From the Bookshelf of Around the World in 80 Books…

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

Rebecca Skloot

Start date: June 1, 2014

Finish date: June 30, 2014

Discussion: Group Reads Discussions

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Group Reads Discussions

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last updated Jan 18, 2013 07:12PM

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What Members Thought

Jan 13, 2015 Nadine in NY Jones rated it it was amazing

Shelves: non-fiction, history, science, lotsa-buzz, 100-best-of-21st-c, history-of-science, womens-history, narrative-nonfiction, biography, microhistory

I started reading this early in the morning in the Syracuse airport. I read it on the plane, and those twenty minutes during the descent when they made us turn off all electronic devices, even readers, was awful. I got fifty percent through by then. Happily, I had nothing better to do for the rest of the day, so I kept reading, all afternoon and all evening. I'm not sure how I would have managed if I'd had to set it down! I could hardly stand to go to sleep that night, since I hadn't finished, b ...more

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Feb 17, 2017 Ryan rated it really liked it

Shelves: nonfiction, 2017

While it's still a shame that this woman's descendants will never see proper recognition or compensation for the game-changing contribution Henrietta made to science...at least her full story is told, and can be retold and retold... ...more

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Apr 14, 2019 Astrid Lim rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction, race, science, history, african-american

An important, thought provoking book about science, race, and ethics. Lots of things to be discussed and thought about. My only problem is the writing style of Rebecca Skloot. Mostly, she was placing herself as a character of the book, and lots of parts are explaining about how she got in touch with the family, or her struggles to make people talk. It's just a bit dull and repetitive sometimes, and in the end I tried a bit hard to finish the book. However, this is still an important book with ve ...more

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Feb 07, 2013 Amy Nash Parker rated it it was amazing

Fascinating look at history, both racial and scientific. Many times while reading this, I thought, surely this kind of stuff doesn't happen anymore.... if only I could be right. ...more

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