Tag Archives: science

May18

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

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Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

Garmus, Bonnie. Lessons in Chemistry. Doubleday, 2022. 400 pp. ISBN 978-0385547345 $29.00.

*****

Elizabeth Zott, an opinionated, smart, and talented aspiring chemist tries to further her research and runs into male privilege, under-equipped labs, lack of funding, and sexual assault–until procuring beakers from another scientist gets her noticed by Nobel Prize winner Cal Evans. They develop a mutually respectful and lovely relationship, where a rescue dog named Six-Thirty completes their child-free family–until Cal suffers a tragedy and Elizabeth finds herself with a child out of wedlock. The novel centers around how Elizabeth came to star on a popular television show Supper At Six, where each recipe has a foundation in chemistry, sending housewives to the store for sodium chloride and acetic acid. Her deconstruction of cultural norms that hold women back and encouragement of fans to follow their dreams make her both popular and a threat. My most favorite part was Elizabeth’s attempt to teach the dog English vocabulary–and the dog’s narration.

The writing was so absolutely stellar–funny, poignant, infuriating, and magical, peopled with impossible and flawed characters. Modern women will shudder at how little we’ve come since the sixties. The sport of rowing plays a major role, as does chemistry, and these elements elevate the story from a mere romance to something really special. The many accolades are well-deserved; this is a powerful debut novel.

I listened to Lessons In Chemistry via Audible and the narration was crisply delivered with unique voicing for each distinct character. This is a fabulous readalike for fans of science-y books about women overlooked, featuring strong women and research, such as The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot or Behave by Andromeda Romano-Lax.

I received a free, advance reader’s review copy of #LessonsInChemistry from #NetGalley.

Jan15

Love on the Brain by Ali Hazelwood

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Love on the Brain by Ali Hazelwood

Hazelwood, Ali. Love on the Brain. Berkley, 2022. 384 pp. ISBN 9780593336847 $17.00

*****

Neuroscientist Bee worships Marie Curie, and has even created a WhatWouldMarieDo? twitter profile that address issues of women in STEM: dismissive men, men who take all the credit. It’s anonymous, and she connects with a like minded guy who amplifies her tweets as the intersect with his field of research. When she’s tapped for a gig with NASA working on a biofeedback type helmet that will assist with keeping astronauts focused and at the top of their game, unfortunately, her co-leader on the collaborative project with NASA and NIH is none other than engineering superstar: Levi Ward, who has gone to great lengths to avoid her for years. She doesn’t know why Levi just doesn’t seem to like her–leaves a conversation every time she joins a group, declined to work on a project with her, and won’t deign to speak to her. The miscommunication is neatly resolved.

While there are some similarities in Hazelwood’s stories (STEM setting, small female protagonists who run, tall broody men with big dicks), there is something nefarious going on in this story and a mystery to figure out. Emails aren’t reaching their destinations, lab equipment is missing and then a trial goes wrong. I am generally not a fan of suspense with my romance (unless it’s straight up WHY doesn’t he like her?) but this worked for me. The nerdy banter, introspective lead, and steamy sex scenes are highly appealing, but mostly, Hazelwood just writes smart books. I love the science career details, the competent female scientist protagonists, the feminist stance, the slam against JK Rowling, the discussions of feminism and misogyny, and the challenges of women in STEM. A subplot takes a stance against standardized tests and their bias against women, BIPOC, and people in poverty.

I received a free advance reader’s review copy of #LoveOnTheBrain from #NetGalley–but I let it expire because I hadn’t read any Ali Hazelwood books at the time and didn’t know the awesomeness of her writing, so I had to wait for a copy through OverDrive.

Dec30

The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood

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The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood

Hazelwood, Ali. The Love Hypothesis. Berkley, 2021. 384 pp. ISBN 9780593336823 $16.00

*****

Awkward, sweet, lonely Olive is working towards her Ph.D in biology, and her research focuses on early detection for pancreatic cancer. When her best friend Anh falls for Jeremy, the fellow grad student that Olive has been sort of dating, she’s more than happy to step aside, but Anh won’t believe her until Olive invents a fake relationship. Desperate for proof when she lies about a date, she spontaneously kisses Dr. Adam Carlsen in a hallway. Who kindly kisses her back, says he didn’t have a chance to consent (even though she asked) and teases her with a Title IX threat. It turns out the professor, known for being antagonistic, unapproachable, and maybe even down right mean due to his rigorous approach–has a sense of humor, is passionate, and has an ulterior motive of his own. His research funds are frozen, because he has no roots at Stanford and has been deemed a flight risk; having a local girlfriend might convince his funders he has no plans to bail from CA. The two plot out a series of coffee dates, get to know one another, and inevitably become friends. When Olive gets invited to present on a panel at a conference in Boston and her friends make alternative housing plans under the assumption that she will room with her “boyfriend” — you can guess what happens next.

Science + romance is often a win-win for me–the author perfectly captures the pressure (and broke-ass-ness) of graduate school, and the academia and research details give depth to the story and shouldn’t be lost on anyone who completed their required high school biology lab. This romance also gently pokes fun at itself with a healthy awareness of fake dating and just one bed tropes, Hallmark movies and bad YA novels. The characters are the best of stereotypes: fit, smart and beautiful people, but real; Adam is practically Clark Kent, in a pushing a giant truck out of the way moment. They are also healthily nuanced, with very human flaws, backstories with a dose of trauma, and sometimes unsavory behaviors (lies and deceit!). They are also very funny, and seem to share the same sense of humor (she teases his about his age, he calls her a smart ass). Every word of the book serves to further the plot and build character. The sex is languorous, as in goes on for chapters–vulnerable, detailed and includes check ins and consent, but not condoms. Finally, I think Olive is of a orientation not often represented: she doesn’t feel attraction, and cannot engage in physical intimacy unless she completely trusts her partner and has developed emotional intimacy. And when she is able to be unguarded and honest with Adam, he is gentle, respectful, and responsive to her demisexuality.

Triggers for some may include parental loss, sexual harassment, and misogyny, none of which is far fetched, gratiutous, or rewarded; in fact, a villainous and dastardly colleague, but he gets his comeuppance in very satisfying way.

I received a free advance reader’s copy of #TheLoveHypothesis from #NetGalley last year, devoured it, and forgot to write a review. It was just as excellent on the re-read through Libby.

Jan28

The Soulmate Equation by Christina Lauren

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The Soulmate Equation by Christina Lauren

Lauren, Christina. The Soulmate Equation. Dial Press, 2022. ISBN 400 pp. 978-0593379165 $17.99

****

I spent 2 years on Plenty of Fish, Bumble, Tinder and OKCupid just looking at profiles until I met my the love of my life. I was holding out for a 90% or better compatibility on OKCupid (and striking out) when I accidentally swiped UP (superlike!) on a not-yet-divorced man on Tinder (a site I barely used, because I was looking for long term, not a quick hookup). Tinder was a stopover for him while he was perfecting a J-Date profile. I’d like to think if we had completed all those tests on OKCupid, we’d be a solid 90% match.

In The Soulmate Equation, single mom statistician Jess has just sworn off dating. She and her best friend work from a local coffee shop, a place where you could set your watch by the attractive man who comes in at 8:24 every morning, face buried in his phone. When it turns out he runs a dating company that finds matches based on genetic compatibility across 200 genomes, Jess and her friend romance novelist Fizzy end up getting a tour, the pitch and send in a spit sample for a possible match; Jess ends up 98% compatible with the grumpy but hot owner, River.

The company, poised to go public, offers to pay Jess $30,000 to date River for three months; the match is too good not to share, and a real relationship for the two of them would solidify the data. Jess agrees, so long as her adorable 7-year-old Juno is kept out of the PR spotlight. River comes up with the clause they are under no obligation to get physical. Jess and River find themselves ordering the same meals, making similar gestures on their dates, and their chemistry is palpable. River shows up for Jess in all kinds of ways–picking up Juno at school, standing vigil at the hospital after the grandmother that raised her has an accident–but when Jess comes upon some information that could compromise the data, and the company, she can’t remain silent, even though she risks losing everything she ever wanted.

San Francisco is a strong presence in the book, and Jess’s grandfather’s love of crossword puzzles is one of the things that adds depth to the characterizations. Jess’s addict mother Jamie keeps everything a little too real. I completely geeked out over all the data science. My only complaint is I would have liked some remaining questions answered.

If my love and I were able to get a genome sequencing, like the characters in the book, would we come out with a strong match? I think so. Would we want to know the results? Again, I think so-it would just prove what I already know to be true.

I received an advance reader’s review copy of #TheSoulmateEquation from #NetGalley