26. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

By Rebecca Skloot (345 pp)

I picked a book on my shelf but while we were in Seattle we went to Elliot Bay Books and I bought this and once I started I could barely put it down. I've heard about it a few times. I can't remember what motivated me to grab it now. It's about a woman whose cells were sampled in 1951 and the cells had unique qualities that made them invaluable for science research up until this day. The story is both about the woman and her family, and how the cells were developed. The author did a terrific job of making the science interesting and accessible and lovingly characterizing this woman, and her family who struggled for years to learn what exactly happened.  Highly recommend.