The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

In 1951, an African-American woman entered Johns Hopkins Hospital not knowing that the tumor that lived inside her would forever change the field of medicine.  She would never know the impact she made because she was never informed before that very tumor took her life only months later.  This woman was Henrietta Lacks, scientists knew her as HeLa, and her cells would go on to help develop the polio vaccine, cloning, gene mapping, and so much more.  Skloot takes us on quite the journey as she investigates the life of this woman who unknowingly changed an entire field.  She shares the science in easy-to-understand language, but more importantly, she introduces us to Henrietta's life and the children she left behind.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks was fascinating.  I learned so much about the science and the history of the science that led us to our current knowledge of the field.  I was often in shock at the treatment of women and African-Americans, yet also proud of how far we have come after learning the mistakes from this era.

I found the story of Henrietta's family to be even more intriguing.  We saw the barriers that Skloot had to break down just to get the family to trust her.  Once she gained that trust, she still experienced setbacks.  In addition, she faced challenges on her own and with the family to find the truth behind the life of Henrietta and what happened with her miracle cells.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks shares the story of science and medicine, but as you read the final sentences, you realize it is actually so much more than that.  It is about relationships -- family relationships, doctor-patient relationships, and human relationships in general.  It is a book I think everyone should read.  It is an important reminder of our history - how far we have come and how far we still have to go.

I have read this book for multiple book clubs, and each one has brought up different topics to discuss and consider.  Topics of conversation seem to be endless and despite that I have already discussed Skloot's book in two different book clubs, I look forward to chatting about it again with yet another online book club in the coming weeks.

For fellow book clubbers, I highly recommend that you check out Skloot's website for additional resources and updated information on the family and status of HeLa research.

Have you dove into Skloot's story of Henrietta Lacks?  What were your thoughts on the science, the history, and/or the family?

Monday Maunder ... On Tuesday AGAIN ... On Purpose!

Yes, I am posting on Tuesday again, but I have done it on purpose this time.  And, it is a really good reason!  Keep reading for more on why!

ON READING

I did not get in as much reading as I had hoped, especially with the Thankfully Reading Weekend taking place.  My mind was pre-occupied on preparing for a little trip that entailed more than the usual.  I was able to finish Cinderella #1:  From Fabletown With Love by Chris Roberson.  I then started Upstairs Girls by Michael Rutter and still find myself reading that one tonight.  I am also still in the midst of The Eyes of the Dragon by Stephen King (on audio) and The Lemonade Wars by Jacqueline Davies (with my kids).

I really do not know which book will be next on my list.  I have another stack of graphic novels as well as a couple of journaling books from the library.  I could also pick up a book from my Thankfully Reading list.  I guess we will see which one grabs me the most when I finish my current read!

How was your reading for the long weekend?

ON BLOGGING

In case you missed it, I reviewed a couple of books on the blog last week that were interesting reads for very different reasons:  Saga, Volume 1 by Brian K Vaughan and Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs.

Have you read either of these books?

ON WRITING

Writing was pretty much uneventful this past week.  I failed miserably at NaNoWriMo, but I am taking away the fact that I have started my novel and I plan on continuing it!  I will keep you posted as I dive back into my story and get more words down on paper.  Stay tuned!

How did NaNo go for you?

ON LIFE

Now, for the exciting part!!  My life has been filled with lots of paperwork and organizing and planning these last few weeks because we finally have sold our old house!  We signed the final closing paperwork this morning.  It was a bittersweet moment, leaving the first house we ever owned - a house filled with so many memories, good and bad - yet, knowing that I no longer have to keep paying for it.  I will definitely miss that little house that used to be our's and I only hope the new owners love it as much as we did.

With that BIG task no longer on my plate, I hope to have more time on my hands for reading, writing, and even some photography.  I took my kids' pictures this year for our holiday newsletter and had a blast with it.  I have even picked up some old cross-stitch projects that have sitting in a box for years untouched.  It feels so good to have a bit of time to work on my old hobbies.  Oh, and I need to get ready for the next holiday that is just around the corner.  But, most importantly, I NEED to see Catching Fire in the theaters!  I think I may do just that this week as well.  With this weight off my shoulders, I feel like I can breathe a bit more now!

How was your Thanksgiving holiday?  Any exciting news or plans in your life?

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

Ransom Riggs brings us an unique novel in Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, filled with photographs to enhance the story.  In his story, the photographs are the property of Jacob's grandfather, a man that tends to embellish his past.  When Jacob loses this important man in a horrific way, he finds himself on a remote island in the hopes of healing from his loss.  He never expects to learn the real story of his grandfather's past or to face the dangers that result from it.

Riggs collected each of the photographs from collectors, who assembled them from flea markets, estate sales, and more.  He then connects the pictures together into a story that is like no other.  The story is strange, yet intriguing.  It reads smoothly, allowing the pictures to strengthen the tale.  I found myself lingering within Jacob's adventures and my eyes would stay on the pictures soaking them in.  His characters corresponded to the photos, creating a depth that I have not seen before.  I was fascinated with what Riggs accomplished and I look forward to reading the sequel, Hollow City, set to be released early next year.

I know it sounds like I am skirting the details of this book.  I am.  The thrill of Miss Peregrine's Home is discovering it for yourself.  I think it is important to not know a lot of details on this one.  It is one journey you must take for yourself to fully appreciate.

Have you had the pleasure of accompanying Jacob on his journey?  Did you enjoy the pictures as part of the ride?

Thankfully Reading Weekend

Happy Thanksgiving!!

I am officially stuffed with turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and much more.  I have taken my usual Thanksgiving nap and ate a piece (or two) of chocolate pie topped with a bit of whipped cream.  It is now time to cuddle up with a book and relax for the next few hours and days!  I have every intention of avoiding Black Friday as much as I can.  What better way than hang out with my little family and read good books?!?

Starting now and going through the next couple of days, I will be participating in the Thankfully Reading Weekend hosted by Jenn's Bookshelves.  Unfortunately, I will not be participating the whole weekend because duties call and I have some pretty important business to tend to the remainder of the weekend (more information on that coming in my weekly wrap-up next week).  I do intend to take advantage of the weekend as much as I can though.

I will be starting off with the not-so-family-friendly gem of Upstairs Girls by Michael Rutter.  This was another one of the books that I picked up during my trip to Montana over the summer, particularly when exploring the old ghost towns.  Then, I think I may either dive into one of these little series or titles . . .

Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney (Books #4-8)

The Unwritten by Mike Carrey (Books #1-5)

Austenland by Shannon Hale

The Mermaid's Mirror by L.K. Madigan

I am not sure which ones I will actually get to or how many, but I like to give myself a little variety.  I may even go off this list and grab something different from the shelf that suits my fancy.  I will share my final stats with you in my weekly wrap-up post early next week.

I am now off to read, but before I do I want to leave you with a big THANK YOU!  On this day when we recognize what we are grateful for, I cannot forget to mention how much I appreciate all my readers here at Tif Talks Books!

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!

Are you participating in the Thankfully Reading Weekend?  What else is on your plans this weekend beyond picking up a good book?

Saga: Volume 1 by Brian K. Vaughan

Brian K. Vaughan, the creator of Y:  The Last Man, takes his readers on another epic adventure with Saga.  In his latest creation, he takes us into a world of science fiction, one filled with an inter-galactic war.  As fighting surrounds everyone, two very unlikely lovers fight to bring their newborn child to a safe and peaceful place.  However, they find it to be a difficult task when multiple groups are on the hunt for the AWOL soldiers and newbie parents.  Thankfully, they meet a very unlikely ally along the way, but will that be enough to get them to safe grounds?

Saga brings us non-stop action in a world filled with war, but it also brings us love and laughter.  Tensions rise, and yet the two main characters ground us with a single comment.  Monsters, mayhem, and mad good illustrations and writing has this reader excited to move on to Volume 2 and the next adventures.

Saga recently won the 2013 Hugo Award for Best Graphic Story.  After reading it, I can totally understand why it would receive this award.  It is a well-deserved honor.

Have you been introduced to Saga?  What did you think?

Monday Maunder: November 25, 2013 (On Tuesday ... AGAIN!)

I am late in posting again this week!  Yesterday was filled with lots of tasks and by the time I realized that I had forgotten to post, I had already turned off my computer.  No worries though!  I'm here today . . .

ON READING

Reading has officially picked up for me this week!  Here's the list of books that I have read . . .

Tell the Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rifka Brunt
Fables:  Werewolves of the Heartland by Bill Willingham
Jack of Fables #4:  Americana by Bill Willingham
Jack of Fables #5:  Turning Pages by Bill Willingham
Jack of Fables #6:  The Big Book of War by Bill Willingham
Jack of Fables #7:  The New Adventures of Jack and Jack by Bill Willingham

I am picking up Cinderella #1:  From Fabletown With Love by Chris Roberson tonight and I am still in the middle of The Eyes of the Dragon by Stephen King (audio) and The Lemonade Wars by Jacqueline Davies (with my kids).

I expect to get in some wonderful reading again this week as well!  I will be participating in the Thankfully Reading Weekend, or at least a portion of it.  I will post more information on this later this week because I am still trying to decide which books will be on my list this weekend!

How is your reading?  Do you expect a good reading week with the Thanksgiving holiday approaching?

ON BLOGGING

The only blog news this week is the winner of the GoneReading giveaway.  Congratulations to Mari of Mari Reads!!

What's on your blogging radar?

ON WRITING

Writing was minimal again this week, but I did get a bit in.  I currently stand at 1465 words.  Still not a lot, but I am getting there.  I have come to realize that there is no way that I will meet the NaNo goals, but I am looking at the positive.  I am writing.  I am caught up in my characters, though there is still a lot of development that needs to take place.  I anticipate there to be more to come in the weeks and months ahead.  I am excited to see where it will go!

How is your writing these days?

ON LIFE

Life was sickness this week.  I came down with a horrible cold, lost my voice, and ended up sleeping a LOT!  I am almost back to 100%, just in time for a busy holiday weekend, and some goodness coming in the week ahead.  I cannot wait to share this goodness with you finally next week!!  In the meantime, I hope you all have a wonderful holiday weekend (if you live in the States and celebrate) and a great week in general (for all those who don't)!

What are your (holiday) plans for the week?

The Raven Boys by Maggie Steifvater (Audiobook Review)

The Raven Boys introduces us to Blue, the daughter of a psychic that yields no powers of her own, except the possibility of making others stronger in her presence.  During the night of the walking dead, a ghost is revealed to her.  The only possibility of a non-seer seeing the dead is one of two things:  (1) the boy is her true love or (2) she kills him.  It is only a short time before Blue meets this mysterious boy by the name of Gansey and his friends, Adam, Ronan, and Noah.  And against her better judgment, Blue and the boys become connected in a friendship like no other, facing both real and unbelievable challenges.

Stiefvater brings us a unique story.  It is paranormal, but it does not include witches and wizards ... well, not really.  Instead, it incorporates magical history, or rather history and magic.  I was hooked from the start by the idea of a true love that kills, a young woman who lives in a psychic household yet holds no power of her own, and a group of rich boys that are much more complicated than their uniforms suggest.

I listened to the majority of this book via audio.  Unfortunately, my book expired a mere 50+ pages from the end, and I had to revert to a library copy to find out how it ends.  I was saddened - not because of the ending, but because I was unable to finish listening to the amazing narration of Will Patton.  Patton is most well-known for his acting abilities in such movies as Armageddon and Remember the Titans.  I adored him in his roles on the big screen, but his talent of narrating books is incredible.  He has skyrocketed to one of my favorite listens, second only to Jim Dale.  I cannot wait to find another audiobook with Patton reading to me.

The Raven Boys is a mesmerizing story and I look forward to the sequel, The Dream Thieves.

Are you a fan of The Raven Boys?  Have you read the sequel yet?  Should I read The Dream Thieves sooner rather than later?

Book Talk: Bad Girls, Bad Girls

After recently reading Doctor Sleep by Stephen King, I really got to thinking about villains.  Have you ever noticed how most real evil villains are men?  For example, Sauron from Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, Voldemort of Harry Potter, Pennywise from King's It, or Stoker's Dracula.  Few females hold the role of evil in literature.

In King's latest release, his villain is Rose.  She is a woman with special powers bordering on vampiric and the leader of a group of RV-driving individuals like herself.  They travel around the country killing "special" kids to ensure their powers and immortality.  King is also famous for his female villain in Misery, a woman names Annie who imprisons her favorite author.  Beyond King, I can only count a small number of bad girls in fiction.  Here are a few that come to mind . . .

• The Wicked Witch in Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
• Dolores Umbridge and Bellatrix LeStrange in Rowling's Harry Potter
• The White Witch in The Chronicles of Narnia series by Lewis
• Maleficent from Pearson's Kingdom Keepers series
• stepmothers in so many well-known fairy tales (i.e., Cinderella, Snow White, Hansel & Gretel, etc.)

This is all I've got!

Let's be honest.  Girls can be mean in real life.  They can be sneaky and downright nasty, yet tend to be portrayed as nurturing and kind.  Yes, sociopaths tend to be men, but women can still have evil tendencies.  Don't you think that this needs to be better reflected in literature?

What do you think about female villains?  Can you name other female villains that I have not already listed?  Which of these bad girls is your favorite?

Fables: Volume 13-16 by Bill Willingham

Today, I return with more Fables love!

Volume 13:  The Great Fables Crossover

Volume 13 brings Jack of the Fables back into the Fabletown tales.  He comes bearing bad news that threatens all Fables, near and far.  Bigby and crew set off to attempt to save the day and Jack sets off to spread his devilish charm among the old Fables crew.

WARNING:  Before you read this volume, you should be familiar with the spin-off series, Jack of the Fables through Volume 6.  I am not quite that far into Jack's story, so I had holes in portions of this story.

Volume 14:  Witches

Volume 14 brings us the story of the 13th floor witches, some of the most powerful residents in Fabletown.  We also learn of Buffkin's struggles in the newly lost business office and glimpse into the challenges that Fly is facing on his own homefront.

I loved peeking into the lives of the witches, characters that are often only hinted at in the previous volumes, but that also hold many of the secrets behind Fabletown's stronghold.

Volume 15:  Rose Red

Rose Red chronicles the title character, both past and present.  We also see another epic battle take place between good and evil.  And, an unexpected package arrives with a big roar!

This volume is one of the larger collection of tales.  It's filled with battles, internal and external.  Some are won.  Others are not.  Despite the latter, Rose Red proves to be another favorite volume in the series.

Volume 16:  Super Team

As the name implies, the Fables go SUPER in honor of some of Pinocchio's favorite comics, and Buffkin breaks up the SUPER with a new adventure of his own.  Both story lines reflect a good vs evil battle, with one overpowering the other.

I'm not sure what I think of Buffkin's new adventures, but the play on superheroes was entertainingly fun.  The ending to this one took me completely by surprise and I'm curious where future volumes will take this unexpected turn of events.

For fellow Fables fans, what did you think of these volumes, particularly the end of Super Team?

Monday Maunder: November 18, 2013

ON READING

Reading has not moved for me this week!  I am still in the middle of Tell the Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rifka Brunt, Ready Player One by Ernest Cline (audio), and The Lemonade Wars by Jacqueline Davies (with my kids).  The only change is that I am putting Ready Player One on hold because my time expired (this is really becoming a bad habit of mine!).  Instead of hunting down the hard copy, I decided to place a hold on it and wait to get it back.  I want to continue this one on audio with the fabulous Wil Wheaton.  In the meantime, I downloaded Stephen King's The Eyes of the Dragon this afternoon.  It will be a re-read for me, but it has been years since I last read it.  I look forward to revisiting it again!

How is your reading?  What books are you in the middle of these days?

ON BLOGGING

Blogging.  Not a lot to report here this week.  I am officially all caught up on reviews and discussions posts and only have to finalize and schedule three of them.  I don't remember the last time this happened!  This will put me at scheduled posts through the middle of December.  No more procrastinating and excuses for my other writing projects now!

Don't forget to also check out my current giveaway thanks to GoneReading!

How is your blogging?  Are you all caught up on reviews these days?

ON WRITING

I really don't want to talk about this one.  I made NO progress since I reported last week.  Between life and procrastination via catching up on blogging tasks, I did not even add one word to my count.  If you are interested, you can visit last week's maunderings for the numbers.  I'm not even going to bother this week to share the details because I am so ashamed.

With my lack of progress, I do tend to question if a novel is the right thing for me.  Why am I avoiding it so much?  Am I just scared?  Am I not meant to write a novel?  In a nutshell, I am feeling a lot of self-doubt in this area at the moment, but I will continue to push through and see what comes of it.

Coincidence or not?  As I sit here writing this, I am also fighting a scratchy throat with some Halls cough drops.  I just noticed the following notes on the wrapper as I opened a new one . . .

Don't wait to get started.

Get back in the game.

Dust off and get up.

Is someone trying to tell me something?

For my fellow writers, how do you combat these feelings of doubt?  What is the best advice you ever received when you started writing?

ON LIFE

My life was taken over by the Scholastic Book Fair this last week!  I ended up working a few hours three days last week as well as helping with taking the fair down.  I bought a stack of books for myself, my kids, and for Christmas gifts.  I love watching the kids get so excited about the fair and the books that surrounded them.  I even loved watching the kids come up with their baggies of uncounted change that they probably broke their piggy banks for to purchase their books, though it was not uncommon that they came up with more books than they could afford.  I have so many good memories of the Scholastic Books Fairs when I was a kid and even now as an adult!

However, I am now blaming my exposure to all those kids and their germs for waking up with a sore throat on Saturday morning.  I am still fighting this darn cold with lots of sleep, rest, fluids, etc.  I thought earlier today it was on the winning side when my voice began to disappear.  But, I'm determined to tackle this thing and I'm heading to bed as soon as I hit publish on this very post!

How was your week?  How does the upcoming week look for you?