This book was a breath of fresh air when I really needed one. It’s a quiet book, full of small interactions and introspection. It’s the story of a young woman called Nina HIll. Nina works in a bookstore and, quite frankly, prefers life spent between the covers of a good book. She suffers from anxiety and perhaps a touch of OCD, loves lists, hates conflict and mostly just wants to hang out at home with her cat, Phil.
She is a trivia whiz and is on a trivia team that keeps going head to head with another team headed by a man who is actually quite attractive – and attracted to Nina. The two have been awkwardly attempting to flirt for a while, so far to no avail.
At the same time Nina is tracked down by a lawyer who tells her her father, the one she never knew existed, has just passed away, leaving her a share if his sizeable inheritance. The woman who grew up largely alone and raised by a nanny suddenly finds herself in a hornets’ nest of a family she never asked for and isn’t quite sure she wants to be part of.
And thus, her orderly and quiet life thoroughly complicated and upturned, we get to know Nina, and accompany her as she attempts to navigate all these changes at once.
Nina is a likeable, if not always completely believable character. She’s a little too rigid, and her anxiety shows up and goes away when it suits the plot, making it seem more like a personality quirk than a mental illness. Which is not, in my experience, at all how anxiety works – it tends to resist willpower and show up when you least want it to. She also has one of those lives where the problems are sanitized and don’t really seem to actually cause any harsh consequences. Though her backstory contains loneliness and some pain, she lives a largely insulated life that is comfortable. And even though she’s supposed to be this loner, she actually is surrounded by colleagues and friends, is part of several weekly activities, and leads various reading groups for all ages. A look at her calendar reveals that she actually only has one night a week earmarked to read alone at home. So despite her being set up as some sort of tragic introvert, that actually isn’t at all the case. Her life, though small, is actually pretty well-rounded and contented. It was hard to really invest in her drama when it seemed so shallow and easily resolved.
As you all know, I’m not much for romance as a rule. So not surprisingly, there were a lot of bits in this book that made me roll my eyes and other bits that I found a bit annoying and just wanted to get through because they were either very predictable or just a bit too much touchy-feely emotional drama.
Despite its imperfections, I did enjoy this book. A lot can be made up for by setting a book in a bookstore and making its characters bookish folk. I also enjoyed the trivia that is scattered throughout the book (I’m a huge fan of Jeopardy), and it made me smile to learn lots of small random facts. Bonus points for occasionally witty turns of phrase that elicited a chuckle.
I think if you’re someone who enjoys romance plots and light reads, this is one that’s probably a little better than most. Is it perfect? No. Is it highbrow literature? Hell no. But it’s enjoyable, entertaining, and the characters are interesting enough to keep you turning pages, even if not at a feverish pace.
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. – Goodreads
Book Title: The Bookish Life of Nina HIll
Author: Abbi Waxman
Series: No
Edition: Paperback
Published By: Berkley Books
Released: July 9, 2019
Genre: Fiction, Romance, Books, Family
Pages: 333
Date Read: August 17-September 23, 2019
Rating: 5/10
Average Goodreads Rating: 3.91/5 (9.953 ratings)