The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

More work to be done

The Black Cabinet: The Untold Story of African Americans and Politics During the Age of Roosevelt by Jill Watts

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

December 19, 2020 by teresaelectro 2 Comments

The Black Cabinet: The Untold Story of African Americans and Politics During the Age of Roosevelt by Jill Watts was our Mocha Girls Read book club selection in June. It became a very timely selection after the horrible death of George Floyd, which shone a brighter light on Black Lives Matter activism in America. As a Black woman, I was suffering from emotional exhaustion during that time. This history book actually helped put so many current things in perspective. We have come a long way, […]

May the world know her name

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

March 25, 2020 by Wanderlustful Leave a Comment

The world owes a huge debt Henrietta Lacks: much of our modern health care was developed using cell lines grown from her tissue. Henrietta was a working class black woman who died from cervical cancer in 1951 and the tissue that was so important was a biopsy of her cervical tissue, taken without good evidence of her having known or consented to that use (although the book does note that the lack of consent was in keeping with the medical ethics of its time). Today, […]

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks – Hardship and heartache, in the name of science.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

June 24, 2019 by cheerbrarian 2 Comments

I’m not sure when I turned a corner, but in previous non-fiction reviews I would always say, “I don’t read a lot of non-fiction buuuut…” somehow, as I’m look at maybe my 10th non-fiction review in the past two years, I think I’ve turned into a non-fiction reader. It’s still a bit of a struggle at times, I get bogged down when there are a multitude of characters, but I have really grown to enjoy learning about real life accounts, particularly memoirs and historical accounts […]

Zirza on A Gothic Classic for a ReasonIt's one of those wish-you-could-read-it-again-for-the-first-time books. I loved it.
Emmalita on “It came to something when you found yourself hoping that the footsteps you heard were ghosts.”I loved the ending! I don’t think it’s been out long enough to talk about why though.
Dixie on Track Her Down by Melinda LeighI am just starting Track Her Down and I have read them all in order till now and thought I...
Roland of Gilead on How can you give us the gift of a crazy character named Rando Thoughtful and then just as suddenly take that gift away? We need to talk, Uncle Stevie.I came across this randomly years after it was written because I was searching "Random Thoughtful. But I have the...
Emmalita on “Only you, Em, would refer to heartbreak as a distraction. I think I would have a more sympathetic response if I asked to marry a bookcase.”Oh my goodness, Gallifrey was beautiful. I’m sure her mittens were gloriously murdery.

Help Our Mission