Lessons in Chemistry has the book world buzzing. Published in March 2022, the book has spent time on the New York Times Bestseller list, was selected as a Good Morning America Book Club Pick, and will be released as a tv series based later this year. Here at the library Lessons in Chemistry is in high demand, with copies flying off the shelves as soon as they are brought back to the library.

Summary

Elizabeth Zott isn’t your average homemaker. She’s a trained chemist whose attention to detail and scientific methods could have had her working at the best of the best research institutions. Instead, she’s at the Hastings Research Institute, where gender outweighs brilliance and her research isn’t credited under her name. Her 1960s feminist ideals aren’t welcome in her field, and Elizabeth faces discrimination at every turn. When her career as a researcher is abruptly cut short, she ends up hosting her very own cooking show for a local TV station. But instead of asking you to add a pinch of salt, she tells you to sprinkle on the sodium chloride. Because for Elizabeth, cooking is chemistry. It’s a science, not to be trifled with. Her kitchen is unlike any other, filled with beakers and bunson burners. But despite her dry sense of humor, Elizabeth appeals to the masses.

Told in the era of Mad Men, this story tells the untold of early women in STEM, unconventional families, and limiting beliefs of traditional gender roles. It’s a fun read and great for book clubs.

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Happy reading!

-Melinda