It’s rare for me to find a book where I like all of the characters. Well, I didn’t like them all in this particular book because some were just incredibly hateful people. But they had relevance to the story line. They weren’t thrown in in a nonsensical way. That’s why I liked all the characters.

The dog, Six-Thirty, is off the charts wonderful.

As most of you know, fiction is not a favorite genre of mine. But Lessons in Chemistry (Doubleday, 2022) by Bonnie Garmus reaffirms novels can be captivating, have a poignant message, and can be entertaining and captivating.

It was interesting listening to this book after finishing Gloria Steinem’s collection of works. This book by Garmus is about women’s rights in a similar, but different way—after all, it is fiction. It’s set in the early 1960s when there were few career options open for women.

Elizabeth Zott, the main character, is a chemist who finds one obstacle after another to realizing her intellectual potential. The early sexual assault is necessary. Push through it and the rest of the story is compelling.

Not only is the story line interesting, but the writing is great. It was definitely a book that I didn’t want to end.

A bonus to having listened to the book is there was an interview with the author at the end.