Virtual Community Book Club: Lessons in Chemistry
Join us for Community Book Club! We’ll be meeting on Wednesday, April 26 at 7 p.m. on Zoom. Click here to sign up for this virtual meeting!
Interested in attending in-person? Click here for details about our in-person meeting.
- Who: Everyone welcome
- How much: Free
- Which book: Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
- Where to get a copy: Borrow at WPL or buy at Armchair Books (mention the book club and receive 15% off)
Synopsis: Chemist Elizabeth Zott is not your average woman. In fact, Elizabeth Zott would be the first to point out that there is no such thing as an average woman. But it’s the early 1960s and her all-male team at Hastings Research Institute takes a very unscientific view of equality. Except for one: Calvin Evans; the lonely, brilliant, Nobel–prize nominated grudge-holder who falls in love with—of all things—her mind. True chemistry results.
But like science, life is unpredictable. Which is why a few years later Elizabeth Zott finds herself not only a single mother, but the reluctant star of America’s most beloved cooking show, Supper at Six. Elizabeth’s unusual approach to cooking (“combine one tablespoon acetic acid with a pinch of sodium chloride”) proves revolutionary. But as her following grows, not everyone is happy. Because as it turns out, Elizabeth Zott isn’t just teaching women to cook. She’s daring them to change the status quo.
Read ahead: In May, we’re reading Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner; and in June, we’ll discuss The Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley.
