July 2010 by Gale Group
Source: I bought this one

There are probably very few people left out there who don't know the story of Henrietta Lacks, either from having read the book or from having heard about the book on numerous news sources. For those of you who may have missed the hubbub surrounding this book, Henrietta Lacks was a poor, black, mother of five who died from cervical cancer in 1951. If that had been all there was to the story, no one except Henrietta's family would probably remember her; her grave is even unmarked.


But that is not all there is to Henrietta's story and her legacy, already sixty years in the making, continues to live on because one doctor at Johns Hopkins hospital in Baltimore decided to take a sample of Henrietta's tumor to see if he could grow her cells. Doctors had been trying for years to grow human cells with very little success. So as the technician in the lab prepared the sample, she had little hope to see anything happen. She could not have been more wrong. By the next day, the number of cells in each sample container had doubled and they continued to double on an almost daily basis. Never before had doctors seen anything like it; to this day, nothing on the same scale has ever been replicated. The cells were soon being sent nationwide and, before long, worldwide. In the past sixty years, hundreds of diseases have been studies and hundreds of advances and treatments have been developed using Henrietta's cells. Along the way, many have made a lot of money because of the cells; Henrietta's family is not among them. Her family did not even know until years after her death that the cells had been taken. Once they found out, the emotional impact of her death became many times greater as the family struggled to come to terms with the facts.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is one of those books that came with extremely high expectations, almost always certain to leave me at least a little disappointed no matter how good the book is. This book was an exception; it is every bit as good as I was hoping. Skloot has crafted an amazing blend of human interest story and scientific lesson book. My heart broke for Henrietta as she died in agony and for her family as they lived in agony. By the time Skloot began looking into the story, the family had become so mistrustful of anyone asking about Henrietta that they refused to speak with her for months and months. Fortunately for us, Skloot refused to give up, eventually earning the trust of Henrietta's children. The book is exceptionally well-researched and Skloot has done a fine job of explaining the science behind the use of the cells in a way that makes sense to the layman. At the same time, she knows how to write a human story that will touch the heart.

The Omaha Bookworms are reading this for February and I can't wait to discuss it with them. In addition to the story itself, there is so much to discuss about the ethics of cell research, the way cells are procured, and the money that can be made by research on our cells by corporations and researchers. I highly recommend this book.

A Winter's Respite Read-A-Thon - Giveaway

For those of you participating in A Winter's Respite Read-a-thon, here's a chance for you to add back to your TBR pile just as you thought you were whittling it down!

I'm a lover of new words (imagine how excited I was to pick up my slim copy of Graham Greene's The End of the Affair and find that it had more new-to-me words than most books twice a long!). So here's what I want from you: leave me a comment by the end of the read-a-thon on Sunday with at least two new-to-you words and their definitions. My brain will get a chance to work and you'll get a chance to win a new book. The winner will be drawn on Monday, January 30th and will have a choice of books. U.S. residents only (sorry!). Winner will be selected by random.org.

There are 3 books to choose from: One Good Turn by Kate Atkinson, Me Before You by JoJo Moyes, or Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen. In your comment, please let me know which book you'd like if you are picked as the winner.

A Winter's Respite Read-A-Thon Kick Off

Actually, I started reading for the Winter's Respite Read-a-Thon (hosted by Michelle of The True Book Addict) yesterday but already had a review scheduled so held off until today to do my kick off post.

With no football to watch, I figured that there would be lots of reading time for me if I just decided to make it so. But Mini-me had other ideas; he is moving, starting yesterday, into an apartment a few miles from home. Which, of course, means that mom has had to help him back, help get things the guys need for the apartment, and help them move. All of which I love to do but all of which really cuts into my reading time!

I'm still bound and determined to finish at least two books this week, the two books that I started last week but which almost completely got set aside when I picked up Left Neglected by Lisa Genova to read at work and which I finished last night. I've got a good start on both of those so finishing them should be no problem. The bigger question will be what to start next and here's where I'm asking for your help. Which of these should I read after I finish Across The Endless River by Thad Carhart?

Mermaid by Carolyn Turgeon

The Only True Genius in the Family by Jennie Nash

The Kitchen Daughter by Jael McHenry

 Hours read: 12

Pages read:  367

Books finished: 1

Scribbling the Cat: Travels With An African Soldier by Alexandra Fuller

Scribbling The Cat; Travels with an African Soldier by Alexandra Fuller
249 Pages
Published 2004 by Penguin Books

A couple of months ago, I read and reviewed Alexandra Fuller's Cocktail Hour Under The Tree Of Forgetfulness which I really enjoyed and knew my mom would as well. I passed that one along to her and it's been making the rounds since, a unanimous hit amongst every one who has read it. My mom enjoyed it so much that she asked for more books by Fuller for Christmas. Here is her review of Fuller's Scribbling The Cat.

"In Scribbling, Fuller again sets her book in Africa in what was Rhodesia but this time we learn very little of her life with her family.  She visits her parents and we again are reacquainted with them but they are secondary to the story.  While visiting her parents, Fuller meets and becomes fascinated with a white gentleman who has fought for many years as a soldier in the various wars that have been so prevalent in this region.  She spends time with this retired soldier and discovers there is a story to be told.

She convinces K (a name she has chosen because she has been very careful to preserve identities and locations to protect her characters) to take a trip with her to trace his war travels and to meet some of his mates from these wars.  She finds this very platonic; K who has become a born-again Christian falls in love with her and is sure God has sent her to be his wife.  They set off in his truck and the story unfolds as they travel through Mozambique to help him save himself from the war horrors.  They meet and spend time with some of his former soldier friends and the characters are delightfully described so you feel as if you have known them forever.  These are rough, war-scarred men who have incredible stories to share.  Fuller uses many of the African terms to add clarity and realism.  Fortunately, she does provide a glossary with definitions.

Again Fuller uses her skills as a writer to describe the landscape, the people, and the poverty that all of these wars have caused.  I finished the book with a feeling of dismay at what the white people have done to Africa but also with what the black leaders have done as they were thrust into or chose to have power. 

In the end both Fuller and K have learned a lot about themselves and separate as protagonists.  It was probably inevitable.

If learning more about Africa and what makes it what it is today is of interest to you, you will love this true story told with a few additions to help protect and to enliven.  I highly recommend the book."

Thanks, Mom, for another great review!

Gilmore Girls Reading Challenge And I May Just Have Signed Up For Another Challenge - Oops!

Why yes, yes I did completely fail at this challenge last year - my own challenge. So why am I posting about it? Because many of those who have participated in the past encouraged me to give it another try. So here we go again. I've made some changes (and by changes, I mean I've made it easier!) which I hope will make it more fun (fewer books needed to succeed, more movie adaptations can be substituted).

If you're not completely inundated with challenges already, we'd love to have you join us! To sign up, just leave a comment here.

This evening I made the terrible mistake of clicking on a post from Michelle of The True Book Addict where she highlighted all of the challenges she's participating in this year. Well of course I found another one I had to do - one that's right up my alley. It's Bex's (of An Armchair By The Sea) The Telling Tales Reading Challenge. And just why couldn't I pass it up? Because it's all about reading/watching fairytales, folktales and myths! Perfect, no?! Just remind me not to click on any more posts in Google Reader that have anything to do with challenges you've signed up for, please.