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September 2011 Moms
SusieBW
member
Oh Becaaaaaaaaaa RE: a book
SusieBW
member
Hi.
I just started listening to a new book in my car, and it's been making me think of you and the book that we're going to read together soon. Have you read The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks? Link to Amazon. Basically, her cells were the first to ever grow in culture, and despite her death from cancer in 1951, her cells continue to grow, and have served as the basis for much of the medical research and advancement that we have today, including the development of the polio vaccine. The book is both a story of the science and research, a sort of biography of her cells, and also a story of who she was as an individual and about her family's history since her death.
I keep thinking that it's a nice backdrop/lead-in to the history of cancer research book that we're going to read. Anyway, just thought you might be interested, if you haven't already read it. I'm on disc 3 of 10, and so far it's very good.
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Oh Becaaaaaaaaaa RE: a book
No I have not read it! I just ordered it! I am on it!
Am I a nerd if I got excited when I read how her cells aided in the polio vaccine? My mom had polio when she was younger; she was in an iron lung at some point in her treatment. Thank you for this! I agree, this will put a humanistic view of cancer before we read Davis' book!
If you're a nerd for getting excited about it, I must be an even bigger one for recommending the book in the first place!
Let me know when you're reading it - we can discuss! Yay!
Yay! I'm listening to it in my car, and I'm on disc 3 of 10 right now - I think I'm around Chapter 9 or 10. How far are you?
Also, since I'm nosy and love books - what fiction book are you reading right now?
I'm listening to HeLa in my car, like I said, and I'm reading a non-fiction at the same time on my Nook - Washington: A Life, a biography of George Washington. I read a lot of non-fiction.
Not nosy at all! I love books, too. I'm reading Jane Green Family Pictures, but it's just so-so. I've read a lot of her books, so I grabbed it at the library. I just finished a really good one that I'd def recommend, Where'd You Go, Bernadette? I thought it was great!
I also loved Gone Girl and The Glass Castle, if you haven't read those already. Do you have any favorite fiction to recommend for me?
The Nest Book Club has been raving about Where'd You Go, Bernadette! I need to pick that up, I guess. Ditto Gone Girl, actually. I don't know anything at all about either of them, but so many people have now said that they loved both of them, so I feel like I just need to read them now. I didn't love The Glass Castle, though. I read it a long time ago, and something about it just didn't do it for me.
I tend to read a lot of historic fiction, and the last two that I have loved were the first two in Ken Follett's Century Trilogy, Fall of Giants and Winter of the World. I also love pretty much anything by Dennis Lehane (Gone, Baby, Gone and Shutter Island are two of his that were made into big movies).
Oh, I know - The Fault in Our Stars by John Green was amazing. Be prepared to ugly cry, because it's like that, but so, so, so, so good.
Are you on Goodreads? If so, I'm SusieBW on there too.
Susie, have you read the Outlander series? I like them and may fit into your historical fiction genre.
Was the Century Trilogy better than Ken Follett's Pillar of Earth books? I read two of those and they were ok, but I'm not sure I want to read more of his books.
I'd also recommend the Song of Ice and Fire series (Game of Thrones books). I read Pillar of Earth hoping for something like these, which may be why I was disappointed.
Ah, Outlander. I love that series so much that I make myself only read one book a year to try and make the series last longer. So far I've read the first 4. I always read them in the fall, for some reason. I love those books.
I adored Pillars of the Earth, and I think it's one of my favorite books ever. But I completely see how it's not for everyone - the first time I tried to read it, I made it through about 75 pages before I quit. Somehow, the second time I picked it up, ten years later, it caught me immediately, and I couldn't put it down. I love sweeping epics like that, but the middle ages is so tough to relate to, and that book is so descriptive with the cathedral and everything . . . I completely get it when people say they didn't care for it. I didn't like World Without End quite as much, because it very much felt like the same exact story all over again, just with the next generation of characters. It felt kind of forced as a sequel.
The Century trilogy books are a little more in Follett's comfort zone as a writer (WW1 and WW2), and the time frame is a whole lot more accessible, if that makes sense. The characters and everything else are just so much easier to relate to. In that way, I think they're better. But like Pillars, they are definitely a long, sweeping saga kind of story, with many characters and many different stories that all weave together intricately. The second book feels less like a sequel, and more like a continuation of the story, which I think is how any well-done series should feel. I have no idea when the third book is due out, but I can't wait. I listened to both of these, and I was so sad when I was done with them.
I haven't read the GoT books yet, but they are on my list. I've heard nothing but amazing reviews. DH has the whole series except for book 1, so we just need to get that one book. I read so many of these giant books, and series books, and everything, I'm always hesitant to get into another series!
Has anyone read the Stephen King book about the Kennedy assassination: 11/22/63? It was also fantastic.
Thanks for all of the book discussions today, you guys! I could do this all day!
ETA: Woah! I didn't realize how much I wrote! Sorry about that!
Eta: if you do like historic fiction maybe you would like Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Slayer. I love Abe Lincoln is my fav president and after that book I even liked him more jaja. Oh and the movie doesn't do ANY justice to the book.
OMG, I have to go and get it back from the library! Winter of the World came up at the library (there was a hold list a mile long, and it was ready sooner than I expected), so I set aside Marie to listen to that, and then I never got back to that branch of the library to get Marie back. That book has been so elusive for me - first I started reading it a year ago and it came due at the library and I returned it without finishing, and then this one with the audiobook! I think I will go and get it in the next week or so, because I'll be done with the one I'm listening to no pretty quickly. I'm only a couple of discs from the end of it, though.
I like her, to answer your question. I found myself defending her a couple of weeks ago when someone started talking about her being a cold, mean b!tch. It seems like she was kind of a victim of circumstance, though I was just getting to the French Revolution in the book, so perhaps my opinion could yet change. I'm going to make this my next audiobook, so I will check back in when I finish it.
I'm glad that you reminded me!
And also, this was the birthday card that my co-workers gave me for my birthday, it's hanging on my office door:
I think you won't change your way of seeing her. You'll see that she did what she could with the tools she had [remember that even though she was queen she she wasn't anything more than the king's consort]. You'll let me know ;]