Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

In Bonnie Garmus' Lessons in Chemistry, we meet Elizabeth Zott, a budding chemist in early 1960s California. Struggling to be taken seriously in an exclusively male lab, she meets Calvin Evans who is on track to win a Nobel Prize. They are the perfect couple until something goes terribly wrong and Elizabeth is left jobless and alone with a child to raise. Since no actual lab will take her on, she agrees to host what will become the most successful cooking show of its time. As she lifts up her viewers, mostly housewives, she wants more for herself as well.

I absolutely adored this book! Elizabeth is a fantastic character brimming with grit and wit. And Garmus' excellent writing doesn't stop at her main character- each supporting cast member brings something special to the story, not least of whom is Elizabeth's dog, Six-Thirty. While I was frequently furious about the treatment Elizabeth receives from the other scientists she encounters, I loved the way she handles herself. This book is inspiring as well as entertaining and I hope you'll add it to your list.

 

The Disappearing Act by Catherine Steadman

Catherine Steadman's The Disappearing Act features Mia, a British actress on the verge of her big break who has traveled to Los Angeles to find the role of a lifetime. While waiting for an audition, she meets a woman named Emily who asks a small favor of her. When Emily doesn't show up for their agreed meeting time, Mia starts to worry something bad may have happened to her. Mia should be focused on making her career dreams come true, but she can't get Emily out of her head.

Steadman is also the author of Something in the Water, which I thought was a fantastic thriller. This newest book of Steadman's didn't quite meet it, but it was very close. There were times I felt like the writing took a little too long to get where we were going, as if she was trying a little too hard to build tension, but I really enjoyed reading it. The ending was especially satisfying. When I started this book, I was in dire need of a distraction from real life and a missing person mystery set in LA was perfect. This would make a fun addition to your summer reading list.

 

The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot by Marianne Cronin

In The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot by Marianne Cronin we meet the most wonderful cast of characters. Lenni is a seventeen-year-old terminal patient who has been in the hospital for a very long time. When she meets eighty-three-year-old Margot under mischievous circumstances, they become fast friends and vow to tell, and paint, the stories of their combined one hundred years. 

This book is sweet and comforting and lovely and heartbreaking. Lenni has far too few stories, but she makes the most of the days she has, forming friendships and getting right to the point of things. Margot's stories are full love and loss and she becomes the surrogate mother Lenni, and maybe also the reader, needs.

I adored this book. Add it to your list today.  

 

Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson

Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson features the story of a family grieving the loss of their mother, Eleanor. The family has been fractured for years and part of Eleanor's will includes a voice recording of her sharing her life story with her children, Benny and Byron. The story takes them back to the Caribbean island on which Elanore was born, to London where she went for her education, and finally to California where she raised her family. The number of surprises revealed rock Benny and Byron's foundations and lead them to question all they ever thought they knew about their mother and about their own lives. The only thing they have left of her is a single black cake in the freezer, a family tradition about which they are finally going to learn.

The number of storylines Wilkerson introduces could have been dizzying, but she expertly weaves them into a beautiful tapestry of family history, tragedy, love, and secrecy. I adored this book! I was so heartbroken by the loss and the forfeited opportunities. The writing was absolutely beautiful. I was thrilled with the way all the little ribbons of stories braided together and nothing was left dangling at the end. This was Wilkerson's debut novel, but I can't wait to read more of her work.  

 

The Complete Maus by Art Spiegelman

Do you know what's amusing about people who try to ban books? They have no idea that they are just adding to the TBR lists of thousands, possibly millions, of readers in the world. I had heard of Maus by Art Spiegelman, but I hadn't read it until Tennessee decided it shouldn't be allowed in their schools. It is a graphic novel about the holocaust featuring anthropomorphized mice and cats as the Jews and Nazis, but the Tennessee lawmakers were concerned that there were illustrations of naked mice. I still can't stop shaking my head.

I read the "complete" edition which contains both volume one and volume two of the heartbreaking story of the author's father's experiences in 1940's Poland and Germany. The first volume is officially titled A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History and the second is titled A Survivor's Tale: And Here My Troubles Began. These stories are so difficult to read, but so necessary. If we don't acknowledge how horrible things like this have happened in the past, how can we hope to prevent them in the future? I highly recommend these books and I see absolutely no grounds for their banned status.

READ BANNED BOOKS!

 

The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult

I am going to admit right at the beginning of this review that I have historically not been a fan of Jodi Picoult. I read a couple of her books years ago and didn't enjoy them and so swore off anything by her in the future. It is the reason I was so reluctant to read this book, The Storyteller, for so long. I saw all the good reviews from friends and finally decided to give it a try.

I am so glad I did.

Sage is a baker who keeps mostly to herself while still overwhelmed with grief after the death of her mother three years previous. When she unexpectedly becomes friends with a nonagenarian named Josef in her grief counseling group, she begins to open up a little more to the world. When he confesses the most heinous secret possible, she has to decide if she should tell or grant him the unusual favor he asks of her. How many years must pass before we are no longer the person who committed a crime? Can the good we do ever outweigh the bad? These are the questions Sage has to answer.

As hard as I try to avoid spoilers in my reviews, it is simply not possible today so please read on at your own risk.

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This book is told in three parts. The first and last sections are Sage's story and her dilemma, but the middle part focuses on the harrowing experiences of Sage's grandmother, Minka, during the holocaust. As heartbreaking and difficult as Minka's story is to read, it is beautifully and compellingly written. I couldn't stop reading; I couldn't look away. There were, however, several moments when I had to put the book in my lap and sob. Picoult doesn't shy away from describing the horrors experienced in the concentration camps. She delivers the blows with merciless precision, as well she should. When atrocities such as these are part of reality, it is our responsibility to genuinely and honestly look at how they happened so as to watch for risks of repeat in the future.

Minka's story was my favorite part of this book, but the sections told from Sage's point of view aren't as enjoyable. I didn't care for her character very much. I also didn't really care for the ending. It left so much to be desired. Unfortunately, these sections force me to drop rating from five to four stars, which I think is still pretty good considering. This book was wonderful. I'm so glad I read it.

 

One Two Three by Laurie Frankel

I really enjoyed Laurie Frankel's This Is How It Always Is and her latest novel One Two Three was just as wonderful. Mab, Monday, and Mirabel are triplets born in a time of hardship for their small town, Bourne. A chemical plant has poisoned the water and the repercussions are immense. Now sixteen and doing their best to survive high school and a dying town, they are determined to make things better. Included with the sisters is a whole cast of remarkable characters: Nora, their mother, who has been fighting to bring a lawsuit against the chemical company their whole lives; Omar, the mayor, who some hold at least partially responsible for what happened; Pooh, the old blind woman who isn't blind that Mab reads to once a week; and River, the son and grandson of the owners of the chemical plant whose family has moved back to town to try to reopen the plant.

I loved this book. I love that Frankel opens it with the caveat that this is a work of fiction but also that it is based on real things that have happened in real towns and that continue to happen today. A quote from the book:

If the water were contaminating wealthy Bostonians, that would be unacceptable and addressed.

But Bourne? Bourne is completely disposable.

This is an environmental story and one about people with different physical abilities and disabilities. This is a story about suffering, but also overcoming; about fighting for what is right even if it isn't necessarily in the way some people would say is the right way. Frankel writes fantastic characters and with so much heart. I have read some really good books this year and this one is right near the top.