Book Club August 2022- Lessons in Chemistry
By: Bonnie Garmus
Published Year: 2022
Publisher: DoubleDay Books
Pages: 400
Summary (Provided by Goodreads): Chemist Elizabeth Zott is not your average woman. In fact, Elizabeth Zott would be the first to point out that there is no such thing as an average woman. But it’s the early 1960s and her all-male team at Hastings Research Institute takes a very unscientific view of equality. Except for one: Calvin Evans; the lonely, brilliant, Nobel–prize nominated grudge-holder who falls in love with—of all things—her mind. True chemistry results.
But like science, life is unpredictable. Which is why a few years later Elizabeth Zott finds herself not only a single mother, but the reluctant star of America’s most beloved cooking show Supper at Six. Elizabeth’s unusual approach to cooking (“combine one tablespoon acetic acid with a pinch of sodium chloride”) proves revolutionary. But as her following grows, not everyone is happy. Because as it turns out, Elizabeth Zott isn’t just teaching women to cook. She’s daring them to change the status quo.
Laugh-out-loud funny, shrewdly observant, and studded with a dazzling cast of supporting characters, Lessons in Chemistry is as original and vibrant as its protagonist.
What I thought
I understand why this book is the book of the year.
Elizabeth Zott is a chemist in the 1950s. Or at least she’s trying to be, fighting against sexism. She then becomes a cook on her own TV show, Supper at Six, changing lives.
It’s hard to describe this book without giving much away. It’s honestly like 3 or 4 books rolled into one. It has gotten optioned as a TV series already, and I honestly think they have 3 seasons already just from the content of the book. It’s interesting because this book is described as “laugh out loud funny” and I can’t think of a single funny moment.
I will warn that there are a lot of trigger warning moments in this book. Rape, suicide, death, religion, abuse. Like honestly, within the first 100 pages I felt like I had been knocked off my chair with the amount of tragedy that occurs.
There are a lot of really interesting things to discuss. I think specifically, the role that religion and atheism takes in this book really intrigued me. I’m not one for highlighting quotes and there was one that I actually took a picture of. The quote was “Religion is based on faith. But you realize, that faith isn’t based on religion. Right?” So, the fact that this book had a quote that caught my eye that much, says something.
There’s this weird aspect of the dog having a narrative in the story. It wasn’t my favorite because the dog is truly conscious. It felt like the author needed a way to deliver information and didn’t know how to do it with the characters she had, so she created the dog. It’s a bit odd.
I’m very intrigued to see how this plays out as a TV show.
What Book Club Thought
Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to finish the book in time for when we met with book club, so I wasn’t a part of the discussion. From what I understood, everyone liked it and I did have a discussion about the religion aspect with Stephanie when we got together. I think this could make a really good book club book. There is so much to discuss. By:
Published Year: 2022
Publisher:
Pages:
Amazon Barnes and Noble
Summary (Provided by Goodreads):
What I thought
I understand why this book is the book of the year.
Elizabeth Zott is a chemist in the 1950s. Or at least she’s trying to be, fighting against sexism. She then becomes a cook on her own TV show, Supper at Six, changing lives.
It’s hard to describe this book without giving much away. It’s honestly like 3 or 4 books rolled into one. It has gotten optioned as a TV series already, and I honestly think they have 3 seasons already just from the content of the book. It’s interesting because this book is described as “laugh out loud funny” and I can’t think of a single funny moment.
I will warn that there are a lot of trigger warning moments in this book. Rape, suicide, death, religion, abuse. Like honestly, within the first 100 pages I felt like I had been knocked off my chair with the amount of tragedy that occurs.
There are a lot of really interesting things to discuss. I think specifically, the role that religion and atheism takes in this book really intrigued me. I’m not one for highlighting quotes and there was one that I actually took a picture of. The quote was “Religion is based on faith. But you realize, that faith isn’t based on religion. Right?” So, the fact that this book had a quote that caught my eye that much, says something.
There’s this weird aspect of the dog having a narrative in the story. It wasn’t my favorite because the dog is truly conscious. It felt like the author needed a way to deliver information and didn’t know how to do it with the characters she had, so she created the dog. It’s a bit odd.
I’m very intrigued to see how this plays out as a TV show.
What Book Club Thought
Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to finish the book in time for when we met with book club, so I wasn’t a part of the discussion. From what I understood, everyone liked it and I did have a discussion about the religion aspect with Stephanie when we got together. I think this could make a really good book club book. There is so much to discuss.