The Bookish Life of Nina Hill
By Abbi Waxman
- Release Date: 2019-07-09
- Genre: Fiction & Literature
Description
Instant USA Today bestseller!
“Abbi Waxman is both irreverent and thoughtful.”—#1 New York Times bestselling author Emily Giffin
“Meet our bookish millennial heroine—a modern-day Elizabeth Bennet, if you will… Waxman’s wit and wry humor stand out. She is funny and imaginative, and “Bookish” lands a step above run-of-the-mill romantic comedy fare.”—The Washington Post
“Abbi Waxman offers up a quirky, eccentric romance that will charm any bookworm…. For anyone who’s ever wondered if their greatest romance might come between the pages of books they read, Waxman offers a heartwarming tribute to that possibility.”--Entertainment Weekly
The author of Other People’s Houses and The Garden of Small Beginnings delivers a quirky and charming novel chronicling the life of confirmed introvert Nina Hill as she does her best to fly under everyone's radar.
Meet Nina Hill: A young woman supremely confident in her own...shell.
The only child of a single mother, Nina has her life just as she wants it: a job in a bookstore, a kick-butt trivia team, a world-class planner and a cat named Phil. If she sometimes suspects there might be more to life than reading, she just shrugs and picks up a new book.
When the father Nina never knew existed suddenly dies, leaving behind innumerable sisters, brothers, nieces, and nephews, Nina is horrified. They all live close by! They're all—or mostly all—excited to meet her! She'll have to Speak. To. Strangers. It's a disaster! And as if that wasn't enough, Tom, her trivia nemesis, has turned out to be cute, funny, and deeply interested in getting to know her. Doesn't he realize what a terrible idea that is?
Nina considers her options.
1. Completely change her name and appearance. (Too drastic, plus she likes her hair.)
2. Flee to a deserted island. (Hard pass, see: coffee).
3. Hide in a corner of her apartment and rock back and forth. (Already doing it.)
It's time for Nina to come out of her comfortable shell, but she isn't convinced real life could ever live up to fiction. It's going to take a brand-new family, a persistent suitor, and the combined effects of ice cream and trivia to make her turn her own fresh page.
Reviews
Don’t even bother. Seriously.
1By Khans kanakaThis is my first book review and probably my last. I hated this book so much I just needed to put it out there. This author seemed to use Reductress article titles as one-liners and tried to pass it off as original, witty commentary. If you want to read a vapid, boring, but well-written book by a white woman, just read Emma Straub.KITT
4By 2525athenaEasy and fast read. Slow start but worth sticking with it.Will Read It Again (and Again)
5By Josey86This is an absolute pick!!! I enjoyed it so much. It was funny and light. Even when it got heavy, it didn’t get too heavy. There was always comic relief just when you needed it. This book made me smile so much, I can’t wait to read it again (and believe me, I will read it again).Nina Hill is the epitome of bibliophiles
5By kaykaybean13Awesomely witty and sardonic laced with a deep vast knowledge and quotes by literary giants and books that has specific plots or messages in them based upon the protagonists life. She is an introvert and then meets a great guy at trivia quiz night- meets a new family from her late dad she’d never met. He leaves her $ and a letter in the car he left her and she buys the failing book store she works at and lives happily ever afterNina needs therapy
1By imaginger90The description of the book is wrong!!! Someone who is an introvert doesn’t have trivia weekly and do t go out to take pics of the city at night!!! And how is she not mad at her mother she was raised by a nanny!! only got gifts from her mom so why does she have a good relationship with her?? when people bombard you that means they invade your life not send an email asking to meet. or waiting outside asking nicely to get coffee!! I saw certain plot points coming a mile away don’t buyLove it!
5By SBH72I loved this book. I just read the authors previous book “the garden of new beginnings” and she used some of the characters from her previous book in this book, they’re all intertwined in the story I loved it. Can’t wait for a more books from her.Baby, You Do You
4By Bookbruin4.5 stars The Bookish Life of Nina Hill was such a quirky and fun read. The writing hooked me right from the start and really drew me into the story. The Los Angeles setting was a wonderful surprise, and I loved seeing all of the different locations and references, especially the book store where Nina worked. I have actually visited this store (which is cleverly called Knight's in the book) and I cackled several times at the author's hilariously accurate descriptions of the area and different LA-isms. Book lovers will identify and relate a lot to Nina. She sometimes came across as a socially awkward book snob, but I still found her character very endearing. She's living what she considers to be a wonderful life, but as the book progresses we see that that life isn't quite as fulfilling as she believed it to be. Though there is romance in the book, I really feel like the main love story is between Nina and herself. She's coming into her own, accepting, growing, making mistakes, and adapting to all the new things and people in her life. Considering her world got turned completely upside down, I felt like she responded really well. I loved the colorful cast of characters that we meet throughout the book, especially Peter, Lydia, and how cute was Tom? He complemented Nina well, but I would have liked a little more time spent on establishing and building their connection. There is a little bit of drama, and I feel like Tom overreacted, but I also liked that he wasn't a doormat and knew what he wanted. The resolution to their drama was perfect though and left me with a huge smile on my face. Overall, this was a fantastic novel and I definitely plan to read more from this author. *I voluntarily read an advance review copy of this book*
