It seems I have been on a nonfiction "kick" lately. The last two books have not only been nonfiction, but incredibly fascinating and insightful. My family and Ryan can verify how much I have learned from both books, since I have been constantly sharing recently read facts. Both books are definitely ones that I see myself revisiting in the future, multiple times over. I know with each future read, I will learn more, and once again be drawn in.
I am not good at writing book reviews. I have a tendency to get off track, ramble (no surprise there), and lose focus, so I will simply type a paragraph from each book (and maybe a brief review). :)
At Home by Bill Bryson. This book is like an incredible series from National Geographic, or the Discovery Channel. It pulls you in, and I found myself not able to put it down. Bryson is an incredible author, he tells the story by walking through each room in his home, and giving a history related to each space. It felt as if a great-grandfather, or great-uncle was walking me through their home, telling me all their memories.
"So I thought it might be interesting, for the length of a book, to consider the ordinary things in life, to notice them for once and treat them as if they were important, too. Looking around my house, I was startled and somewhat appalled to realize how little I knew about the domestic world around me. Sitting at the kitchen table one afternoon, playing idly with the salt and pepper shakers, it occurred to me that I had absolutely no idea why, out of all the spices in the world, we have such an abiding attachment to those two. Why not pepper and cardamom, say, or salt and cinnamon? And why do forks have four tines and not three or five? There must be reasons for these things. Dressing, I wondered why all my suit jackets have a row of pointless buttons on every sleeve. I heard a reference on the radio to someone paying for room and board, and realized that when people talk about room and board, I have no idea what the board is that they are talking about. Suddenly the house seemed a place of mystery to me."
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. I feel like this book would make the ultimate discussion group, or book club reading material. At times, I found myself pausing during the book, and thinking about my personal beliefs, and what my opinion would be in regards to medicinal research, informed consent, and modern medical advancements. Skloot does a phenomenal job telling the story of one woman and her family's contribution (unknowingly) to medical research.
"I've spent years staring at that photo, wondering what kind of life she led, what happened to her children, and what she'd think about cells from her cervix living on forever - bought, sold, packaged, and shipped by the trillions to laboratories around the world. I've tried to imagine how she'd feel knowing that her cells went up in the first space missions to see what would happen to human cells in zero gravity, or that they helped with some of the most important advances in medicine: the polio vaccine, chemotherapy, cloning, gene mapping, in vitro fertilization. I'm pretty sure that she - like most of us - would be shocked to hear that there are trillions more of her cells growing in laboratories now than there ever were in her body."
If you are not tired and exhausted after reading this novel of a blog post, than grab a book, find a comfy spot, and get lost in a different world. Happy reading! :)
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