I’ve always reached for fiction books instead of non-fiction; I love getting lost in stories when I read, and so I never thought that non-fiction was for me. However, I got curious one day and decided to pick up Lab Girl by Hope Jahren to try something new.
Jahren is a geobiologist who first got her start in science in her father’s lab, and fell in love with studying plants. Lab Girl is her memoir that details both her career in science and personal anecdotes along the way, from a hospital job to being a professor, and the constant struggle to get funding as a scientist. There are also the coolest plant facts sprinkled throughout the book that make you realize how much is going on in your own backyard; such as how much a tree truly goes through to thrive.
More than just being informative about what a career in science is like, Lab Girl is entertaining and hilarious. She and her lab partner; Bill, travel, teach, scrape together funds and equipment, and go through so much in the pursuit of their research. I was completely sucked into the story, as each day in Jahren’s lab was an adventure filled with triumphs, setbacks, and discovery. The fact that it was a true story made it even more engaging, as it felt like I was stepping into someone else’s life. I flew through the book, and Jahren has a new book about climate change called The Story of More that I ran to Barnes & Noble to buy!
