My Bookshelf

   If I hadn't gotten The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (by Rebecca Skloot) in the mail with instructions to read it by the 14th, I probably wouldn't have started it, and if I had I probably wouldn't have finished it. But I did all three.

   It's a non-fiction book that deals with the Lacks family, science, and ethics. There's a good synopsis Skloot's website, but as for style...

   It's told in three parts: life, death, and immortality. Life and death are both semi-novel style, with little flashes forward to Skloot's life. Immortality is more about her research journey and the people she met along the way. Even though a lot of it is about cancer, cells, tissue donation, and law suits, it's described simply enough that I understood it. What I like about Skloot's narration is that it's so conversational. It feels like she's sitting across from you and actually telling you the story.

 

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  I'm slowly making my way through Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell. The characters are rather silly people, but it's fun just to read a chapter or two a day (especially because each chapter is almost like a mini-story within the book). It's set in the mid-1800's in the town of Cranford, which is full of old gossipy ladies with interesting pasts. If you've read Jane Austen's novels, it's a step down, but it might still be interesting to you.

   I also just started A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and Boxen, and I keep wanting to reread The Hiding Place.

   What's on your shelf?