Book Review | Book Chatter

Lessons in Chemistry
By Bonnie Garmus
Doubleday, 9780385547345, April 5, 2022, 400pp.

The Short of It:

Pure fun with a little bit of science and feminism.

The Rest of It:

Elizabeth Zott is a chemist. In the 60s. She is brilliant, but pegged as “difficult”. Her discoveries are impressive but not to her peers. Her male peers consider her to be more of a lab tech than a ground-breaking scientist. When she uncovers something big, her male boss takes credit for it. None of this is new to Zott. It began in school and unfortunately affected the job offers she received. This is how she ends up at Hastings, a research institute run by a total tool.

It is at Hastings that she meets Calvin. Calvin, is a well-known scientist and a hot commodity for Hastings. He could have worked anywhere but chose Hastings for its mild climate. You see, he is also a rower so good weather year-round was a plus even though he could have gone anywhere.

Lessons in Chemistry surprised me. From the cover, I had ZERO interest in reading it. It looked like one of those fluffy romance reads. But then I read an article that praised it on many levels. And then my book club selected it for this month’s pick. So, not only did I find a copy, I BOUGHT a copy. Something I rarely do. It surprised me in many ways:

It’s full of science but masked as cooking tips
Zott is difficult, but in a very likable way
There is an adorable dog
Yes, there is romance but not fluffy, silly stuff
There are highs and lows. Not all happy stuff
It does illustrate the difficulties that women faced in that decade

This is one of those feel-good reads. It will be on my fave list at the end of the year because it includes love, loss, overwhelming challenges, and in my opinion, some really great characters. However, with all that good, it was predictable, which is why this is a four star read for me. It’s predictability did not affect my enjoyment while reading it though. I eagerly looked forward to it every time I picked it up.

If you passed this one over due it its cover alone, give it a go.

Source: Purchased
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.

The Last Chairlift
By John Irving
Simon & Schuster, 9781501189272, October 2022, 912pp.

The Short of It:

It’s been a long time I’ve read Irving but his new book does not disappoint.

The Rest of It:

Rachel Brewster is a slalom skier at the National Downhill and Slalom Championships in 1941. Due to her slight stature, she’s known as Little Ray. Although she’s well-known for her skill on the slopes, she doesn’t come close to winning a medal. Back home in New England, she becomes a ski instructor and has a son named Adam. The son who was conceived while at the Championship.

Little Ray and Adam are part of a very unique family. Although Little Ray had relations which resulted in her pregnancy, Little Ray’s partner is actually her long-time friend Molly. Another friend, Elliot, who happens to be small like Little Ray, is a cross-dresser that is near and dear to everyone, including Adam. In fact, Adam goes out of his way to protect Elliot when his secret is discovered.

If you think this is quite the cast of characters, then you’d be right and that’s not even the half of it! There is also Em, who doesn’t speak but pantomimes what she wants to say, nosy Aunts who are obsessed with Adam’s sexual preferences, oh, and ghosts. Ghosts.

Adam is a writer so some of the story is left up to the reader. Is it fiction that Adam created or is it actually part of his story? The ghosts he sees at the Jerome Hotel could be real, or they could be part of his plot. You see what I mean?

This is a wild ride of a story. At 900 pages, I really couldn’t predict how the story would end or where these characters would end up. What I can tell you is that Irving’s knack for character development is very strong and he continues to use his platform to make some political statements. The entire last part of the book was political. That said, this was probably one of the most unique stories I’ve read in a really long time.

I can’t emphasize enough how unique this story is. It’s a love story, a ghost story, and ripe with sexual politics. These characters will stay with me for a very long time.

Source: Review copy provided by the publisher.
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.

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