I enjoyed this blast from the past - though I was incensed at being reminded of how unfairly women were treated just a few decades ago. This book is strong on dry wit and female empowerment. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I just loved this book! First it's highly readable and I wanted to keep reading to see what. happened next. Then the characters are distinct and interesting folks that you'd like to meet. An extra star for me for the historical reference and flashback to to world of women in the not distant past. All in all this is a book I'll recommend to my friends! Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book
This book
THIS BOOK!!!!!

I loved every word, letter, punctuation mark.

Bonnie Garmus- you have written a book that I can honestly say I wanted to hug when I was done.

Elizabeth, Calvin, Wakely, Mad, Harriet, Pine, Six Thirty and all the rest (well not the Hastings boys)... they now own a piece and place in my heart.

I have never highlighted book passages...with this book there are to many to count.

Gems everywhere.

When this book is published in 2022, people will be so lucky to meet all these people!

What a BOOK!!!
This is a character driven story of Elizabeth Zott and company. Elizabeth is an amazing heroine, a strong female set in the sixties before feminism was a thing. Other favorite characters were Mad (eline) Zott, and Six thirty (the dog)
I spent the time reading alternately sobbing and laughing out loud. The plot is uber dramatic but yet it all works to create a dynamic story with a message. The book is totally unputdownable!
I love how Elizabeth the chemist was also a cook and combined the two to bring a message to American women. I did find it infuriating how Elizabeth and women were treated - hopefully things continue to improve for women in out society. Many of the barriers Elizabeth faced are not gone.
This book is easily one of the most enjoyable I have read this year and I expect it to be a big hit when published 4/5/2022. I expect this could also be a big hit as a movie/TV series.
Thanks to NetGalley and Doubleday Books for the chance to preview this book. I am sure it will be a blockbuster success.

This book portrays the struggles women have had in this country to be taken seriously. Set in the 1950's, Garmus creates a female scientist who is not taken seriously, despite her obvious intellect. Elizabeth Zott is a brilliant chemist who is taken advantage of at every turn. She finds her soulmate in Calvin Evans, another scientist who does value Elizabeth. The two live and work together until Calvin's early death.

After his death, Elizabeth finds herself pregnant and unwed. She deals with harassment and abuse trying to make a living to support herself and her daughter. Then, through their children, she meets Walter Pine. Walter works at a television station and offers Elizabeth her own cooking show. Taking the approach that cooking is chemistry and women are intelligent enough to conquer anything, Elizabeth's show becomes hugely popular.

I couldn't put this one down. Garmus paints a picture of women's struggle for equality. While there are still issues, this book illustrates how far we have come in the area of women's rights. A good nonfiction pairing with this book would be "When Everything Changed: the Amazing Journey of American Women from 1960 to the Present" by Gail Collins. Recommended.

This was a wonderful debut novel. And I loved the author's voice and the very unique way she told her story. In the end the book was about so much more than expected. Including some amazing characters.
It's definitely going to be a book I'll recommend to anyone who is interested in reading something different next year. And I can already see that it will suit many readers.

For me, the book wasn't perfect, I experienced a combination of being 100% immersed and skimming and skipping at times, but I also couldn't wait to get back to the book. Maybe it was the wrong time to pick it up, I'm such a mood reader., It's a bit of a conundrum for me. BUT I'm definitely looking forward to the author's next book.

I may literally be the only person who didn't like this book... And it pains me to say that, because there was a lot about it that I really liked. But 20% in i felt like I'd read the same general plot points six or seven times already - and could not imagine forcing myself to do so for the next 3/4 of the book....

There is some magical language here, as well as some fabulous snarky dialogue and snappy comebacks (both out loud and in internal monologues). And I love what I think the book is trying to highlight, as far as the ridiculous and horrifying way women in this time period were treated, but something about it never quite worked for me. I couldn't find the thread here, despite repeated attempts.

I felt like it needed a heavy-handed edit to become truly magical - but apparently 99% off the reading world disagrees. Where Did You Go, Bernadette didn't work for me either, so maybe that's the link between others' love and my lukewarm response, although I'm a big Mrs. Maisel fan but that didn't save it for me, so who knows.

And I really don't see why everyone loved the dog SO MUCH. I found those bits odd and distracting and not fitting with the tone of the rest of the book at all. Then again, I'm a cat person so there's that...

This was a little gem of a book, which I admit surprised me. I chose to read it based on the time period (1950's) and the idea of a woman chemist in that time period. It's funny, well-written, very tongue in cheek, and also felt very real in the way it addressed the issues of the times and the need for empowerment. The characters are wicked quirky and almost defy belief, but they are memorable and lovable. It's a unique book that should appeal to almost every woman reader.

I loved Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus (thank you NetGalley and Doubleday for this book and for supporting the publication of this amazingly insightful, humorous, and charming novel). I finished this book last night and miss being in the vibrant world and voices in this novel.

What a deceptively smart, witty, and wonderful book, I am all in for Elizabeth Zott as one of my new favorite protagonists, along with her wonderful friends (I love a book with such well developed., vibrant supporting characters, worthy of their own book particularly Harriet). I appreciate that I went into this book thinking it would be a light, charming story about a quirky woman and ended up with so much more, I loved the depth of how intelligent Elizabeth was, that she was seen as worthy for her brain but at times also her physical strength (rowing), the very clear and very real (still) experiences with misogyny in the workplace/academic spaces, and simply how this book took it's time, went at a pace that just let the story unfold in a way that felt like this is how life feels, things happen and people come in, and out, of lives. I also appreciate how Elizabeth found people who understood her, who were real and interested in who she was and in her talents, and that her daughter Mad was given a strong voice, not just written as a background child character but as a relevant voice, a character that is written with respect for how amazing young people are (similar to Bee in Where'd you go Bernadette). Finally, I also liked that this book had scientific details, depth with stories and nuance with work and rowing and cooking and simply daily lives; I never felt short changed reading this book and felt that Ms. Garmus showed a lot of respect for her characters and for readers by writing with such detail and affection for all of the voices she has created.

This is such a valuable book as it covers so many discussion worthy themes. This is surely going to be a popular book club choice for a while, I will be recommending it to my reading groups and also to my women's book club at work (very relevant there). I can't wait for the next book from Ms. Garmus.

I will share my genuine joy and love for this book and Bonnie Garmus's amazing characters in many places:
where to find my review around publication date:
https://www.dont-stop-reading.com/
https://www.instagram.com/pageus_of_books/
https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/131395833-meghan-pageus
amazon
B&N
https://twitter.com/PageUs_Meghan
and this one will be listed on some of my lists as a bookshop.org affiliate

Lessons in Chemistry is probably the quirkiest book I’ve read all year! Elizabeth Zott is quite the character. She is honest to a fault, a brilliant chemist, and a wonderful mother. She is not traditional by any means, but presses against every boundary faced by women of the 1960s. Despite the rampant sexism present in the field of chemistry, Elizabeth powers through determined to make a name for herself.

My absolute favorite part of this book was when Elizabeth was teaching chemistry through her tv cooking show. It was informative, encouraging, and the lessons for women were empowering. I enjoyed hearing her daughter, Mad’s, side of the story as well and how her mother was teaching her not to accept boundaries because she is a girl. There were some great life lessons there.

I had two issues with the book. First, was it was a bit too long. The beginning stretched on a bit and didn’t really grab my interest. Second (spoiler but not spoiler warning) was that her ending still involved her relationship with a man. I really wanted her to create her own success in science rather than it being in any way related to Calvin. Minor issues for an otherwise fun and quirky book. I mean who even names a dog Six-Thirty?!? I’d totally watch him on tv!

Thank you to Doubleday Books and NetGalley for granting me a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!

A gorgeous novel about a chemist whose ground breaking research is thwarted and who becomes a television cooking celebrity. The story pulled me in with witty writing, characters you can sink your teeth into and a plot that serves up surprises. The book grabbed my attention and didn’t let go until I turned the last page. I highly recommend it. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

A brilliant female chemist finds herself thwarted at every turn as she tries to build a career as a scientist. It's the late 1950s and early 1960s and sexism is rampant. This creative book takes such a refreshing approach to telling her story. I couldn't put it down and I look forward to recommending it.

Just one more chapter. That’s the reason I’m here, in the dark, squinting at my phone as I finish Lessons in Chemistry. As a librarian, I know the value of putting a book down in order to proceed with life. I could not put this book down. The characters resonate throughout my personal history. A child of the 50’s, I felt the frustration and inequality. As a child of the 60’s, I felt the passion and potential. Lessons in Chemistry evokes discussion. Multigenerational discussion. The story is not over.

Unequivocally one of my favorite reads of the year! It's shrewd, it's stirring, it's humorous, and it's bursting with acute examinations about gender inequality and misogyny in the workplace.

Lessons in Chemistry has become an instant favorite of mine, and Elizabeth Zott, the no-nonsense chemist who isn't afraid to challenge the status quo women are facing in the early 1960's and smack up against glass ceiling after glass ceiling because she knows she's as capable as any man, has become a most beloved, inspiring character.

I loved her seriousness as well as her tireless perseverance. The hyperrational aspect of her personality made for many uproarious moments throughout the story. In fact, her cut-and-dry, black-and-white way of viewing the world, which often resulted in social cues and norms flying straight over her head, felt reminiscent of Don Tillman from The Rosie Project to me. She's so matter-of-fact in her responses or rationale sometimes that you can't help but laugh out loud.

Elizabeth embodies the notion that "chemistry is change" perfectly, too. She is a woman who is years, decades - perhaps even an entire generation - ahead of her time, and what you come to admire about her is that she never gives into the sociocultural prejudices or pressures that surround her. She refuses to be curtailed. To be diminished. She will not be forced to "fit into" the gender constructs of her day.

Her journey in and of itself is full of strife, disappointment, and hardship, though. I won't lie about that. She faces setback after setback. For instance, her dreams of becoming a research scientist are dashed when her mentor sexually assaults her and then denies her admittance into the PhD program. Later, she's demoted from a chemist to a lab tech at the Hastings Research Institute only to be fired without just cause. (There is cause for her dismissal, mind you, but it's petty and sexist in nature.) Her research is also courted and considered by her male colleagues. That is, until they steal it, the gits going so far as to try and pass it off as their own.

Worse than all that, after meeting the one person who truly values her intelligence and skill, who sees her as an equal, Elizabeth loses him to a tragic accident. The love of her life--gone in an instant! On top of that, she finds herself pregnant, unwed, and without a job...at least until she becomes the host of an afternoon cooking show called Supper at Six where she not only teaches women to cook using chemistry but encourages them to believe they are capable in all aspects of their lives. Not just as wives and mothers.

To be honest, if she could have managed it, I think Elizabeth would've concocted a chemical formula that equaled THE FUTURE IS FEMALE and stirred it into one of her recipes. So many of us would've eaten it up back then as much as we would now!

Another thing I loved about this book was that it had a bevy of spirited offbeat side characters. Whether it was Walter, the flummoxed television show manager, Mad, the precocious genius daughter, Harriet, the motherly-neighbor-turned-friend, or Six-Thirty, the uber-intelligent dog with an extensive vocabulary, there was no shortage of people to invest in or narrative perspectives to trot among. For instance, I think you'll be pleasantly shocked and surprised to learn how much Six-Thirty has to say about the world. His voice bounds off the page like a yippy puppy bark, I'm telling you!

The found family aspect was a touching addition as well. It was nice to be reminded that family comes in all shapes, sizes, incarnations, and that it doesn't always have to mean blood.

Even though there are heavier themes running through this novel, including things like sexual assault, sexism, suicide, and loss, overall it's a heartening and inspirational tale. Way, way above average.

Like Elizabeth Zott herself, this book surpasses brilliance to become its own unique thing that demands to not only be lauded but treasured by anyone who reads it.

10/10 would recommend

What a great book! I really identified with this story. As a 1970 college graduate just starting my career in the accounting field, one of the questions I was asked at my interview with a CPA firm was "do you intend to have any more babies?". I must have given them the answer they wanted because I got the job for $350/month. A year later a male counterpart was hired for $850/month. And I was asked to train him! So I completely identified with Elizabeth and her viewpoint on how women should have been treated in business. I didn't handle it as bravely as she did though. This book brought back many memories of the early days in my career (which did end up very successful by the way). I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it.

This book is set in the late 50's and early 60's where the women stayed home, kept house and had cocktails ready when her husband got home. Women did not seek a higher education but if they did it was only until the obtained their MRS. Children were not born out of wedlock and men and women did not live together unless married. Nobody told Elizabeth Zott that women were the underdog and that she should not strive to become a chemist. This book is humorous, its main characters are likable, if not downright lovable and will speak to you long after you finish this book. In some ways this book reminded me of the Rosie Project but it may just be that I thought it was that good. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in the form of a Kindle book. I will be following this author in the future.
I returned to my review to mention the dog. You will absolutely fall in love with the dog--

I have been on a string of amazing reads lately and this one joined the ranks of my recent 5 star reads. The premise of this story is so original, the characters perfectly quirky and the writing full of sass and wit!

The setting is the 1960's, and as we all know from the show Mad Men, there were 2 opposite standards for men and women. Women were only accepted as secretaries, nurses and teachers. (And wives and mothers and homemakers of course!). We meet main character Elizabeth Zott in the middle of her quest to become an accomplished scientist. What is funny about that? Um... the fact that women aren't smart enough to be scientists so why waste important employment decisions or research grant money on a woman? Ugh - this kind of thinking is prevalent in this time period and in this book - and is SO important to Elizabeth's story and path in life.

Zott is a no-nonsense personality and has her sights set only on career accomplishments. Raised in a dysfunctional and non-traditional family, she has promised herself she will never marry and in turn, never lose her sense of self or her name. While working at Hastings Research Institute, she meets Calvin Evans - a young, brilliant and much respected research scientist. In Evans, she finds her match. They share a mutual respect for each other's work, a love of science and discovery and attraction. Zott finds an ally in Evans, who wants to open all sorts of doors for her, but she is determined to do it on her own merits. One of my very favorite characters is the stray dog they find together and name Six-Thirty. He becomes such a pivotal part of the narrative.

Zott finds herself a single mother and is given the opportunity to host a cooking show. Though 180 degrees outside of the realm of where she sees her career heading, she accepts. The pay is way higher than her paltry Hastings salary and her current position is far from scintillating. Her vision for the show and the producer's are miles apart. In her, he sees the makings of success, so he slowly tries to change her to fit the mold he wants her to fit in, yet ultimately, he is the one who is changed. Zott brings her chemistry knowledge to cooking and to the delight of her audience, her expectations of their abilities far outweigh anything they've previously experienced.

For just a taste of the wit shown throughout the writing in this book:

"The real situation was this: Walter had an empty programming slot to fill and the advertisers were breathing down his neck to get it filled immediately. A children's clown show had previously filled the now-empty slot, but in the first place, it hadn't been very good, and in the second place, its clown star had been killed in a bar fight, making the show completely dead in the truest sense."

I fear I am rambling. There is so just much I want to tell you about this book, but I don't want to spoil a minute of this book for you. This intelligent and endearing story will have you laughing, crying, frustrated, enraged, buoyant, cheering, hopeful and touched. The side characters are wonderfully written. You will hate half of them with a passion and love the other half with even more passion. I haven't read anything like this book before. A fully original and amazingly witty book that will stay with me for quite a long time.

Put this on your TBR right now! Recommend 100%.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Doubleday Books for the advance copy to read and review. Pub date: 4.05.22

This book was engaging from the first page! Original, fun, and a great way to promote women helping women and how far women have come and still need to go to be treated equally.

Having the pleasure of meeting Elizabeth Zott in this novel was magical. This is certainly one of the best novels of 2021. Elizabeth Zott is a singular woman, a genius, a serious chemist…but as a woman in the 1950’s, none of it matters. She overcomes societal norms and attempts to transcend her role a second class mind, because she is not a man.
Elizabeth met her “soulmate” the genius, Calvin Evans, she is finally respected. Oh, not so easy. Watching her deal with life’s myriad problems is a lesson in both the culture of the 50’s and the power and strength of human determination and genius.
Mixed into this novel is a cast of delightful characters. Madeline, her daughter is extraordinary. Even her dog appears to possess a stroke of brilliance. Her neighbor Harriet dispenses mother wisdom. On the other side, there are bullies and predators.

Despite all of the handicaps, this is one of the loveliest, most charming novels that I have read in years. I wanted to keep reading about Elizabeth, despite the fact that the author brings a solid closure to this extraordinary novel.

I highly recommend this to reading groups. I know this will be one of the most lauded books of the season. Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read this novel and meet the remarkable Elizabeth Zott.

I loved Elizabeth Zott so much; she is up there as an all-time favorite protagonist. This book, while dealing with some heavy themes, was an utter delight for me.

Elizabeth is a scientist, a chemist to be exact. It’s the 1950s and excelling in her field is a losing battle. Despite helping every man at the office troubleshoot his experiments, Elizabeth is underpaid, unacknowledged, and undervalued. And while she has moments of doubt, Elizabeth carries herself with a confidence that I’d love to possess. At her lab, she connects with a renowned scientist, Calvin Evans, and the two fall deeply in love. While unconventional by the standards of their era, I adored their romance.

Later, through a largely unfortunate series of events, Elizabeth becomes a TV show host—using her remarkable chemistry skills to teach cooking lessons to the wives of America. Despite the TV station’s best efforts, they can’t tamp Elizabeth’s feminist personality. They want her in a tight dress with a cocktail; Elizabeth wears trousers and refers to salt strictly as sodium chloride. Elizabeth wins over the audience with encouragement to follow dreams abandoned the moment they married, to carve out alone time from their children, and to make sure their families see their value. It is heart-warming and motivating.

As I mentioned, there are also heavy moments. Rape happens, and it’s recognized within the book as an all-too-common occurrence with the power to derail dreams. Death of loved ones is a thread for Elizabeth and Calvin, including Elizabeth’s homosexual brother who hanged himself in shame. Despite the pain, the highs far outweighed the lows for me. The writing is smart, acerbic, and I laughed out loud more than once. I don’t usually care much for animal personas (sorry, sister), but the dog Six-Thirty is as lovable as everyone else in this novel. What a debut! I can’t wait to see what Bonnie Garmus writes next.


5 stars. Highly recommended. Thank you to the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Some favorite quotes and passages:
<I> “…she keeps repeating how by Saturday night, she’ll finally be Mrs. Peter Dickman. As if changing her name is the finish line for a race she’s been in since she was six.” “She’s marrying Dickman?” he said. “From Cellular Biology?” He didn’t like Dickman. “Exactly,” she said. “I’ve never understood why when women marry, they’re expected to trade in their old names like used cars, losing their last and sometimes even their first—Mrs. John Adams! Mrs. Abe Lincoln!—as if their previous identities had just been twenty-odd-year placeholders before they became actual people. Mrs. Peter Dickman. It’s a life sentence.”

“People often underestimate what a pregnant woman is capable of, but people always underestimate what a grieving pregnant woman is capable of.”

“It’s just that we tend to treat pregnancy as the most common condition in the world—as ordinary as stubbing a toe—when the truth is, it’s like getting hit by a truck.“

“Mrs. Sloane,” Elizabeth said, realizing she did not want to be alone. “You seem to know a lot about babies.” “
As much as anyone can ever know,” she agreed. “They’re selfish little sadists. The question is, why anyone has more than one.”

“ Every day she found parenthood like taking a test for which she had not studied. The questions were daunting and there wasn’t nearly enough multiple choice.”

“I don’t have hopes,” Mad explained, studying the address. “I have faith.”
He looked at her in surprise. “Well, that’s a funny word to hear coming from you.”
“How come?”
“Because,” he said, “well, you know. Religion is based on faith.”
“But you realize,” she said carefully, as if not to embarrass him further, “that faith isn’t based on religion. Right?”

“Sometimes I think,” she said slowly, “that if a man were to spend a day being a woman in America, he wouldn’t make it past noon.”