The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

by Rebecca Skloot

Henrietta Lacks was the donor of the HeLa cell. This was the first human cell to be replicated and continually replicate outside of a person, thus providing the basis for much scientific research leading to many life-saving medical cures. (in layman's terms)

I liked how Ms. Skloot gave very detailed information regarding the HeLa cell and its advances in science. She conveyed the message without using difficult terminology, making the book accessible to everyone. She also managed to present two sides of a difficult and controversial subject. She told the story of the Lacks family and their frustration, misunderstandings and hurt throughout the scientific discovery process. She also explained how current practices (at the time) led to the family's discontent.

One troubling aspect for me throughout the story was the impression I had that the Lacks family mainly wanted to be monetarily compensated for the use of these cells in scientific research. Today, that would be common and expected, however at the time of cell extraction, Dr. Gey followed ordinary procedures and practices. When his experiment was successful, Dr. Gey freely gave the cells to any researcher; not using them for personal gain, only looking to possible advances in medicine and science.

I think this book has something for everyone; science, relationships, tragedies and triumphs.

Even Silence Has an End

by Ingrid Betancourt

An amazing story of captive survival in harrowing jungle conditions. Ingrid Betancourt was captured by the FARC and held hostage for over six years. She describes the situation and circumstances of her capture and captors, her fellow hostages, her mental struggles and the physical torture endured by the group. This book is written from her perspective and gives only slight consideration to the others enduring this alongside her. Many of the reactions of Ms. Betancourt had repercussions on the entire band of prisoners, but not much credit is taken by her of those consequences. She does a good job of explaining her mental processes and why she responded to the torture as she did.


The writing style is lacking and the time line is often confusing, but the story is amazing and demonstrates the courage of those held hostage.
 

Hiatus

I do have a reason for my long hiatus, but not a good excuse, because I was reading all along, just failing to post. Looking back, I regret this because it has been my only method of keeping track of my reading. I do not have a great memory of books I read and frequently when people ask me what I am reading I have to struggle even to recall the title. So I've realized I need a method of tracking my reading for two reasons: it helps with my memory (makes me sound old), it provides book club ideas when I select reading material for my group.

So I am back!

The Story of Edgar Sawtell

by David Wroblewski

This was an unusual story and I have mixed feelings about it. Basically, it was a rather steady paced, gloomy story all the way throughout, which for the characters, didn't seem to fit. There were also a number of story lines that were started and strung along very far, and then just dropped, which is troublesome: relationship between brothers, the wild dog "Forte," the fortune-telling lady, and the letters between grandfather and dog breeding friend.... then the whole deal with the rain ghost of the father?  

I think this author just kept having all of these ideas and didn't want to edit any of them, but couldn't actually tie them together either. When he realized it, the book went up in flames..... kind of like some of Stephen King's :)

One personal issue, way too much brain-power is given to dogs. Maybe the entire book is written for them?

The Go-Giver: A Little Story About Power

by Bob Burg and John David Mann

Ok, a guy, we'll call him Joe (he really is called Joe) is struggling with being successful in his business and he wants the "secret to success"... isn't that what everyone wants! Well, he gets introduced to just the man to give him the answers in 5 easy steps! Yeah, you've heard that before, well, here they are:

1. The Law of Value: Your true worth is determined by how much more you give in value than      you take in payment.

2. The Law of Compensation: Your income is determined by how many people you serve and      how well you serve them.

3. The Law of Influence: Your influence is determined by how abundantly you place other            people's interests first.

4. The Law of Authenticity: The most valuable gift you have to offer is yourself.

5. The Law of Receptivity: The key to effective giving is to stay open to receiving.

Now if he does these five things in five days he'll be a success... BINGO! He wins....

really, these are practices of ways to treat people that might just be reworded from scripture; do to others as you'd have them do to you, look not only to your own interests but also to the interests of others, serve others before yourself. How can you argue with that? 

The Four Obsessions of an Extraordinary Executive

by Patrick Lencioni

 

The first half of the book is a short story contrasting two business owners and how they differ in running their same companies. Both are in the same business, have similar backgrounds, and for all practical purposes appear the same, however, one of the companies has content employees with low turnover, and continued growth, while the other is struggling to maintain it's top talent and keep business.

The second half of of the book goes into detail explaining the four principles Mr. Success used to make his company great to work for:

1. Build and maintain a cohesive leadership team

2. Create organizational clarity

3. Over-communicate organizational clarity

4. Reinforce organizational clarity through human systems

These are all things done from CEO down, beginning with hiring and new employee orientation. 

The Secret Scripture

by Sebastian Barry

Roseanne Clear (McNulty) is 100 years old and has spent the majority of her life in a mental institution that is now getting ready to be torn down. The new facility cannot hold as many patients so it is going about determining who to release, based on records.... but no one has the admitting records for Roseanne. There seems to be no reason why she is there, and now the search is on.... Let's just say her life was a mess! Most of this is discovered from her own personal journal written for her child. To me, a lot of her history smacks of The Scarlett Letter, in updated English, never the less it is an intriguing tragedy. 

The narration flips perspective between Roseanne and Dr. Green, the attending physician who is researching her case, so that between his findings and her diary you piece together her disastrous life. At times you wonder if she remembers things correctly, as his findings contradict her retelling, but all things settle in the end.

For me, the "surprise ending" came as no surprise, so I'd wonder if it was for others.