There’s a very good reason why you’ve seen this book everywhere, everyone you know is reading it and it has sold millions of copies….it is BLOOMIN FANTASTIC. Brilliantly written and engaging from the very first page, if you haven’t picked this up already then what on earth are you doing?! Can’t recommend enough.

I was really looking forward to reading this. I had seen snippets of the Brie Larson adaptation, I had heard the incredible story of debut novelist Bonnie Garmus finally getting published in her sixties. I always love books that champion female choice and agency. Elizabeth Zott seemed like a character that would be shooting straight to the top of my favourite heroines. But despite some extremely strong moments, this was a book that left me feeling indifferent and I am really curious as to why this has happened.

The novel centres round unlikely television cooking show host Elizabeth Zott. Despite her blithe indifference to the trappings of fame, her show "Supper at Six" has become a cult hit. Zott took up teaching America to cook purely to put food on her own table. She intended to be a chemist but various roadblocks and misadventures including rape, sex discrimination and the death of her partner kiboshed her career. The bereavement also left her an unmarried single mother to young Madeleine. Still, Elizabeth Zott is able to bring everything back to chemistry whether it be parenthood, rowing or indeed cooking so through it all, she remains close to her roots.

I loved the feminism that runs through Garmus' writing. Through her heroine, Garmus celebrates the heroism of the women who put dinner on the table for their families every single day. One of the most frustrating things about women's work is how far it is taken for granted. There is a huge mental load around making sure that the laundry gets done, hung up, folded and then put away where the small people can just find it. Having to think of a menu and make sure that you have all the necessary ingredients in the cupboard is even more complex. Add in the guilt around additives, processed and ultra-processed foods, sugar, salt, saturated fats and all the rest. Then even when you've done it, the kids won't even eat it. Cooking dinner is a literal thankless task.

I think if I met Bonnie Garmus, we would get on like a house on fire. She seems amazing. But some of the plot around Elizabeth Zott went a little too far for me to suspend my disbelief. Any character who is just fantastic at everything is difficult to engage with and while I recognise Elizabeth Zott's superpower was chemistry and she applied it to every situation with aplomb ... still. I couldn't quite buy it. And this was a shame. Because I wanted so much to love this.

So much of Zott's situation defies logic if you squint at it for even a second. She has a wunderkind child (a completely unrealistic one alas!), a neighbour across the road who is delighted to babysit for free at any time and then the deus ex machina returning figure towards the novel's end was also unnecessarily convoluted. In a truly bad book, all of this would be par for the course but I think because there is so much here which is brilliant, it really stands out.

I think I will try watching the adaptation at some point or other. Sometimes the transplantation to the screen can unwrinkled some of the more ridiculous points of a plot. As someone still in the trenches of early parenthood, some of Zott's monologues felt like a battle hymn. I admire the mind behind this book and I would definitely tune into "Supper at Six". As an addendum, Zott's dog Six-Thirty is one of the most wonderful canine characters that I can ever remember reading. Far from perfect but still offering many useful lessons, Lessons in Chemistry proves that its author is definitely someone to watch.

One if my favourite books I’ve read this year. Interesting, enlightening and moving, it was one I will never forget - I loved it!

This is the story of an unconventional female chemist in the 1960s. Her environment is hostile and demeaning, with male colleagues who treat her like a secretary but are happy to take credit for her work, and female secretarial staff to whom she's a source of envy and gossip. As a single mother she is struggling financially and falls into the role of a TV cook on a daytime cooking show, and some higher-ups have certain expectations of this role.

I put this book off for a while, but once I picked it up it was completely engaging. The book covers some serious topics that are difficult to read about, but the writing style is sharp and clever and there are some light, slightly fantastical elements which gave some releif and balance to the heavy content without distracting from the topics raised.

I found this a very enjoyable read, that dealt with serious topics in a way that felt both fresh and empowering.

Lessons in Chemistry is so fabulous. Rich characters, a compelling plot, so much to go over and think about again - not least the way women are portrayed in the media, on TV and in STEM. I loved Elizabeth Zott and this book will stay with me for a long time.

I really thought I'd given this a review when I read it. I LOVE the first 80% of the book. The dog, the relationship between the main characters, a woman fighting to be herself in a society who didn't want her to do. I just felt like the end was all a bit too neat and tied up too quickly. So I left it feeling a bit short changed. It's a shame as the rest was great. Why try to tie everything up so neatly at the end? I have friends who LOVE this book so I think I'm in the minority!

As I read Bonnie Garmus’ Letters in Chemistry, I thought “this is perfect for a tv adaptation”. Astute, funny and with a wonderful dog, this novel is deservedly popular,

Lessons In Chemistry
Bonnie Garmus

I just loved this book. Quirky, funny, heartwarming, heartbreaking, educational and so very interesting. So rare to get so much from one book!
This is one I’ll be buying as gifts & recommending to others for a long time. I really hope we get another book from Ms Garmin soon.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and to Penguin.

This is another book that I tried to get into multiple times and struggled - partially due to burnout and an inability to consume books visually, but I think also because I struggle with books set in the time period this one is set in. I actually had a friend suggest this one to me recently as she felt a lot of the messages/story would really resonate with me interestingly. I think I will continue to try and read this one, but for the purpose of this review, I haven’t managed to finish the book and I’m not sure if I will be able to.

Lessons in Chemistry. Everyone else had read it so I had to too, right? And with that in mind, I’m going to keep it short:

What I liked: Elizabeth, obv. I wanted to see her succeed and I loved those moments where she got the audience behind her and how her visibility helped others believe that they could be whoever they wanted to be.

What I didn’t like: including the dog’s POV.. Did others not find that strange? It really took me out of the story.

Anyway, I get the hype and am intrigued for the Apple TV adaptation with Brie Larson.

A clever, intelligent, thought-provoking, enjoyable book. Highly recommend.
Chosen and read for book club.

I loved loved loved this book! If you haven't read it then leave everything else and start reading this one at once!

It’s the 1960s in America. Elizabeth Zott is a scientist and she works as a researcher in chemistry. Nevertheless, life is not easy for her: she is a female scientist in a world dominated by men, and she encounters trauma and serious issues along the way. Her life changes completely when she meets a fellow scientist, but tragedy soon knocks at her door, leaving her once again alone… and pregnant. Fired from the research centre, Elizabeth finds herself employed as a TV presenter in a cooking show. Little does she know that she will become the greatest star of the show, and she will be an idol for all the women who watch her from home and who are slowly starting to realise that they deserve much more from life.

I enjoyed this book, it’s beautifully written and fast-paced. Feminism is the driving force behind it, and I appreciated it. My only criticism is that the political commentary becomes sometimes too strong and too “obvious”, to the point that the reader feels like s/he is in school. All the commentary probably needed to be “diluted” a bit. I also found Elizabeth’s characterisation a bit basic, sometimes: she is a chemist, so she seems to be completely out of the world, all quirky and strange. Probably, she needed to have a few less quirks and be more relatable. All things considered, it is certainly a nice book, just a bit naive at times.

I wanted to read this due to the hype and also it is coming out as an Apple show shortly. I enjoyed the book, found it an interesting and a read that just kept on giving and before I knew it I was finished.

I was given a free copy by netgalley and the publishers but the review is entirely my own.

Oh, I LOVED this book. Elizabeth Zott was an absolute force and a joy to read. I had low expectations on starting the book but promptly found myself unable to put it down

I have heard nothing but rave reviews for this book since it came out last year, and after hearing that the TV adaptation would be coming out in a couple of months, I finally got around to reading it. My heart broke for Elizabeth time and time again as she constantly navigated betrayal, sexism and grief while never wavering in her beliefs or principles, especially towards raising her daughter, and I found that to be so admirable. This was a frustrating read at times, but only because I got so angry at how much rudeness Elizabeth had to put up with, which though frustrating, definitely accurately portrayed attitudes of the time. I found the whole found-family element to be very heartwarming, especially after Elizabeth had experienced so much loss in her life, and I found her to be a remarkable protagonist, teaching women valuable lessons through an 'appropriate' medium.

I finally read this book in May, it was my first May read and out of all my format options I chose the audiobook. For me I regret this as the narrator isn’t my cup of tea and it took me about a quarter of the book to adjust to her style and really get into the story so I’m writing this looking past the narrator.

I really enjoyed this book, it gave me all the emotions. Anger cause almost all the men are trash and despite the times we live in these power plays are still a thing! Sadness at what Elizabeth has to experience. Humour at her straight forward and often blunt view on things. And awe at everyone she managed to inspire both in the book to those reading the book.

STEM for women wasn’t promoted when I was at school and as an adult who’s brain still functions differently I think that if I’d been motivated more to the options out there or even had this book as a teenager then I might have made some different choices.

I loved that food preparation is used to tell us, in big flashy lights, that we already do science on the daily and if we can cook then why can’t we do more.

I can’t really write much more without blabbering about everything in this book but I see where the hype has come from and this book deserves it and more.

My partner listened to this book after me and also love it. He and I have quite different tastes in books and from talking to him, I think it was a reminder of just how poorly women were treated back then.

Really rate this one!

I loved this book! At its centre is a strong female character who you will fall in love with over the story's arc - Elizabeth Zott - chemist, cook, single mother and unlikely celebrity.
Her story starts with her career in chemistry, which will have you shouting at the patriarchy as she faces hideous levels of sexism - from sexual assault to discrimination to having her work accredited to men and more. But she regains more control of the world when she pursues a new career on a TV cooking show, with her no-nonsense, scientific approach to creating amazing meals for the family. It goes next level when she starts to hand out more seasoned advice alongside her cooking tips - including how to deal with spousal abuse.
She creates a vast fanbase of women, at a time when they were expected to be supportive wives, and challenges that status quo, bringing about revolutionary change for women in her community.
An inspiring read that will take you through the whole range of emotions as you read through its pages - from anger and sadness at one end of the scale.to uplifting joy and laughter at the other. Hugely recommended.

After hearing so much about this book i just had to read it, well I actually listened to it on audio. The narrator was excellent and I really enjoyed listening to this book. There was a few laugh out loud moments . I really liked Elizabeth and her daughter Madeline and of course their dog Six Thirsty. Elizabeth is a very determined woman and I really enjoyed this book.

Elizabeth Zott is a character not easily forgotten. The writing in #LessonsInChemistry is razor-sharp much like Elizabeth's tongue.
Despite Elizabeth's scientific prowess LiC opens with her hosting a TV cooking show Supper at Six. How has she got here?
Though Elizabeth is a free thinking woman, it is the 1950s/1960s & misogyny is rife in academia & the scientific community. She meets Calvin Evans & they fall in love. The story takes a dark turn but Elizabeth is indomitable & while there are villainous characters there are truly good people too like Elizabeth's neighbour Harriet Sloane.
The characters in LiC are well drawn & the then & now narrative kept me turning the page. Madeleine - Elizabeth's daughter & SixThirty their dog made me laugh out loud. There are times in the book when I felt like doing violence to some of the characters I was so invested.
Lessons in Chemistry was for me a fabulous read & I have been recommending to everybody who asks me for a good read.