Marie's back yard was lovingly crafted with gatherings like this in mind. The water feature, the massive grill cooking up skewers, the gazebo with comfy seating and ... the outdoor scrabble board built right into the table.
Mojitos in hand, we had a (semi) friendly game of scrabble
(some of us are fairly competitive!)
And then proceeded to devour the chicken
drummies, lobster rolls, watermelon salad, celery salad, and potato/bacon skewers.
We had the most perfect weather for Book Club. About 75,
sunny, and no wind. We sure enjoyed it in Hilliard's back yard oasis until the
wind suddenly whipped up and chased us inside.
No one seemed to mind too much though, as the conversation
flowed, as well as the libations.
Before taking off to enjoy the rest of our nights, Marie
offered a Rhubarb dessert and coffee.
We talked briefly about the book - The Immortal Life of
Henrietta Lacks. It really deserved more attention than it got, I thought.
The book really showcased an incredible story and the tragic
fact that even though many others benefitted from Henrietta's cells, her family
was left with the simple fact of her death. There were many who earned a lot of
money from production of the cells - and that fact does not seem right.
However, the many great things that came from research on the cells makes the
world today a better place.
The book also highlighted the crazy atmosphere in the biological sciences in the 1950s and 1960s. No regulation meant bulldozing over people's rights and that needed to change!
I now know the story behind the HeLa cells, which I had
heard of, but didn't really know much about before. And... we all can check off #15 on the list below! (How many of the titles have you read?)
Next time, we will read a book from the list of 21 Books From the Last 5 Years That Every Woman Person Should Read, which Marie
shared with the group.
The titles are:
1. Americanah, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
2. Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng
3. The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
4. Land of Love and Drowning by Tiphanie Yanique
5. Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay
6. Boy, Snow, Bird by Helen Oyeyemi
7. Her by Christa Parravani
8. Drink by Ann Dowsett Johnston
9. The Lifeboat by
Charlotte Rogan
10. NW by Zadie Smith
11. Swamplandia! by
Karen Russell
12. Ten Thousand Saints by Eleanor Henderson
13. How Should a Person Be? by Sheila Heti
14. Room, by Emma Donoghue
15. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
16. Bossypants by Tina Fey
17. Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo
18. The Orchardist by Amanda Coplin
19. Wild by Cheryl Strayed
20. The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri
... and ..
21. Yes Please by Amy Poehler
Good luck picking just one! Great selections!
Rachel will send out a poll for us to make our votes.
We will meet in late July for our next meeting, coordinated
by Katie/Rachel.
Enjoy the summer and I hope you get lots of lazy reading sessions. See you next time!
Katie
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