None of our members were aware of the existence of HeLa cells and therefore we learned quite a lot about the science involved in their development and use. But we were particularly interested in the plight of the Lacks family and the moral implications in how they were obtained. We had quite a lengthy discussion on whether explicit permission needs to be obtained for doctors to make such use of something from your body.

Our group was very divided on this book. But this makes it an excellent book for discussion. A book that everyone agrees on is often not very interesting to discuss.
I personally really enjoyed it. (I expected it to take me a long while to complete it, but finished in less than a week.) The plot moved along quickly, and I never suspected the final outcome of the painting. It was interesting to see how long it took Theo to overcome the tragedy that befell his as a child.

I loved this book. For anyone who is familiar with Krueger\\\'s Cork O\\\'Connor mysteries, you will find this to be quite a departure from those works, but just as compelling and well written. Although the premise of five deaths occurring in the course of one summer may seem dark and depressing, I didn\\\'t find it so at all. I came away with a wonderful sense of optimism and faith. I would highly recommend this book to any group.

This is the first of a new series of detective novels featuring Spencer Manning, a Chicago P.I. I read all three of Polad's books (he just recently released a fourth) before our meeting, as the author was a guest speaker there. I really liked this series. They were interesting, quick to read, and not too easy to solve before the end. I have already purchased the fourth book, The Missing Boy, and am planning to read it soon.

Our club found this especially interesting as we are located in the Chicago suburbs, and all of us shopped at Marshall Fields for many years. (Yes, we are that old.) Most of us really didn't know much about Field's personal story. We were glad, though, that the author made a point of saying which portions of the book were totally fiction.

Most of our group liked the book pretty well. The story was interesting and we learned a lot about what life was like for women in the late 19th century. But most thought it was at least several hundred pages too long. And yet, she wasn't able to finish her story in all that time. At least half the story threads were left unfinished, waiting for a sequel which is also unfinished. She hopes it may be out in 2019! We would not have picked this book had we known that.

I was expecting this to be slow and difficult, but was pleasantly surprised. It held my interest and moved along quickly. I suppose its message of hope and optimism may be considered trite; but with so much bad news around these days, it was refreshing to experience the positive feelings this story left me with. A quick and enjoyable read.

The plot of the book wsn't bad, but it went on for too long. She easily could have cut 100 or more pages out and not lost anything. Our club was pretty unanimous on our opinion of it.