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Jan 31, 2012

Eric rated it:

Love at Absolute Zero is a funny look at love through a scientist's hypothesis/experimentation model of dating. It's not at all my typical kind of book, but that made it more of a breath of fresh air.

There were, however, two aspects I didn't like.

1) The beginning of the first chapter, which flashed forward four months with unnecessary and heavy-handed foreshadowing.

2) The book's description, which implied the main character -- Gunnar Gunderson -- would More...

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Dec 30, 2011

Debbie rated it:

Thank you Goodreads for giving me the chance to discover this delightful book by choosing me as a winner. I was intrigued by the discription of "Love at Absolute Zero" when I saw it listed in the giveaways. Having known men like Gunnar I was eager to see what Christopher Meeks had in store for this scentifically adept but socially inept "hero". From the beginning I was captivated by Meeks main character Gunnar. I found myself pulling for him to succeed and wishing I sit him More...

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Jul 12, 2011

Grady rated it:

'Prediction is very difficult, especially about the future.' Niels Bohr

The concept of marrying science and passion as the topic for a novel is a challenging one at best. And that is exactly what Christopher Meeks has succeeded in meeting in his latest novel LOVE AT ABSOLUTE ZERO. Meeks seems to mature literarily by leaps and bounds with each new book he pens. This reader became enamored of his short stories but then that little contagious virus mutated into the novel format, and where More...

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Jan 25, 2012

Angie rated it:

It has been a long time since I read a book and laughed this much. The premise is fantastic-science guy searches for love using the scientific method. There is clearly 1 main character and everyone else is just a minor player, not engaging individually but make a great ensemble and the book says something about personhood. It reads a bit like a sitcom.
What made the book funny was the main character's makeover which was conducted by old professors. He did everything at once: Lasik, bra More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 05, 2011

Lisa rated it:

Gunnar Gunderson is having his midlife crisis a little early. He’s just gotten tenure and suddenly he decides he needs a wife. Gunnar’s a scientist, not a romantic, so he decides to play to his strengths: he’s going to use the scientific method to help him find a wife. Even better, he’s going to find her in three days.

What follows is a little over-the-top but definitely funny. If Gunnar and his wingmen can find a study or a research paper on what attracts women, Gunnar is going to try More...

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Oct 16, 2011

Virginia rated it:

With some books, you can sense in advance that you are in for a reader's treat, that you will be taken outside your normal reading zone and sent on an involving and entertaining journey through words. "Love at Absolute Zero", by Christopher Meeks, is just such a book. I knew that I would love the hero, Gunnar Gunderson, and that I would be captivated by his adventure of self-enlightenment. What I didn't know, since this was my first read from Chris Meeks, was that the author would blow More...

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Oct 05, 2011

Richard rated it:

The Book Report: Gunnar Gunderson, physicist and dweeb, looks for love and finds it.

My Review: "It is impossible not to like Gunnar Gunderson," says critic Sam Sattler of Book Chase (pulled directly from the back cover of the book). I am here to tell you that it is indeed possible, nay incumbent upon, the critical reader to dislike dull, nerdly, clueless Gunnar. A Candide manqué, a feebly drawn Bertie Wooster sans Jeeves, Gunnar elicited in me no strong desires. He made me More...

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Oct 02, 2011

Sally rated it:

The concept of this book is great. The execution, not so much. I finished it and put it aside for a few days to think about it and am still not quite sure what it is: romantic comedy, dramatic fiction, literary fiction? The opening section even left me expecting some kind of thriller, with Gunnar’s guilt and shame and sense that he deserved to die because “She was gone.” I thought he’d killed this unnamed woman.

This is a fast read with a lot of great aspects but needs some content edit More...

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Sep 23, 2011

Heather rated it:

Gunnar Gunderson is a physicist with some pretty straightforward ways at looking at the world. While his research delving into the physics of absolute zero is going very well and he’s just secured tenure at the university, Gunnar suddenly feels an intense need to find a mate and wants to act on this desire quickly. While on a small hiatus from his teaching and research, Gunnar decides to devote his three day stretch to finding a woman whom he can settle down with. But three days being what it is More...

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Sep 19, 2011

L_manning rated it:

Gunnar Gunderson has a lot going for him. His research is exciting, and he's just gotten tenure. He feels like something is missing though- love. Gunnar decides the best way to find a mate is to take a scientific approach. If it's good enough for physics, surely it will work equally well for love too? From Wisconsin to Denmark though, he learns that love isn't as easy to figure out. Even with some major missteps, will Gunnar be able to find love? Can finding love coincide with good research?
More...

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Sep 18, 2011

Lori L rated it:

In Love At Absolute Zero by Christopher Meeks the plot is really quite simple: boy wants to meet girl. In this case the boy is 32 year old Wisconsin physicist Gunnar Gunderson. Gunnar gets tenure and decides he needs a wife. He consults with his research partners and they chart a course of action for him to find his soul mate in three days - which is all the time they are able to devote to the search while keeping to their research schedule.

The premise behind Christopher Meeks's novel More...

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Aug 30, 2011

Savannah rated it:

This was a fun book to read. It's not weighted down with all sorts of urban angst; it's not a mystery; it's not a series. In short, it's not all of the things I'm tired of and it's not in ways that are delightful and leave you glad you spent this time with this author and his characters.

I'm not especially a romance fan and don't seek them out, although a bit of romance in with other plot elements certainly doesn't put me off. But this isn't a romance per se. Instead, it tells the story More...

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Sep 14, 2011

Michelle rated it:

I really enjoyed love at absolute zero. It has been a while since I have read a good contemporary romance/general fiction book. I have been so into paranormal, that it was almost strange to just read about normal people and normal everyday life. But I really liked it. The characters are likeable (well, most of them- I hated Kara!) and I wanted Gunnar to find someone so bad! I was rooting for him the whole book.
Even though I am not a huge science person, I really appreciated how committed G More...

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Jan 31, 2012

Greg rated it:

"If Einstein could have sex, love and physics, so could I," intones our nerdy protagonist Gunnar Gunderson partway through Christopher Meeks' indie romp, Love at Absolute Zero. But the question is, can he really?

We spend the whole novel with Gunnar, a 32-year-old physics professor at the University of Wisconsin trying to find out. Early in the novel, Gunnar is granted tenure and decides it's time to find a wife. Luckily, that same day, he runs into a high school crush, and he More...

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Sep 19, 2011

Kari rated it:

Gunnar Gunderson is a 32 YO scientist who has had his nose in a book and head in his research his entire adult life. When he finally makes tenure, he realizes that it is time to find a wife. What better way than to use the Scientific Method. It is what any good scientist would do, right? Besides, what could go wrong? As he quickly finds out, everything!

Love at Absolute Zero is a funny, yet compelling read. Being a scientist, I liked the idea of using the Scientific Method to help More...

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Oct 13, 2011

Patricia rated it:

Not sure if this is romantic fiction or just light fiction. The author manages to mix philosophy into the plot seamlessly and as the story is told from the point of view of a research physicist, there's lots of commentary.

Gunnar Gunderson is a young physicist with a good teaching/research job at the University of Wisconsin. He and his team of two like nerdy guys are searching for a supposedly non-existent particle that might show up if they manage to get it cold enough (absolute zero More...

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Dec 09, 2011

Julia rated it:

I flew through this book, enjoying it all the way. It had a little bit of physics, a little bit of philosophy, romance, travel, it was great! It is the story of a physics professor, Gunnar, who decides he is ready to marry and starts a search for love. He tries to go about it scientifically, with mixed results.

I loved his attempts at speed dating. The women he meets are so over the top. His awkward attempts at casual talk are funny too. This is a man who initially finds it hard to ta More...

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Sep 21, 2011

Vivian rated it:

Is it possible to use science to explain and find love? And if it's possible, can the love and the researcher survive? Physicist Gunnar Gunderson is on a quest to determine the answers to these questions in Love At Absolute Zero by Christopher Meeks.

In many ways Gunnar is very naive about love and relationships. At age 32 he's only been in one serious relationship and that was broken off by his girlfriend. After receiving tenure he has decided the next logical step is to have a wife an More...

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Nov 03, 2011

Wonderkell rated it:

I have never read a romance written by a man & from the male perspective before. I have to say I really enjoyed the experience. Gunner Gunderson's round about way of finding love is at times hilarious & at times heartbreaking, but always touching. I really came to love Gunner & I really, really wanted him to find true love.

One of the other things that was great about this novel was the author's knowledge of the science that was such an integral part of the story. I don't have a scienti More...

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Jan 21, 2012

Sharayah rated it:

I was really disappointed with this book. I thought the interplay between romance and science would be fun in a nerdy sort of way. I think part of the purpose of this book was to compare what happens to people in love to what happens to atoms at absolute zero--they lose their individuality and have an identity crisis. This was definitely true of the main character, a thirty year old professor and researcher who can't figure out how to date, but I didn't find this character compelling, interes More...

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Dec 25, 2011

drey rated it:

drey’s thoughts:
Gunnar Gunderson is a geek (yes, he is) who gets hit with the revelation that he doesn’t want to live out the rest of his life alone. So he decides it’s time to find love. But where? And how? And oh my gosh, he’s only got three days to do it!

So the scientist sets out to conquer matters of the heart, scientifically (of course). And what follows is sheer entertainment, as he sits thru speed-dating, runs into former classmates, fends off an over-zealous student, and More...

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Jul 12, 2011

Christopher rated it:

First, I'm in awe of Goodreads this second. I'd been so deep into writing this book that something had to give, and that something was learning more about Goodreads. I could probably burn up my day with email and Facebook alone, let alone adding something new like Goodreads. Yet friends kept mentioning this place, and so I found my password and have decided to really explore it. I just found my profile, and two things surprised me here. One is that I didn't have to add my new novel; it was alrea More...

2 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 08, 2011

Jessica rated it:

As someone who is a fan of love stories, science, and scientists, I was immediately drawn to the description of this book. Gunnar Gunderson is a socially awkward young physicist who decides to employ the scientific method to find a mate.

I was really pleased with how original this book felt. I haven’t read any other books with a similar plot or feeling. The writing style was well-suited to the book, and there were some laugh out loud moments. Gunnar is a truly unusual character. I’m not More...

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Nov 03, 2011

Christine marked it as to-read

"Love at Absolute Zero" is about Gunnar Gunderson, a 32-year-old star physicist at the University of Wisconsin. The moment he’s given tenure at the university, he can think of only one thing: finding a wife. His research falters into what happens to matter near absolute zero (−459.67 °F), but he has an instant new plan. To meet his soul mate within three days—that’s what he wants and the time he can carve out—he will use the Scientific Method. Can Gunnar survive his quest

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Oct 15, 2011

Dan rated it:

Gunnar Gunderson just wants to find love. Being a physicist, he tries to do it scientifically. Will he find love this way? That’s what he hopes to achieve. This is a boy-meets-girl, boy-loses-girl, boy-finds-hope love story, with a lot of science and laughter thrown in. Gunnar is a likable character and the story is enjoyable with bright moments and some sad ones thrown in. I did chuckle at times, so that means I enjoyed the book.

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Sep 14, 2011

David rated it:

Good book. It's about Gunnar Gunderson a physics proffessor at The University of Wisconsin. He's just got tenure, he's in his early thirties, now he's going to take three days off from his research of Bose Einstein condensate theory to find a wife. He's going to use the same research methods in his search for a wife that he uses in the lab. On his three day quest, he speed dates, get's some dramatic cosmetic upgrades, has a fling that lands him in Denmark. Meeks does a good job of toning down th More...

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Jan 09, 2012

Rebecca rated it:

Love At Absolute Zero by Christopher Meeks is a fun story. Gunnar, a physicist, has decided that since he has reached the goal of tenure in his career, that it is time to find a wife. With a complication in his team’s research, he has three free days in which he plans to do just that! Except those three days are only the beginnings of his wild journey, going places and doing things he never even imagined he would do.

After reading Love At Absolute Zero and a short story titled The Sun More...

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Aug 21, 2011

Bruce rated it:

A fun read once I was able to disassociate myself from Gunnar who can successfully navigate a physics lab but has innumerable difficulties doing the same in the maze that is a social relationship. Little does he realize the quicksand he is about to step into when he decides he needs a wife. The tale shows us how his flailing just drives him deeper in the mire in his laughable attempts to find his match and how little he (or any male of species for that matter) really understands the workings o More...

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Nov 28, 2011

Carolyn rated it:

Christopher Meeks poor writing style makes the book drag. With such real characters and an interesting premise he could have written a tour de force on love and reason but it lacks philosophical or even scientific depth.

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Nov 01, 2011

Lori Tatar rated it:

Christopher Meeks has given us a likable character with a very cramped schedule, who wants to meet Ms. Right in very short order. He has a schedule during which to make this happen and even gives timed dating a try, you know, when you meet and greet for just a few minutes in an effort to find the perfect somebody. It takes him a little time to figure out that the things that matter can't be set to a specific block of time, and that while physics and pheromones may explain a lot, they simply don' More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

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