Status Updates From Lab Girl: A Memoir

I liked the lessons about her pine tree having a life just like hers and how it died even though it should have out lived her. I also liked the story about how seeds wait for their chance and only get one, as do we.

Great still. I really relate to how she talks about scientific writing and the funding process. I do get the impression she doesn’t have the healthiest work life balance and is addicted to the scientific process. I do of course understand how that can happen, being in research academia myself, but I am feeling nervous for her about that.

I will say this; you will never look at a tree the same way again.

Too descriptive can be a thing. Really struggled with this 1:7 and 1:8 and had to re-read several paragraphs. Even now I still don’t know if I understood it 100%. Still enjoying it though, especially the parts about her anxiety and how even at the then-highest point in her life she felt incredibly lonely. Can absolutely understand where she’s coming from.

‘Hope against hope’ count: 3

I’m trying to read books that are more meaningful to me this year, after the drought that was 2025. This message serves as a way to keep me on track. I started Lab Girl around November after spotting it at my uni’s library, and while I only read 10 or so pages every time I came to visit family, I liked it enough to pick up my own copy. Let’s see where it leads.