If you haven't read more by Gabrielle Zevin you could try The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry - I love her writing and I agree, if a book isn't working for me I put it down too. 100 pages is quite the effort! My issue is putting books down too soon. I loved Before the Coffee Gets Cold - I want to read more by the author! And you summarized my troubles with Lessons in Chem very well.