11 Books to Read if You Liked Lessons in Chemistry

 

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In 2022, I picked up an audio copy of Lessons in Chemistry and turned it on with low expectations.

And then I was sucked right in and absolutely loved it! (You can see my 30 second book review of it here!).

I wasn’t the only one who loved Lesson in Chemistry – it’s spent more than a year on the NYT bestsellers list and it’s sold millions of copies!

If you were a Lessons in Chemistry fan, here are some other books you might enjoy too!

11 Books to Read if You Liked Lessons in Chemistry

Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld
This book is not for everyone, but it’s one of my favorite books I read in 2023. It’s about a writer on a SNL type show who writes a skit about how funny guys end up with beautiful women but the reverse is never true for funny women ending up with beautiful men.

 

 

The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion
This is such a wacky but charming romantic comedy where Don Tillman, a professor of genetics, sets up a questionnaire designed to find him the perfect wife. When he meets Rosie, who is everything he’s not looking for in a wife, their relationship grows and deepens.

 

 

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
Sadie and Sam bond over video games as kids, and later go on to become video game designers, creating the most beloved video games of their generation. This book has a lot of heavy topics in it, but it was one of the most immersive book experiences that I have ever had.

 

 

Things You Save in a Fire by Katherine Center
This is my FAVORITE Katherine Center book. Her romances are filled with so much substance. Plus, if you have not seen the Instagram Live I did with Katherine Center, you will be an instant fan!

 

 

 

Carrie Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Carrie Soto is THE BEST tennis star. When a young player starts gunning for her title, Carrie comes out of retirement and will do anything to keep that title (even though playing tennis at 35 years old is a lot harder than she remembered).

 

 

 

Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt
I wasn’t sure about this one, but I ended up really enjoying it. Each chapter alternates between three seemingly unconnected characters – one, being an octopus at an aquarium.

 

 

 

Iona Iverson’s Rules for Commuting by Clare Pooley
This was delightful and I see why it’s so popular. I don’t usually love a big cast book, but this one worked for me. It’s all about the unlikely friendships that are formed when you decide to talk to strangers on the train.

 

 

 

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
Eleanor (a similar lead character to The Maid) is friendless, and has an inability to pick up on social cues. When she and a coworker end up in the right place at the right time to help an elderly man who’s fallen, a friendship is slowly formed.

 

 

 

Where’d You Go, Bernadette? by Maria Semple
This was so different than other books I’ve read. Funny and tragic and, once I got a feel for it, really engaging. Teenage Bee embarks on a trip that takes her to the ends of the Earth to find her hilarious, talented, troubled, and agoraphobic mother that went missing.

 

 

The Maid by Nita Prose
Molly Gray is a maid in a very upscale hotel – a job she loves because it’s orderly and predictable and she doesn’t have to interact too much with other people, which is a struggle for her. But things start getting chaotic when she goes to clean the room of a wealthy and well-known guest and finds him dead in his bed. And . . . she’s the primary suspect! Molly is going to have to find the real killer if she is to clear her name and she’ll need help to do it, if she can figure out how to ask for it.

 

The Storied Life of AJ Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin
I read this in 2022 for Everyday Reading Book Club and I loved reading it again! AJ Fikry is a grumpy bookshop owner who is losing money, has his rarest book stolen, and then finds a baby left on his doorstep. This book is a reader’s DELIGHT. (Full review here)

 

 

Suggestions from Instagram comments:

The Rosie Effect by Graeme Simsion
This is the sequel to The Rosie Project (from the list above). I haven’t read it yet, but I have heard that it starts right where The Rosie Project left off, and you should read them in order.

 

 

 

Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata
After working at the same convenience store her entire adult life, Keiko (who is nearing 40) is beginning to feel the pressure to get married and find a “real” job. What kind of life is waiting outside Keiko’s comfort zone and will she step out to meet it?

 

 

The Diver’s Clothes Lie Empty by Vendela Vida
While on a mysterious trip to Morocco, a woman is robbed of her wallet and passport. After being stripped of her identity, she begins to feel a strange freedom and soon begins pretending to be a well-known film star.

 

 

 

No One is Talking About This by Patricia Lockwood
This book is written in a very unique style and structure. It mirrors social media (full of memes), but when an emergency in the protagonists life draws her from her online life, it forces her to live in the moment and the story begins to develop in a more narrative structure. This one sounds very interesting!

 

 

Britt-Marie Was Here by Fredrik Backman
The author of A Man Called Ove,
Britt-Marie is a socially awkward and very organized busybody. When she leaves her cheating husband and gets a job at the dilapidated rec center, she is very unprepared for the changes. But she just might find a place she belongs, as she takes on the task of leading the youth soccer team to victory.

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