From the Bookshelf of EVERYONE Has Read This but Me - The Catch-Up Book Club…

Lessons in Chemistry

Bonnie Garmus

Start date: September 1, 2023

Finish date: September 30, 2023

Discussion: MODERN / POPULAR READS

Why we're reading this: September 2023 - Modern Selection
[close] September 2023 - Modern Selection

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MODERN / POPULAR READS

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What Members Thought

Sep 25, 2022 Amanda R rated it liked it · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. So, I had some conflicting feelings about this book.

I really thoroughly enjoyed the first part of it- the love story between Elizabeth and Calvin. I thought they were adorable and there were several bits of their conversations that were just delightful - especially in their early days when they were still kind of misunderstanding each other. I loved how they balanced each other out and seeing Calvin's adoration and support of Elizabeth was just sweet. The addition of Six-Thirty the dog was fun t So, I had some conflicting feelings about this book.

I really thoroughly enjoyed the first part of it- the love story between Elizabeth and Calvin. I thought they were adorable and there were several bits of their conversations that were just delightful - especially in their early days when they were still kind of misunderstanding each other. I loved how they balanced each other out and seeing Calvin's adoration and support of Elizabeth was just sweet. The addition of Six-Thirty the dog was fun too. I loved the themes of science and though I knew Elizabeth wouldn't enjoy some of the freedom and equal-thinking that we do today, I was rooting for her and felt her disappointment when things didn't go in her favor. And I have to say - loved all the bits with rowing! I know nothing about it, so it was really fun to see that in a novel and get a little glimpse of what it's all about. I found the writing style engaging and the pacing was good.

So as I was reading, I was thinking, I'm really enjoying this one!

There was something that bothered me, though.

Now, I'm not one of those people who need to see themselves in books. I don't need characters to look like me or act like me or believe like I do in order to enjoy reading their stories. In fact, some of my favorite books revolve around characters who could not be more different than me - probably for the very reason that I don't relate to them as much and so their journeys are that much more fascinating and interesting to me.

So it didn't bother me that there were characters who don't adhere to a faith as I do. I've read plenty of books that have nothing to do with faith or they have characters who proclaim a different set of beliefs or don't believe in anything like that at all. What bothered me about this book was just how anti-faith, anti-religion every character seemed to be and how as the book progressed, that point was made again and again. Even the minister didn't believe in God! It got to the point that it stopped seeming like it was just the viewpoints of the characters in the story and looked more like it was a reflection of the author's personal feelings, though I honestly have no idea what she believes. That's just how it ended up reading to me.

I get that many people see faith and science as being at odds with each other and maybe that's something the author was trying really highlight - a black and white type idea that the two come into direct conflict. It seemed as if the whole book was pretty black and white, come to think of it - science vs religion; feminism vs traditional roles; men vs women. I understand the time period of this book (early 60's) was very different from the now, but even so, I think I would have enjoyed it so much more if it could have reconciled some of these ideas as overlapping, as I feel that they do.

I think the other thing that I couldn't wrap my head around was Mad. She was precocious in a way that didn't really seem believable. I could picture her not being 4, but maybe being 8 or 9. It still would have been quite advanced even if she had been aged up a little. But 4 seemed a little too young for her to speak and act as she did. Ha ha - I know Six-Thirty wasn't believable either, but he was just cute so I didn't care!

But that's me. I know every reader is different and that won't be an issue at all to other readers - they'll be charmed by the other parts of the story as I was and will love reading Elizabeth's tale. ...more

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Aug 29, 2022 Kim rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: finished-in-2022

This was a fun little read, set mostly in the late 1950's/early 1960's, about a very intelligent woman who wants to be a research chemist, but basically can't because she's a woman and is never taken seriously (at best) or actively assaulted by men (at worst) when she tries to share her ideas. The only way she ever gets taken seriously is when she stumbles into being the host of a cooking show where she ends up empowering women by teaching about chemistry as she teaches cooking ("water, more com ...more

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