The Quiet Side of Passion by Alexander McCall Smith

The Quiet Side of Passion: An Isabel Dalhousie Novel by Alexander McCall Smith --- 287 pages

One of the most delightful things about author Alexander McCall Smith is his ability to write wryly and affectionately about the ethical dilemmas of ordinary daily life. For the most part his characters are so likable that even their foibles disarm us, while the occasional villain suffers a satisfactory comeuppance.

In the 12th book in his Sunday Philosophy Club series, it is glorious summer in Edinburgh and Isabel has more on her plate than she can handle. As her husband Jamie gently reminds her, Isabel's tendency to get involved in other peoples' problems causes complications in her own life.

There's Patricia, the mother of their son Charlie's nursery school friend Basil, quick to take advantage of free babysitting. But is she also scamming the man she alleges is Basil's father for child support?    Isabel's devoted housekeeper is spending most of her time minding Charlie and his younger brother Magnus, and the house desperately needs a top to bottom cleaning. Isabel's niece, Cat, has taken up with a tattoo artist, and has a bad habit of expecting Isabel to drop everything at a moment's notice to help out at Cat's shop. And Isabel has much to do preparing the next issue of the Review of Applied Ethics.

Jamie persuades Isabel that she needs to hire more help for herself: an au pair to help with the boys and the housework, and a part-time assistant to help with the Review. Unfortunately, Antonia, the exuberant Italian au pair, works hard during the day but parties even harder at night. And Claire, the graduate student hired as Isabel's assistant for the Review, brings with her the unwelcome interference of Isabel's old antagonist, Professor Lettuce. Has Isabel's desire for an efficient and orderly home and and career backfired into even more chaos instead?

Click HERE to read the review from the Christian Science Monitor

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot, 370 pages

All I knew of this book is that it was a bestseller and on a bunch of book club lists for awhile.  What I found out was that Henrietta Lacks was a poor, African-American woman who had cancer.  When "treated" at Johns Hopkins, some of her cells were removed for testing, and they proved to be key to several medical breakthroughs.  All of this was done without Henrietta or her family's knowledge, and really brings to light a great deal of questions about medical ethics and cell 'ownership.'  It was a pretty sad story- after all, even though her cells are currently sold to science all over the world, and helped cure polio and led to cancer breakthroughs, Henrietta lies in an unmarked grave and her descendants live in poverty.  There is a great deal of science in this book, as well as occasionally maddening interviews, but non-fiction readers and fans of human interest stories might find this worthwhile.