Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

Hello everyone.  I hope you're having a nice day.

As I type, our house is filled with the scent of roasting pork.  When I moved south one of my coworkers insisted that I try a barbeque sandwich.  Now, up north, bbq is a way of cooking...cooking outside over a charcoal or gas grill.  In the south, bbq is a noun, an actual thing.  It's pork that has been long roasted, often smoked, then pulled apart and dressed with the cook's secret sauce.  Then it's piled high on a hamburger style bun where it is topped with a generous "splat" of coleslaw before having the lid applied.  To be honest, when that coworker insisted I try it, I was a bad sport, I believe I referred to it as "dog food on a bun."  Don't give me that look, southerners do some wacky things with food, and it really did look like dog food. Years later, after having a favorite bbq restaurant, that was repeatedly named best by Southern Living, I start making it myself.  Imagine my surprise when while trying to come up with my own secret sauce, I actually recreated that Southern Living favorite.  Now instead of paying nine bucks a sandwich, I get the exact same thing for nine bucks for at least a dozen servings. How did I crack the prize-winning sauce, creating a balance that would please everyone.  Balancing sweetness and acidity.

I recently read Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus.  This story set in the 1960's is about Elizabeth Zott.  She is a brilliant chemist, but kind of awkward socially, perhaps just a bit quirky.  This follows several years in Elizabeth's life as she deals with women being unappreciated and almost always underestimated.  The reader sees her happiness and sorrow, in addition to triumphs and betrayals. Originally set in a laboratory, years later as a popular tv cook, preaching the chemistry of making dinner, this story is engaging and charming.  The writing, while delightful, fades into the background as the reader becomes overwhelmed with the story.  You'll find yourself laughing and crying, often at the same time.  

If you like science or like to cook, this book is for you.  If you are a woman this is for you. If you're a young woman, this is a must for just a tiny glimpse of what the women in your family have endured to get you the treatment you now enjoy.  A great book.