Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

Nonfiction
This a book which should be read by everyone. Well written, thoroughly researched. This is a book of faith, science, medical science and medical ignorance, racism, poverty, with issues that are being discussed today. Henrietta Lacks was a 31 year old black mother of five in Baltimore when she died of cervical cancer in 1951. Without her knowledge, doctors treating her at Johns Hopkins took tissue samples from her cervix for research. they spawned the first viable, indeed miraculously productive, cell-line known as HeLa. These cells have aided in medical discoveries from the polio vaccine to AIDS treatments. Skloot writes in a clear understanding fashion and makes no judgments.

Submitted by Patron

Gardens of Water by Alan Drew

Novel

Explores interactions of a Muslim and Christian family in an Istanbul suburb brought together during a massive earthquake in 1999.

Submitted by Mimi

Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell

Travel/History

Vowell takes readers to the sites of presidential assassinations and brings into focus the figures involved and the social and political backgrounds. Unusual tour makes for fascinating reading.

Submitted by J.G.

Amagansett by Mark Miller

Novel

A reclusive fisherman finds his life transformed when he pulls up the body of a beautiful young woman in his fishing nets. Literary thriller set on Long Island in 1947.

Submitted by J.G.

The Love We Share Without Knowing by Christopher Barzak

Novel

Linked short stories set up contemporary Japan that explore the need to be loved, understood, and accepted as characters deal with life's sorrows. Perceptively written.

Submitted by Mimi

Sonata for Miriam by Linda Olsson

Novel

Journeying from New Zealand to Poland and on to Sweden, composer Adam Anker uncovers the truth about his parents' fate during World War II and struggles to come to terms with the consequences of a life-altering choice he had made twenty years earlier.

Submitted by Mimi

The Lost City by Henry Shukman

Novel

Combines thrilling adventure and personal discovery in a page-turner set in the Peruvian Andes. Was a New York Times editor's pick in 2008.

Submitted by Mimi