Book Reviews:

I read two books this week. To be honest,  I read four books this week including the last two Harry Potter books; but you don't want to hear about my Harry Potter obsession. If you know anything about Harry Potter, then the name of my blog is clue enough.

The first book was The Immortal Life Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. Henrietta and her "HeLa" cells were in the news last week. And most articles that I read only made me ask more questions. So I used the overdrive on-line Library from the SnoIsle Library and downloaded the book. I found it to be a very interesting read. The author did a great job describing the Lacks family and Henrietta. Both seemed to leap off the page and and come alive to me. I had no problem understanding the science presented in to the book. I have just a basic understanding  (high school and some college) of science. I had no previous understanding of the way cells were cultured, early 20th century cancer treatments, the history of cancer research, the merging of cells or even the ethics behind this science. I'm not going to post a lot of personal thoughts on HeLa, the Lack family or John Hopkins. I'm not going to turn this blog into an ethical debate about past and current medical practices. I will say that I'm extremely thankful to Henrietta, her family and the doctors that have made good out of HeLa. Henrietta Lacks was an amazing person and after reading this book it should not surprise you that her HeLa cells are amazing too. If you want more information about Henrietta and HeLa than a simple article can contain, then this book would be worth your time.

The second book I read was Rose Harbor in Bloom by Debbie Macomber (pronounced May-Comber, not Mac-Comber like I had always thought.) Rose Harbor in Bloom is the 2nd full length book in Debbie Macomber's Rose Harbor series. (There are also two short stories that accompany this series). I'll be honest, I'm a huge Macomber fan, but her last two books, Starting Now: A Blossom Street Novel and Angels at the Table were less than spectacular. In fact her last book was so bad I was tempted to write a bad review on Amazon. So I was a bit sceptical when starting Rose Harbor in Bloom, I didn't know what to expect,  the Debbie Macomber I adored OR the Debbie Macomber that made think she hired a ghostwriter to finish her novel. I was pleasantly surprised though. Rose Harbor in Bloom brings out what I think is the best part of Macomber's writing, the weaving of several stories together. We start out at the Inn of Rose Harbor, a bread and breakfast, in Cedar Cove, Washington. (BTW: A shout out to the Cedar Cove series on the Hallmark channel, Saturdays evenings. I can't tell you the exact time because we have DirecTv and all the channels but the local channels are set up on eastern time.) This book, like the first book, The Inn at Rose Harbor, follows the story of Jo Marie, a widow who runs the bed and breakfast, and her guests. There at three storylines this time, a cancer patient, a party planner planning her grandparent's 50th anniversary and of course Jo Marie's on going story. I'll be honest this book touched me, one scene in particular moved me to tears. (Ok, single tear running down my face, but the last book that did that was Death at SeaWorld. )

I also managed to read Eloisa James's Once Upon a Tower, since I wrote this post Wednesday afternoon and today. (Friday morning) It was great! I enjoyed it a lot. 

I have no idea what I'm going to be reading next. I've finished my yearly Harry Potter read. (Every July in honor of Harry's birthday.) It is a bit too early to start the Percy Jackson series to prepare for the release of Rick Riordan's House of Hades, October 8. Julia Quinn's new novel, The Sum of All Kisses, doesn't come out until the end of October. Maybe someone can make a suggestion.