OK, one of the best books I’ve read recently. Here’s the review of it that I wrote back in 2016:

This non-fiction book – released in 2016 – is the memoir of Jahren’s life as a woman scientist.

But it’s so much more – it’s about her upbringing, education, her battles with depression and misogyny.

It’s also about plants – written with passion and clarity. You’ll never look at a seed the same way again; ditto for trees.

And it’s also about her long, platonic relationship with her, well, “work husband,” a strange but compelling character called Bill. She writes of him with empathy, affection, and an almost maternal love.

If you like botany, or even if you just like science, give it a spin. Hell, if you just enjoy a well-written book, this is just that. Pick up the book at a store or the library, and if the forward impresses, you’ll like the rest.

And now, President Obama has selected this book as part of his 2019 Summer Reading List (it’s a Facebook post, so I won’t link to it).

He’s what he had to say about the book:

Lab Girl by Hope Jahren is a beautifully written memoir about the life of a woman in science, a brilliant friendship, and the profundity of trees. Terrific.

I hope Obama’s endorsement gets more people to read a book that’s well worth reading for many reasons: The clean prose, the science, the love of science, and the vagaries of friendship, romantic entanglements and the rest of the human experience.

Again, read the the book’s forward – if you enjoy, the rest of the book will be a winner.

Highly recommended.