In 1951 Henrietta Lacks died from aggressive cervical cancer. She left behind a husband and four young children. She also left behind a sample of cancerous tissue that did what very little other human tissue had ever done before, it lived. Her tissue survived and reproduced, providing a unlimited source of human cells for experimentation. You can imagine the breadth of research possibilities that became possible when this cell line – called HeLa – originated at Johns Hopkins. But the Lacks family couldn’t. They were […]
This lady is CRAZY.
I feel so behind for CBR6. Oh well. This just means I’ll have to read a ton of YA and historical romances this summer over vacations to catch up. My book club’s March selection was Cheryl Strayed’s Wild, and lately all I’ve had time to read were the book club assignments. The subtitle, From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail, pretty much sums up this memoir perfectly. At the ripe old age of 26, after a spate of really terrible life changes, Strayed […]
On Atomic Bombs, Samba Music, and Preposterous Intelligence
Teacher. Physicist. Prankster. Ladies’ man. Incomparably brilliant human being. Though not in the same pop culture stratosphere as some of his contemporaries, Richard Feynman is nevertheless one of the titans of twentieth century science. And he’s not too shabby a storyteller, either. His memoir Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman gallivants with great aplomb across much of Feynman’s life, starting with his childhood in Queens in the depths of the Depression. As usually happens with preposterously smart folk, Feynman was a precocious child, skilled in radio […]
The More the Merrier….
I am an unabashed fan of Jon Krakauer so I was excited when this book became available at my library. Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith is the story of the Lafferty brothers and the heinous murders they committed in 1984. The Lafferty brothers were Fundamentalist Mormons. They practiced polygamy and communicated directly with God via “revelations.” In 1984, they brutally murder Brenda Lafferty and her 15-month old daughter. Brenda was their sister-in-law and her daughter, their niece. Ron and Dan […]
Time of Unsettledness
I am at a time of crossroads in my life and I went out looking for a book that would speak directly to me in this time of unsettledness. I remembered reading some of Sugar’s posts on The Rumpus after I read Wild so I thought why not read Tiny Beautiful Things? I’m glad I decided to, because Sugar’s voice was what I needed, what I still need. I cried more than once reading her responses to the letters she received. The stories that arrive […]
Ultimate Man’s Man Fight Manliness Man.
Right off the bat; this book is not for the squeamish. Their is no gender equality or respect in this book, there is hardly even any respect exept for those who fight and those who do it well. It is promoted as a guide of “must-knows” if one wants to become a professional MMA-fighter, but let’s face it; if that’s actually want you wanted to do you wouldn’t need to read Griffin’s book about it. So although the book does end with a series of […]
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