I’ve read a lot of not-so-good books so far this year. Needless to say, I have been hoping to be surprised by an exceptional one. And just like that The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks came out of nowhere and kept me riveted from beginning to end. A great blend of history, biography, medicine and memoir, this book is unique in all the right ways.

In 1951 Henrietta Lacks, a thirty year-old African American woman, died of cervical cancer, her body ravaged by the disease. Shortly before her death, and apparently unknown to her, researcher George Gey took a biopsy of her tumor and, for the first time in history, managed to culture an immortal line of cells. This line soon became known as HeLa and since the 50’s has been sold commercially and used in a remarkable variety of experiments. These experiments have in turn led to a great number of scientific and medical breakthroughs including a vaccine for polio, in vitro fertilization and cloning. Scientists estimate that if you could lay all the HeLa cells ever grown end-to-end, they would wrap around the earth at least three times, rather remarkable when we consider that each individual cell is microscopic in size. There are a trillion times more of her cells now than there were in her body when she was alive.

The book’s cast of characters is expansive, though the primary focus is on Henrietta Lacks, her daughter Deborah, and the author, Rebecca Skloot. Driven by a desire to find out who Lacks was and how she unwittingly made such an important contribution to science and medicine, Skloot went searching for whatever legacy Lacks had left behind. She eventually found her family and worked her way into their confidence. They felt it was high time that their mother’s story was made known and so they largely cooperated with her.

Set first in Virginia and then in Baltimore, the story spans fascinating cultures, first rural African American in the Jim Crow era, then urban African American in a historically African American community in what is now Baltimore County. Skloot, a young Caucasian woman, is a classic outsider, attempting to come to grips with people who are radically different than she is.

Of particular interest are the racial implications of the story. No matter how often I read of the systemic racism that plagued the United States early in the last century, it always remains shocking. It is amazing to consider that this is not ancient history, but recent history. And even today it is interesting to get a glimpse of at least this small slice of African American culture. I hesitate to say much more than that except to say that there seems to be no Canadian equivalent. Henrietta’s family, the way they live even today, the way they talk, what they believe–it is all utterly foreign to my experience.

And of particular import are issues related to the use of human tissue in medical or scientific research. George Gey took Henrietta’s tissues without her permission and used them for research. When he proved their value, many commercial enterprises began to culture and sell them, turning vast profits. And surprisingly, very little has changed since the 1950’s. Even today your tissues, once removed from your body, may be used without your knowledge or without your permission. Have you ever stopped to think about how many bits of you may exist in labs, in freezers, in research? This seems like an area that is ripe for legislation that accounts for new realities.

In The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Skloot skillfully weaves together the story of Henrietta Lacks, the legacy of HeLa, and Skloot’s own story of researching this book. A genre-bending tale, it’s one of the best books I’ve read so far this year. Here’s to many more of the same quality in the months to come!

I’ve heard Atul Gawande referred to as “The Malcolm Gladwell of Doctors.” I suppose others have noticed what it took me all of two chapters to realize about this book–that there are clear similarities in writing style, in form, even in substance between Gawande and Gladwell. Gawande crafts his arguments much the way Gladwell does and uses references in much the same way. Overall it makes for enjoyable reading. Like Gladwell, he makes information interesting that, by rights, ought to be boring.

And reading will need to be interesting if it is to deal with as dry a subject as checklists. As with his previous books, Gawande sets this title in the field of medicine. Writing as a doctor, he describes many of the difficulties doctors face as they deal with the realities of their vocation. They see vast numbers of patients with an incredible variety of problems. The decisions they make about such patients must often be made in the blink of an eye and yet can be a matter of life and death (to borrow a pair of tired cliches).

Gawande immediately distinguishes between two categories of errors: errors of ignorance and errors of ineptitude. The medical field is doing far better, he says, in closing gaps in ignorance than gaps in ineptitude. With the challenges facing doctors, they are more likely to miss a simple step than to not know at all how they are to react. They know what to do but, because of internal issues and external pressures, may be unlikely to do things properly.

The solution is surprisingly simple. They need to rely on checklists. They need to outsource their memories, so to speak, committing them to something as simple and reliable a checklist. This list of steps will provide them with the structure they need to ensure that they have not inadvertently passed over something important. Gawande not only provides a defense of checklists, but also provides practical tips on how to craft good ones. Creating a truly effective checklist is not quite as easy as you might think.

While the book is immediately applicable to airlines and hospitals, the two industries Gawande turns to throughout the book, I had trouble thinking of how I might be able to apply it to my own life. Then again, when I mentioned this to a friend, he suggested that packing for a trip was a good use of lists. The very next day I set out on a business trip without a belt, so I suppose that may stand as a valid example. But how I would use it in my business, in my church, in most areas of my life, I just don’t know.

Nevertheless, this book is very interesting and reads very well. It’s one of those books you’ll sit down to read and realize a couple of hours later that you’ve read it in a sitting. If you are in business, if you run a business, or if you fly a plane or conduct surgeries (or both), I think you’ll want to check this one out.

Verdict: Read it if you too often find yourself too disorganized.