Thank you to Doubleday for the ARC - I had a great time buddy reading this with a group of bookstagrammers!

I couldn't decide where the book should go (in the flask or as a stopper, so you're getting both pics.) Let me know your favorite in the comments!

Pub date: 4/5/22
Genre: historical fiction, women's fiction
In one sentence: 1960s chemist Elizabeth Zott is one of a kind, and so is her chemistry-themed cooking show, Supper at Six.

I love books about women in STEM, so I was excited to dive into this one. Author Bonnie Garmus did a great job capturing the difficulties that women in STEM face - as bad as things are today, they were so much worse in the 60s. Although I loved all the characters, Elizabeth stood out. She is truly a force of nature and so unabashedly herself that you can't help but root for her. I loved how she used Supper at Six to show women that they could be more than society expected of them. An unorthodox character has to have an unorthodox sidekick, and Six-Thirty the dog more than lives up to the role!

This book is witty, surprising, and heartwarming - a perfect combination. At 400 pages, it's not a quick read, but I recommend joining Elizabeth on her journey. 4+ stars. Bonus - this book is being adapted in a show on AppleTV starring Brie Larson!

Lessons in Chemistry is a complete delight. It finds the balance between smart, funny, and truthfully and is entirely entertaining. I think it will have broad appeal to readers and will earn author Garmus a well-deserved following. Favorite characters: Mad and Six-Thirty.

This book was so unique and I really adored it! I went in thinking it was going to be more of a romance but it definitely reads more as a historical fiction read with humorous tone scattered throughout. If I’m being honest, I didn’t miss the romance piece because I was so intrigued by Elizabeth and her story. Elizabeth was everything I want in a feminist female MC. She was intelligent, unapologetic, loyal, strong-minded, and caring towards those most important to her.

I loved the storyline of a woman making her own way, paving the way for others, and empowering others to do the same. During that time period women were so confined to societal norms and expectations, so I just loved how this story encouraged them to seek more from life and “take a moment for themselves.” It was just really great to see as a female reader. ❤️

I liked the cooking show aspect and how Elizabeth did it in a way that validated SAHMs and related to them in a way that wasn’t superficial or cookie cutter. The development of the main romance in this story was humorous and it was interesting to see how it impacted the storyline later on. I will say a lot of secondary characters were typically written in a pretty negative light, which sometimes brought the tone of the story down, but I felt like the author was able to balance that out for the most part with other aspects in the story. Lastly, Six thirty was adorable and I loved all the times we were able to read his thoughts and feelings. He was so loyal and I just loved him 🐕

Gosh, I could keep going on about how much I enjoyed this one, but I don’t want to give too much away! Highly recommend picking this one up on pub day on April 5th 🙂

This was completely delightful, and I highly recommend it. It's quirky with excellent characters, including Six-Thirty who has joined the ranks of my favorite literary dogs. Elizabeth Zott is amusingly frank, determined, and a unique viewpoint into 1950s sexism. Although I laughed multiple times while reading, Lessons in Chemistry isn't a comedy-- it's actually quite sad and frustrating at times, but Bonnie Garmus balanced the emotions very well over the course of the story.

I have a thing for strong yet quirky female characters and Elizabeth Zott now rises up to become one of my very favorites. Set in the 1950s and early ‘60s, Zott is a chemist, at a time where even her workplace the Hastings Institute cannot accept her as such.

When she and fabled (male) and equally quirky chemist Calvin Evans pair, it is the talk of the institute, though what the gossip fails to appreciate is their “chemistry” is grounded in respecting each other true equals.

Forced out of her lab, Elizabeth later finds herself the unlikely host of a cooking show, “Supper at Six,” which she stubbornly - and to the horror of the male station executives - turns into lessons about chemistry. It’s not mischief; she simply cannot conceive of doing it any other way. As it turns out, her audience of housewives love it. And she begins to understand the power of her new platform:

“I wanted to use Supper at Six to teach chemistry. Because when women understand chemistry, they begin to understand how things work… I’m referring to atoms and molecules, Roth,” she explained. “The real rules that govern the physical world. When women understand these basic concepts, they can begin to see the false limits that have been created for them.”

“You mean by men.”

“I mean by artificial cultural and religious policies that put men in the highly unnatural role of single-sex leadership. Even a basic understanding of chemistry reveals the danger of such a lopsided approach.”

“Lessons in Chemistry” is a book that champions feminism, free thought, self-determinism, faith in oneself vs religion… but it is told with such warmth and through such refreshingly different characters that it never feels pedantic. Speech above not withstanding!

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of this book and I can’t wait for others to discover it when it publishes this April.

Thanks to Doubleday and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this title prior to publication. Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Gamus is the story of Elizabeth Zott, a no-nonsense chemist in 1950s and 1960s California. She says exactly what she thinks, and she bumps up against cultural views of gender and societal roles. She falls in love with her co-worker, Calvin Evans. Fast forward, and Elizabeth is the reluctant host of a cooking TV show called "Supper at Six" where she explains the chemistry involved with cooking. She is also mom to Mad Zott, or Madeline, a child prodigy, and a dog named Six-Thirty.

I laughed out loud so much, my jaw dropped open at other parts, and I hugged this book at the end! I loved reading from multiple points of view, especially Six-Thirty's. I loved that Elizabeth uses chemistry to reveal how societal rules are off-kilter. This book is inspiring, heartwarming, witty, and irreverent. All of the main and supporting characters have depth to them. This book is being compared to Where'd You Go, Bernadette and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, and I completely support this. I read the last half of this book in one sitting, and this will most likely be one of my favorites of the year!

“Courage is the root of change—and change is what we’re chemically designed to do. So when you wake up tomorrow, make this pledge. No more holding yourself back. No more subscribing to others’ opinions of what you can and cannot achieve. And no more allowing anyone to pigeonhole you into useless categories of sex, race, economic status, and religion. Do not allow your talents to lie dormant, ladies. Design your own future. When you go home today, ask yourself what you will change. And then get started.”

Lessons in Chemistry is a fantastic character-driven novel centering on Elizabeth Zott, a female chemist in the male-dominated ‘50s and ‘60s. Bonnie Garmus does an excellent job depicting the life of an intelligent, capable, independent woman in that time period, including the very real sexism experienced at every turn. The beginning of this book is laugh-out-loud funny, but quickly delves deeper as the book progresses. I absolutely love the strong feminist mindset that Elizabeth has, and also that she’s so literal and no-nonsense. Her dog, Six-Thirty, is a shining star in this book, and his perspective is a really fun addition to this story. Lessons in Chemistry has already been picked up by AppleTV and I can’t wait to watch!

Thanks you Doubleday Books for the copy of this ARC!

Ugh, I wanted to like this one so much. I’ve always loved chemistry. The first half of the book had me LAUGHING out loud at the funny one liners. This book hit on many heavy topics, which I appreciated, but I wish some of them went into more detail. Six-thirty was definitely my favorite character!

Thank you NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review. Pub date: April 5.

I think this is a book that a lot of people are going to love. Unfortunately I wasn’t one of them.

When I started this book I thought I was going to read something similar to Love Hypothesis, but based in the 60s. It was not quite that.

Elizabeth is a chemist in the 60s. And despite the societal norms for women, she stands up for herself and her career as a scientist. What I loved about the book was the humor and the dog. Six-Thirty (the dog) steals the show and is by far the best character in the book. We also get a look and his POV, which is creative and fun!

For the most part the remaining characters were very one dimensional, closed off, mean and a bunch of liars. The book started off strong but I liked it less and less every time I picked it up to read it. I couldn’t connect with it and was just angry - and not a good angry.

Giving it an extra star for the humor and the F the patriarchy mentality.

Lessons in Chemistry is the story of Elizabeth Zott, a chemist in the late 1950-early 1960s. Garmus gives her characters depth and Elizabeth's struggles are realistic.

Lessons in Chemistry was a true ‘judge a book by it’s cover’ for me, I loved the cover and the book didn’t disappoint either.
It is full of character and life right from the beginning, the story flowed and kept my interest throughout.
We follow Elizabeth Zott through ups and downs in her life as she navigates the world of the working woman in the 1960’s. I enjoyed the humor in the book which is rare in a novel I find and the author put the right amount of humor in all the right places in my opinion.

Lessons in Chemistry is a book about a brilliant woman trying to make her way in the field of Chemistry at a time when women were expected to look pretty and please their husbands. Elizabeth Zott is a unique women and challenges societal conventions. She wants people to take her and her work seriously. Working in the science world, Elizabeth is demeaned over and over again, but has the support of famous chemist Calvin Evans (after their initial meeting in which he mistakes her for a secretary). Elizabeth was raised in an unconventional family and experienced a devastating loss, as did Calvin. Life continues to deal blows to Elizabeth, but she is asked to host a cooking show which will provide her with substantial pay raise. She defies the instructions of the producer and station manager to teach women chemistry through cooking and empower them. The book is quirky, infuriating, and engaging, and I could not put it down.

I wish I could give this so many more than 5 stars. I loved this so, so much. I can’t remember the last time a book made me laugh out loud all throughout, even though I was equally outraged at the horrific sexism Elizabeth faced.

Set in the 1950s to early ‘60s, Elizabeth is far a more brilliant chemist than most of her male colleagues, except for one . . . who also recognizes her brilliance even though she possesses ovaries and refuses to fetch the coffee. They fall in love, and though Elizabeth hadn’t planned on being a mom, in a short time, she finds herself a single mother. That’s never easy, but it’s especially brutal at that time in history, so she finds herself in the position of taking a job as a host of a cooking show to pay the bills instead of making breakthroughs in the field of chemistry as she’d planned.

Elizabeth does it on her terms, however, using her chemistry background to explain how to make dinner, and assuring women, most of whom don’t earn an income or work outside the home, how important it is to nourish themselves and their families with food . . . and with a belief in themselves.

There are things that stretch the imagination. This is a comedic take on some awful stuff after all. But as soon as you accept that all the non-villainous characters, including the dog, are smarter than you’ll ever be, it’s super fun.

It’s only the beginning of February, and I highly doubt I’ll read a better book this year. This is utterly brilliant, and the fact that she can deftly touch on so many important topics with a heroine I loved is truly remarkable. Read this and tell your friends.

Thanks so much to NetGalley for the opportunity to review this novel, which RELEASES APRIL 5, 2022.

I was going back and forth on 4 or 5 stars, and then I decided 5 stars just for Six-Thirty. He is sheer genius. He is one of the most believable characters I have read in quite a while.
This is the story of Elizabeth Zott who as a female chemist in the 1960s has a terrible time being taken seriously until she meets the love of her life, Calvin Evans, another brilliant chemist who DOES take her seriously as a chemist, and she is the love of his life. But life is cruel. Calvin dies, Elizabeth is again belittled and dismissed, she has a daughter, and eventually events lead to a television cooking show that she considers lessons in chemistry. And there's a dog named Six-Thirty.
Initially there is an overabundance of flashbacks. Well, the whole first section is technically a flashback containing flashbacks. A little annoying and a little long, but worth the setup I suppose, and my only quibble with the story. I did not find the early years remotely humorous, too much was heartbreaking or enraging. But not to worry, it's all quite satisfying in the end. QUITE. Once Elizabeth made it to her television show, I started smiling. Goofy grins started appearing. The pieces started to fall in place. Oh my, let the dominoes fall.....
And yes dog lovers, Six-Thirty is still there at the end. This is safe to read.

This was an entertaining book, kind of a mash-up between Mrs Maisel and Big Bang Theory. I found the book hard to get into at first. The main character comes off a bit flat, but things get more engaging as the book goes on and we get to know her backstory. The chapters from the point of view of the dog were a bit too twee for my taste, but the story was otherwise compelling and I enjoyed it.

What an entertaining yet serious read. Highly recommend for any book club!!

"Lessons in Chemistry" brought together the feel of historical fiction, romance, mystery, and drama in a totally unexpected yet thoroughly satisfying way. I found myself up late trying to finish this one!

As I followed the tragedies and triumphs in Elizabeth's life, I couldn't help but be thankful that I was born decades after her character was.

I wanted to cheer on Elizabeth and her genius daughter as well as several other lovable characters. Normally I don't like "dog-character" books - but wow this one was fantastic! There was just the right touch of Elizabeth's pet dog's voice to round it out. Don't be overwhelmed by the "chemistry" part either - just like "Lizzie", the author makes its few actual appearances approachable enough for anyone to understand.

5 stars!!

It's not often I pick up a book that has a cover that looks like this one - these always scream "light and frothy" to me and I'm not really one to enjoy light and frothy in a book. Except for right now, when I'm feeling the need to read things that maybe aren't so heavy as so much as what I read which is why I picked this book for my first read of 2022.

I was so right and also so wrong about this book.

It was just the right book for me right now. But it wasn't altogether light or frothy.

It's funny, very funny. There's a dog whose thoughts we can hear, a small child who is beyond precocious, and a kitchen that is transformed into a laboratory. But Garmus also touches on sexual assault, religion, marriage, education, race, greed, parenthood, misogyny, and death. That cover, though, tells you that, in the end, good will prevail.

It seems that I'm drawn to characters that are tough for the other characters in the book to like (Olive Kitteridge, Margery Benson (Miss Benson's Beetle), Eleanor Oliphant) and Elizabeth Zott is no exception. Here is a woman who could have used her beauty but preferred to use her brain; plus, her social skills leave more than a little to be desired. Her insistence on being taken seriously because of her brain makes men uncomfortable; her looks and insistence on not settling into the usual female roles makes women distrust her. But she's had a terrible childhood, has grown up in an era where women are not valued, loses the love of her life, and finds raising a newborn overwhelming.

Enter a cast of characters who will get her through single parenthood and finding a way to put food on the table (here by literally putting food on the table!). So many fun characters who are so much more than filler.

Are there stereotypes? Yes. Is there a dog who knows almost 1000 words and whose thoughts we hear? Yes. Is there a four-year-old who is reading Norman Mailer? Yes. Are there an astonishing number of coincidences? Also, yes. I didn't care. I was 100 percent willing to suspend credulity and forgive stereotypes. I so wanted these characters to find happiness and for Elizabeth to be given the chance and the respect that she deserved. And while I may have mentioned that good will prevail, it doesn't necessarily mean that this book has the kind of happy ending you may be expecting. But it does have exactly the right ending. Which made for a perfect beginning of 2022 for me.

Five big stars
I love books with quirky, intelligent characters. So, I was immediately drawn to Lessons in Chemistry. Elizabeth Zott is a chemist in the early 1960s, back when women were a rarity in the field. Headstrong and independent, she refuses to tow the line expected. I came more than a decade later, but men’s attitudes hadn’t changed much in the 70s. So, I totally related to her, especially her relationship with Six Thirty.
The book follows her as she becomes a single mother and then the star of a tv cooking show. There is a dry humor to the book. Actually, the humor gets more broad as the story goes on. I started off chuckling. Then snorting. Then laughing out loud to the point my husband insisted on knowing what I was reading.
I sometimes have a problem when dogs are anthropomorphized. But it didn’t bother me here, even when his thoughts were included. I only wish my dog understood 900 words.
The writing here is smart, descriptive, engaging. I found myself chortling over phrase after phrase - the sheer exactness of them. “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.” Not only did I love the immediate family of Elizabeth, Madeline and Six Thirty, I adored Mrs. Sloane, Dr. Mason, Rev. Wakefield, Walter. While the book is humorous, there’s also a lot of emotion packed into it. I adored the ending. (I also loved that Garmus thanked her dogs in her Acknowledgments.) I even loved that I learned a thing or two about cooking.
I can’t recommend this enough. I can’t wait to see what Ms. Garmus comes up with next.
My thanks to Netgalley and Doubleday Books for an advance copy of this book.

I wanted to like this book, it started well with two interesting characters who captured my attention, but then very quickly the story took a strange turn; one of the main characters is killed off and this is where I felt the story went off the rails.
The book is centered on Elizabeth Zott, a chemist, who faces challenges and struggles both professionally and personally. Elizabeth is an uncompromising scientist, but as a woman in the 1950's she is not respected, and often taken advantage of. Out of necessity, Elizabeth winds up hosting a daily cooking show that she turns into a chemistry classroom, teaching not only chemistry but also self-esteem to her many female viewers.
There were parts of the story that I enjoyed, especially the way the author included the viewpoint of the dog, but overall I felt the story was chaotic.

Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to review an advance reader copy of this book.

Lessons in Chemistry by
Bonnie Garmus

"When you go home today, ask yourself what you will change. And then get started."

This quirky novel, set in 1960s Southern California, revolves around a female chemist and a whole cast of men who don't think women are as wise as their male counterparts.

Elizabeth Zott, a single mom, is determined to change the era's existing beliefs surrounding pregnancy, marriage, careers, and roles. As the host of a successful television cooking show, she has her chance.

With a delightful and humorous feminist bent, readers will rip through this London-based author's debut novel. Ms. Garmus proves, at age 64, it's never too late.

The book has been optioned by Apple TV, with Brie Larson to star.