The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman
The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman
Publisher: Berkley
Release Date: July 9, 2019
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Publisher’s Description:
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.
The Bookish Life of Nina Hill is a book nerd’s beach read. I would love to be Nina in an alternate universe – she works at a bookstore, plays on a winning pub trivia team and has a cat. What more could you want in life? A family, I suppose.
Nina was raised by a single mom who told her she didn’t know who her father was. But one day a man walks into the bookstore and tells Nina that her father has died. He’s her father’s lawyer and he’s come to invite her to the will reading. Nina is very taken aback of course. Her new family ends up being a diverse cast of characters.
At the same time, Nina meets Tom, a player on a rival trivia team. He’s interested in her but she’s not so sure about him. Also, she’s pretty busy dealing with her new crazy family.
Even though this book was a little predictable at times (what romantic comedy isn’t?), I found the story to be funny and charming. Nina’s cat Phil has an inner dialogue that’s hilarious. There is some depth to the story as well. It was the February selection for one of my book clubs and we found plenty to talk about. There’s a discussion guide in the back of the paperback edition that was helpful. Recommended, especially for fellow book nerds.
