Here is my first nonfiction review book from William Morrow Publishing.  It is The Other Side of Normal: How Biology is Providing the Clues to Unlock the Secrets of Normal and Abnormal Behavior by Jordan Smoller.  I have been fascinated with psychology since I was a kid and remember watching the movie My Girl with Macaulay Culkin.  They found this old model of a human brain in the attic that was used to study Phrenology...the study of the bumps on your head....well, I was just intrigued by that and began my own mini research into personality and psychology.  So much so, most of my electives in college were either psychology or art history, weird?  Anyway, after college I went into the social work field and so on and so forth.  The point of my rambling is that I chose this book due to my interest in psychology.  Whew...that was unnecessary of me.
I like this book because it examines 3 major influences on our human behavior, so we are not merely stuck on an one-way track.  It looks at a person's genes, experiences and evolution are how these factors shape our emotional and social natures.  It looks at specific case studies throughout history.  Smoller has made of point of not writing an encyclopedia of psychology, and though there are times when the text is quite technical, I did not feel lost in it.  I recommend this book for anyone who is interesting in human psychology and behavior. 

Henrietta and those cells

  Last night, I finished The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot.  My good friend Jill lent me this book months ago, and I put it in my basket of books my friends think I should read.  Yes, I do have a pretty wicker basket in my library filled with books that all my wonderful friends think I would love.  And sometimes, I am a bit stubborn and ignore the fact that they are in there.  I was reluctant to read this one because it sounded so technical to me and a bit depressing.  I have been shying away from a lot of realistic depressing material later....depressing fantasy and dystopian books I will read like they are a dark chocolate Ritter bar for my brain. I picked this book up despite my worries, and I am glad I did.

This is the true story of Henrietta Lacks, a very poor African American women whose ancestors were slaves.  She worked as a tobacco farmer and married her first cousin.  They had five children together and made the most of their lives together....some good and some bad.  In the late 1940's, she got sick.  Cervical Cancer.  She was treated at Johns Hopkins in the "colored"  ward.  When the surgeon removed her tumor and some tissues, they saved it.  They used these cells for research.  Her cells turned out to be amazing cells....HeLa cells.  Still used today and responsible for the Polio Vaccine, Hep B Vaccine, and many more tremendous medical breakthroughs.  The conflict arises because Henrietta soon died in 1951 from the cancer.  She was buried in an unmarked grave, and her family was never told about her cells until 20 years later.  They never received notification of all the amazing things her cells were being used for. They went sent into space, used in studying the effects of atom bomb, and helped with advances in in vitro fertilization.  This is just a few things.

This is the story of the cells and Henrietta's family and the aftermath of the discovery of the cells.  The story of Henrietta's family with the focus being on her daughter Deborah is a fascinating yet sad story.  I read those chapters like mad.  The chapters are the history of the HeLa cells I read slower....trying to understand the topics of biological human materials, science and the law and research and cells.  It was incredible to me to learn all these topic....though I will admit I was lost a few times, but Rebecca Skloot did a great job getting me back on track of understanding.  A great read...and I, thank Jill for this recommendation.  Now I just have to return her book.  ; )