John Gever, Senior Editor for Med Page Today writes about the "obesity epidemic." An action point from his article,  Half of Americans Projected to Be Obese in 2030, states that by using modeling, the current data predicts that by 2030, 8.5 million additional cases of diabetes, 7.3 million more cases of cardiovascular disease and stroke. The burden of the increased health care costs associated with caring for these patients will be substantial. 

Stephanie Honor Convery, a Melbourne-based writer blogs about Franzen's keynote speech at the Melbourne Writers Festival on  August 25. She writes, "Citing Kafka as an example, he claimed that the closer a writer gets to accurately portraying those deeper, murkier parts of themselves in their fiction, the less such fiction resembles the narrative of their own life.  Read more...

Rebecca Skloot, author of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lack, is  the recipient of the 21st Century Award at the prestigious Carl Sandburg Literary Awards to be presented at a dinner on Oct. 20. Given annually by the Chicago Public Library and Chicago Public Library Foundation, the award "honors a significant work or body of work that has enhanced the public's awareness of the written word." Past recipients have been Eula Biss and Patrick Somerville.

A historical highway marker memorializing the legacy of Henrietta Lacks was dedicated Friday morning at St. Matthew Baptist Church near Lacks’ final resting place as reported by the Virginia Gazette. Henrietta's family were the honored guests at the event that paid tribute to the women whose cultured cells made major contributions to science. 

The Second Sunday book club from Lancaster PA has created a Reader's Guide for Rebecca Skloot's book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.

What a novel idea. The State of Connecticut has launched the 2011 Governor's Summer Reading Challenge. Capital Dispatch decided to ask their lawmakers, "What's on your summer reading list"? Two of our past books books turned up on some of the legislators' lists: Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand and The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot.