I just finished Nina Sankovitch's Tolstoy and the Purple Chair: My Year of Magical Readings. After the author's sister dies at forty-six, Sankovitch turns to reading a book a day for a year to mend her broken heart and reconnect with the memory of her sister. She documents all the books read on Read All Day blog and discovers through the experience, a community of book lovers to share the power and love of reading. If you are looking for book suggestions, she lists her favorites on the website.

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. 

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.

Laura Hillenbrand's life changed after a car accident in 1987. She was 19 years old. Within days after the accident, she struggled with weakness and a blood test for Epstein-Barr confirmed she had Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. The disease has left her confined to her home.

After writing "Seabiscuit," she suffered a relapse and did not leave her house for two years. 10 years later after much effort, she released "Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption," about the life of Louis Zamperini, a former Olympic distance runner and bombardier. Most of the story about Louis Zamperini was communicated by telephone and in fact, she has never met him face to face. Laura Hillenbrand has managed to triumph over adversity to write two bestselling and inspiring books about transcending obstacles. Hillenbrand knows a thing or two about overcoming adversity, she lives with it every day.

Read more about Laura's struggles with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome in an interview with The Washington Post.
Another interesting article can be found at GoErie's article Hillenbrand's inspiring "Unbroken" recalls authors own struggles.

Steve Oney, from the Wall Street Journal interviews Louis Zamperini and Laura Hillenbrand about the special bond they developed during the writing of Unbroken in his article, The Defiant Ones.

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.

• 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