Meet chemist Elizabeth Zott. She is no ordinary woman. Science rules her life in a male dominated world where she seeks recognition. Calvin Evans a lonely and brilliant chemist falls for Elizabeth and they have a true love affair of the minds. Calvin die suddenly and Elizabeth finds herself pregnant and a single mother. She takes a job as the host of a TV shoe, Supper at Six. Not a fluffy host, Elizabeth brings solid chemistry into every show. Often to the dismay of the producers and advertisers. She is a woman out to change the status quo and bring you along for the ride. I'm glad I did..

Storytelling at its best! Bonnie Garmus has woven the tale of Elizabeth Zott, a strong analytical woman in the 50s and 60s. Nothing stops Elizabeth from doing what she knows she was born to be, a scientist. When the misogynist machine of the workplace of the mid-century conspires to hold her back and deny her the education, funding, and credit for her work, Elizabeth rises above it all and find her own way.

Along her way to success, Elizabeth finds love and family, something that weren’t in her original plan but mean the world to her. Lessons in Chemistry is a must read book for 2022.

I had a really hard time with this book and not because it wasn’t well written, because it was very well written. I had a problem with the era it was set in and what women went through. I know that’s history but it still gets to me. Elizabeth is such an amazingly strong woman. To keep fighting for her place? She is my hero. I don’t like what happened to her along the way but they story is amazing!

A cute book -- doesn't take itself too seriously, and yes, love a good dog character. Starts off stronger than it ends, but overall I enjoyed it. Obviously already a huge success.

I was so so pleasantly surprised and taken with this book! The writing, content, and characters were all endearing and lovable in a way that mixes quirkiness with reasonable believability and a few stretches of the imagination. While I am often skeptical of such a thing, I found myself enjoying this book far more than I had originally thought, having the (incorrect) notion it was a typical romance. Instead, it is anything but, with shocking twists, moments of despair, outrage, and grief, and an inspiring rousing spirit that feels impossible not to root for. Bravo!!!

I loved this quirky novel. I love Elizabeth. I love Six-Thirty and Mad and Harriet. I love strong women and this book shows the struggle of the strong and uncompromising woman. This book mad me laugh and think; it made me cheer for Elizabeth and empathize with her struggles. It’s definitely different and a crazy story. But….I loved it!

This is a really heartwarming story filled with chemistry, rowing, and cooking. It was exactly the book I needed at exactly the right time.

Terrific novel that all generations will love! I loved not only the historical elements but also 630 (the dog!), if only animals could really tell us how they feel!

I found this story to be underwhelming and not what I expected from the marketing of "laugh out loud funny" The language in the begging, the discussion of a rape, a suicide- none of that sets the scene for being funny. I found Elizabeth to be very unlikeable. I'm not interested in characters who try to be "quirky" until the plot calls for otherwise and it got very old with her and her monologues.

Honestly, I didn’t think I liked this book at first, but it grew on me and I found I kept thinking about the characters and what was going to happen next, which I dare say is the goal of any author! A 1960’s professional woman might be some kind of oxymoron, but these ladies, like our main character, were the rebels who broke through the cultural sexism and helped women achieve their goals, however traditionally ‘unladylike’ they may be. Although Elizabeth was anything but affectionate, this book had a lot of heart and by the end resonated with women everywhere, regardless of time or place. Besides that, there was actually chemistry written within these pages and enfolded in the story itself and I feel a bit smarter having read it!

I also uncovered a brilliant quote from Elizabeth, aka Garmus that I’ll be displaying on the wall in the STEM Lab where I’ll be teaching this year which says, “Scientists expect mistakes, and because of it, we embrace failure”, since, as we know, this is where the learning begins. A Lesson in Chemistry, and a lesson in life.

Bonnie Garmus’ Lessons in Chemistry is the story of Elizabeth Zott and Calvin Evans, both brilliant chemists. Even though Elizabeth’s life doesn’t go as she planned, she surprisingly becomes the star of a cooking show. I voluntarily read this complimentary copy of this well-written, beautiful book. With an amazing cast of characters, this is a book you will not only enjoy but you will also love. Outstanding work!

Elizabeth Zott is a brilliant chemist who ends up hosting an afternoon television cooking. The how she got there and what she does once she is there are the central plot of this slow burn novel.

The author uses omniscient third person so you have multiple point-of-views, including my favorite Six-Thirty, Elizabeth's faithful dog. The author effectively uses the multiple POV to further develop other characters as well as show the reader interesting perspectives.

I have never rooted so much for a character like Elizabeth. Her idealism is both inspiring and infuriating. I related to her unwillingness to let go of her beliefs that others can be better. That said, I often wanted to shake her and tell her to take a reality pill!

The author grounds the book in the 1950's and helps the time period come alive. My favorite part about historical fiction is learning about the small details of everyday life like the implementation of leash laws. (As a dog owner, this was an interesting factoid that these laws have not been around forever.)

I cannot recommend this quirky book enough especially to folks who love character driven books and historical fiction.

My 4.5 star review of Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus.
I should like to thank Doubleday Books and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced reader copy in return for an honest review.
I ended up giving this 4.5 stars. There were parts where I felt it was too wordy but overall got better and better as the book went along. This has everything ... romance, suspense, feminism and the list goes on. Thank you for a book that shows how were women were undermined and not given credit for their work. If I had a daughter that read this and said " I want to be Elizabeth Zott when I grow up", that is the highest praise I can give this book and the wonderful writing. I laughed, I cried, I kept screaming "No" and breathing a sigh of relief when it all turned out just fine.
You don't need to be a science expert to read this. Elizabeth Zott our protagonist does a wonderful job of teaching us Chemistry. If I had encountered a teacher like her, I might have liked science much more than I did.
This is a great read for women of all ages and I am sure will be around and popular for many years to come. I definitely am glad that I read this book and again my thanks to Doubleday and NetGalley for introducing me to Bonnie Garmus and her wonderful story.

Lessons in Chemistry elicited so many emotions in me. Bonnie Gamus got the mood of the times spot on. Elizabeth Zott is a chemist in the 1960s. She becomes a TV personality teaching chemistry in the form of a cooking show when she's not allowed to be a real chemist in the working world. Housewives everywhere loved her, and so did I!

Here is a lesson in plans regardless of preparation can still go left. Brilliant, charming and feisty Elizabeth Zott has charmed the brilliant secluded Calvin Evan. She opens the possibilities in life to this man. Two scholars beginning life together, comfortable with each other both in the lab and at home. Calvin’s untimely death forces Liz to reimagine her life through an unlikely avenue. Calvin’s death brings to the surface all the stereotypes that still get in the way of women moving forward. Left without research to fill her days, she goes on local television to show women that a recipes is just applied science. Her little show becomes a sensation and she uses it as vehicle to instruct and advise. It’s humor is so subtle that you find yourself still rereading in order to not miss a moment.

TW: Rape, misogyny

This book made me feel all the things - fury, sadness, joy. There are some truly laugh-out-loud moments; there are also moments of utter despair and absolute rage at how some of the characters behave and what they get away with. But I can also appreciate the character growth and even the redemption arc experienced by some.

Elizabeth Zott has been close to exactly one person in her life, and after his death, she doesn't really open herself up to anyone. But through meeting Calvin, she begins to learn to trust again. And from there, it becomes this beautiful sort of found family story that I absolutely did not see coming. Some characters that I thought I would never like ended up growing on me because they themselves grew and changed. Elizabeth tends to be suspicious of others, and with good reason, especially when it comes to her career - she's been beaten down and cheated plenty of times. But by the end she has learned that not everyone is bad and sometimes people really do have good intentions.

I will say Elizabeth is bit socially awkward. She's meant to be, obviously, and at first it kind of threw me - how can someone be so socially clueless? But it turns out she's only awkward because she doesn't fit the mold of what others expect a woman in the 1950s to be. She's very no-nonsense and practical, and I absolutely adore the fact that she turned her kitchen into a lab. As someone with a science background, this is now a dream of mine.

I've seen some people criticize the unrealistic nature of Mad being smart, but when you give kids the freedom to explore what they want and to ask questions and actually teach them, often they'll surprise you. Why should it be surprising that Mad was reading at an advanced level by age 3? I know plenty of people who were reading period by age 4 and reading advanced books from 5 onward. I think anyone writing off the portrayal of Mad as being unrealistic has a very rigid view of what children are like, and it's not a good one. I was utterly entranced by Elizabeth, Mad, Six-Thirty, even Calvin. Garmus did an absolutely spectacular job of creating well-developed three-dimensional characters who continued to grow and change. This was such an awesome book, I know I'll be reading it again. And I can't wait for what she does next.

This is my favorite book of the year! I read it a few weeks ago and I miss the characters so much. It has character development but also a plot. It features a dog (six-thirty) that has his own voice and I loved it so much! I have been recommending this book to everyone.

Not what you think! What a powerful, uncompromising protagonist!
The story, told from varying points of view, is a gripping read.
This review is provided in exchange for an ARC from NetGalley.

Elizabeth Zott was brilliant, a scientist when women were not expected to be scientists and were, in fact, actively not wanted to participate by the establishment. This is the story of her trajectory from scientist to afternoons tv star and after. Along the way she fell deeply in love, but her happiness was short-lived. While the first half of the book dragged, the second half completely made up for it. Interesting take on a woman of substance wrapped in a feminist fable.

This book! Elizabeth Zott is resilient, hard working, loving (in her own way) so very bright and because she is a woman life has not been kind to her. She has a hard time sharing her amazing talents with the world simply because of her gender, what a shame! The thing about Elizabeth though, is that she never let any of those things get in her way! The journey of a young scientist with her talking dog (yup six thirty- the dog, talks) is a captivating one and one that everyone should read. It was such a wonderful story!