SocialBooks by Rethink Books Video on YouTube provides an intriquing look at reading and books.

Henrietta Lack's story has sparked a lot of interest in medical research and medical ethics. Henrietta's cells called the HeLa strain were named after the first two letters of her first and last name. Her cells have been used since 1951 to help scientists learn more about how human cells behave in the laboratory. The study of HeLa cells have attributed significantly to the success of the polio vaccine and many other medical breakthroughs.  It was 25 years before the Lack's family knew about the use of Henrietta's cells. Journalist Rebecca Skloot tracks down the source in her new book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. Find out more about Henrietta Lacks and why her cells are so important. See photos from Smithsonian.com of Henrietta and David Lacks.

Success magazine's video Louis Zamperini on being a Prisoner of War is a short funny interview with Louie Zamperini. In a little over a minute you can get an idea of Louie's sense of humor.

I'd like to recommend Books on the Nightstand blog. It is written by Ann Kingman and Michael Kindness, two lifelong readers who work in the publishing industry. They have put together a terrific resource for readers. Books on the Nightstand provides book recommendations, and a behind-the-scenes look at the world of books. They offer frequent blog posts, weekly podcasts and a yearly reader retreat. On there most recent podcast, they talks about Better Book Titles, Coverspy, and Bookrageous all on Tumblr. They share the books they want to read and what they can't wait for you to read.

Want to know more about the author of The Painted Veil? W. Somerset Maugham (1874-1965) one of the most prolific writers of the the 20th century, kept his personal life private. His most famous works include Of Human Bondage and The Razor's Edge. He lived a fascinating life- publicly living the high society life in England and the US and privately suffered anguish from keeping many dark secrets. Bibliographer Shelia Hastings is the first to have permission to quote from his private papers. The Secret Lives of Somerset Maugham is a must read for bibliophiles.

For all you movie lovers out there! Three movies have been based on The Painted Veil, W. Somerset Maugham's 1925 novel. See the most recent version's trailer of the Painted Veil starring Naomi Watts and Edward Horton. Greta Garbo and Herbert Marshall star in the 1934 version.I found some fun movie clips from this production on the TCM website. Read the New York Times Review from the December 7, 1934 by Andre Sennwald The Painted Veil (1934) December 7, 1934 THE SCREEN; Greta Garbo Makes Her Semi-Annual Screen Appearance in 'The Painted Veil,' at the Capitol and compare the 2007 review, A Plague Infects the Land, as Passion Vexes Hearts by MANOHLA DARGIS. A third version was released in 1957 called The Seventh Sin with Bill Travers and Eleanor Parker. The dramatic original trailer for this film can be found on the TCM website.

• The Charterhouse of Parma by Stendhal
• The Greenlanders by Jane Smiley
• Sabbath's Theater by Philip Roth
• The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton
• East of Eden by John Steinbeck

From Time Magazine Franzen's Bookshelf: Jonathan Franzen offers his take on five novels that inspired him recently.

Top 5 Summer Reads For These Long, Sunny Days.
Freedom- Jonathan Franzen
Just Kids- Patti Smith
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks- Rebecca Skloot
The Time Traveler's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
Bossypants- Tina Fey

Read what this blogger has to say. Stephen O' Sullivan gives his thoughts on his blog, random:~$ thoughts about all the hype Freedom is receiving in the mainstream press. I don't know, what do you think? Does Freedom and Franzen live up to all the hype?

The New York Times Book Review of the novel, UnBroken by Laura Hillenbrand from November 14, 2010 by Janet Maslin begins with a quote from Louis Zamperini's track coach at the University of Southern California describing his young runner as, “The only runner who could beat him was Seabiscuit,” How ironic, many years later the author of Seabiscuit, Laura Hillenbrand writes Louis Zamperini's life story in UnBroken.