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angorarabbit's review against another edition
slow-paced
1.5
TLDR: The perfect book to give your daughter if you don’t want her to major in STEM.
This is a memoir so I feel like criticising the book is criticising the writer. Which is not my goal. Ms Jahren is a successful scientist with many peer reviewed papers to her name. I am not.
Most of my problem with the book is that her personality and mine clash violently. Perhaps Ms Jahren’s personality is the type that makes a good scientist and a good science educator. I need to read some more science memoirs.
I will say that I was disappointed that she didn’t give more details in how discrimination affected her career and what steps worked to overcome that discrimination. Also how other scientists who were also discriminated against because of gender, ethnicity, orientation or disability were treated and what their outcomes were.
Interspersed between each chapter recalling her life is a short chapter about trees. Anthropomorphized trees. Seeds spend decades hoping for the right conditions to sprout. They hope that they get enough rain at the right times.Trees worry and hope and think more that I do. It felt like the biology was dumbed down a little to much with a few big words sprinkled in so I would know this was special science stuff.
Her care and worry about the earth and all the lives on it in the face of climate change is very clear. But I’ve read all this for over 30 years now. We need to stop talking about climate change and start doing something about it. The only suggestion that I saw was to stop cutting so many trees. We passed that point some time ago.
I thank my library for making this available on the Kindle app. The only bad part was I couldn’t throw the book into the wall without ruining my tablet.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pregnancy, Car accident, Bullying, and Mental illness
Minor: Death of parent
kylosten's review
informative
reflective
slow-paced
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Pregnancy, and Car accident
Moderate: Misogyny and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Minor: Blood and Vomit
zunn's review against another edition
challenging
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
5.0
Loved this book! It feels like a fiction book because the writing style makes the characters very endearing! Also loved the rhythm between the science info and the biography!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness and Car accident
Moderate: Pregnancy
chemeducator's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pregnancy
Moderate: Schizophrenia/Psychosis
celinegaghadar's review against another edition
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.5
Beautifully written and touching on many aspects of the author’s life, she passionately weaves together information about plants and soil, a platonic love story about her and her lab partner and the challenges of being a scientist with bipolar disorder. I liked how she told stories to illustrate and highlight the different points in her career and personal life. I think the author did a good job of conveying her love and commitment to her work while still explaining how motherhood brought a different kind of meaning to her life. At times the language bordered being too metaphorical and flowery for me but for the most part was descriptive and poignant. It made me reflect on my own love for science and awe for the world around me. To me, some key parts of the her story remained unclear (ie why was Bill always employed by the author) and I would’ve liked maybe one more short chapter summarizing what she learned from her life this far and writing this book to pull it all together but overall I really enjoyed this book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Pregnancy
idesofmarch's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Sexism, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Car accident, Medical content, Misogyny, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Minor: Death of parent and Grief
satsumaorange's review against another edition
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
Wow. Just....... Wow. This was perhaps the best book I've read in YEARS. I am currently a STEM student about to enter grad school, and I swear, this is EXACTLY the book I needed to read at this point in my life. If my loved ones wish to understand me, they only need to read the annotations in my copy of Lab Girl.
Jahren writes with sublime devotion to the natural world that she and I both love. Her way of seeing the world... Her scientific mindset that, despite all sense of self-preservation, she can never turn off... Her stories of struggle and stress and the endless clawing fight to the top of the pile... And the love, the pure undiluted passion for her craft. Every word of this book resonated with me to my core.
Over and over I found myself moved to tears because the challenges she faced were the same ones I'm facing every day as an incoming graduate student. Her words scared me, and comforted me, and showed me exactly the kind of scientist I want to be one day. I am comforted by the fact that she has "made it" through this line of work alive, despite all the hardships she's faced. Reading this book has assured me that there is a future for me in my field. I cannot express how much this book has moved me.
As soon as I finished it, I wanted to start over again right back at the beginning. I wish I could sit down with Jahren and listen to a thousand more stories from her career as a scientist. I wish I could work in her lab for a day; heck, I wish I could meet the ever-eccentric Bill! I could read hours upon hours of her exploits and scientific pursuits. Jahren illustrates the world of science so vividly, so affectionately, that her love is infectious. Wherever they are (probably in the Jahren lab), I hope she and Bill doing well.
Jahren writes with sublime devotion to the natural world that she and I both love. Her way of seeing the world... Her scientific mindset that, despite all sense of self-preservation, she can never turn off... Her stories of struggle and stress and the endless clawing fight to the top of the pile... And the love, the pure undiluted passion for her craft. Every word of this book resonated with me to my core.
Over and over I found myself moved to tears because the challenges she faced were the same ones I'm facing every day as an incoming graduate student. Her words scared me, and comforted me, and showed me exactly the kind of scientist I want to be one day. I am comforted by the fact that she has "made it" through this line of work alive, despite all the hardships she's faced. Reading this book has assured me that there is a future for me in my field. I cannot express how much this book has moved me.
As soon as I finished it, I wanted to start over again right back at the beginning. I wish I could sit down with Jahren and listen to a thousand more stories from her career as a scientist. I wish I could work in her lab for a day; heck, I wish I could meet the ever-eccentric Bill! I could read hours upon hours of her exploits and scientific pursuits. Jahren illustrates the world of science so vividly, so affectionately, that her love is infectious. Wherever they are (probably in the Jahren lab), I hope she and Bill doing well.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Car accident, Mental illness, and Pregnancy
Minor: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Medical content, Death of parent, and Grief
candleclaudia's review
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Pregnancy, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
nsnider2214's review
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent, Medical content, Mental illness, and Pregnancy
roaringmamalion's review against another edition
emotional
informative
slow-paced
3.75
A really good blend of plant science (geobiology, in this case), personal narrative, some heavy mental health conversation, and general reflection on the author’s growth and life. I learned a lot, and this was a good read to end one year and begin another.
Content Warnings
Minor: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Mental illness, and Pregnancy