Bold, brainy heroines like Elizabeth Zott
Because we all want more heroines who can teach us a lesson in chemistry.
In the TV series Lessons in Chemistry, based on Bonnie Garmus’ 2022 novel of the same name, chemist Elizabeth Zott runs up against old-fashioned 1950s sexism that leads her to quit her research job—re-emerging in the 60s as a TV chef serving more than dinner to her audience of housewives. For readers of the novel and fans of the TV series wanting more stories about sharp-minded women that introduce us to relatable characters while serving up unforgettable comic moments, we’ve got a bunch to recommend.
Where’d You Go, Bernadette?
A very clever book by a successful 90s and 00s sitcom screenwriter-turned-novelist, this is the story of Bernadette, who vanishes after a school fundraiser she had organized (in a manner of speaking) goes completely off the rails. We follow her daughter Bee, who pieces together a (hilarious) string of clues about a hidden past her mother kept hidden for years—we peek at emails, voice memos, mysterious receipts and invoices that slowly reveal the real Bernadette, a woman Bee would very much like to know better.
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Luster
Edie’s got a lot to figure out along the way to becoming the artist she hopes deep down to be. One of those things is navigating a new relationship with a married man in an (extremely) open marriage. That should actually be relationships plural, as his wife is quickly becoming Edie’s friend, and the man’s adopted daughter has taken a liking to her as well. Raven Leilani’s debut novel is a darkly satirical novel about sex, racial politics, and modern social mores that became an instant classic when it came out in 2020.
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Sex & Vanity
From the author of Crazy Rich Asians, this is a smart literary romantic comedy of manners among the elite of the East Coast. Lucie Churchill has always tried to embody the WASP archetype of her father’s family, setting aside the heritage of her American-born Chinese mother. And no part of that embodiment includes falling for George Zao, a man who runs in the same privileged social circles as Lucie’s family, and who Lucie tries everything—for years—to resist.
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Carrie Soto is Back
Carrie Soto never stepped onto a tennis court looking to make a new friend. And when she finally retires after breaking every record and winning every title, she’s content as anyone who’s been trained for athletic greatness since the age of two can be. But several years into retirement a new player on the scene starts knocking down Carrie’s records, and she decides to restring her racket and return to defend her record at the age of 37. What this book lacks in laughs it more than makes up for in thrilling narration of nail-biting tennis.
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All Adults Here
Astrid Strick, parent of a trio of grown children, was more or less content with her performance as a parent—but witnessing a traffic accident involving a school bus breaks loose a long-repressed memory. Now she’s wondering whether she might be responsible for some of the issues her kids are struggling with in adulthood, and how she might atone for her mistakes. The comedy in this book is warm and inviting, suffused with familial love.
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The Authenticity Project
In this popular and uplifting book, a green notebook gets passed among six strangers, with each one sharing the deepest truths about themselves—eventually meeting IRL and discovering a kind of happiness they hadn’t known existed. This one’s less about LOLs than reading with a sustained grin and a warm feeling inside.
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Oona Out of Order
On New Year’s Eve 1982, 18-year-old Oona Lockhart is ready to ring in the new year and celebrate her 19th birthday—but in slightly more than the blink of an eye she awakens at the age of fifty-one, thirty-two years in the future. A charismatic stranger tells her there’s more time-leaping ahead for her: she’ll be leaping to a random age every year, learning about her life from the fragments she picks up as she goes.
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Nothing to See Here
Roommates Lillian and Madison fell out of touch long ago, but when Madison reaches out to ask Lillian for help caring for her new stepkids, Lillian is intrigued by the offer, and a little incredulous at the details. According to Madison, when the twins are agitated, they emit flames from their skin. Not figurative flames of high emotion: actual spontaneous combustion. Lillian decides, burn risk or not, she’s got nothing going on in her life keeping her from reconnecting with Madison and helping her with the kids so she joins them for the summer—and discovers that the deep feelings she develops for the children might be more surprising than their unique physiology.
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Followers
A near-future dystopia about online fame. When Floss approaches Orla with a sketchy plan for making it big on the internet, any moral resistance Orla might feel is easily overcome by her longing to escape a job writing soul-destroying clickbait. Even if some people get hurt, Orla figures their millions of followers they’ve picked up along the way provide her reassurance that it’s all for the best. In this world where celebrities are appointed by government agencies to live online 24/7 for the good of the economy, right and wrong are concepts that get weighed in likes and follows.
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When We Were Vikings
Zelda is a neurodivergent 21-year-old woman who lives with her caregiver, her older brother Gert. She is an enthusiast of all things pertaining to Vikings, and would love nothing more than to be a Viking hero herself. She sees an opportunity for heroism when she discovers that Gert has gotten himself entangled with some unsavoury characters while trying to keep a roof over their heads and food (sandwiches made to exacting specifications) on the table.
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