User Reviews
Rating: really liked it
I have read my way through 315 books to bring you my
Top 10 Books of the Year (video) .
Now you know that this one made the cut, check out
my video review to see the others!
"I mean, I get that the universe whirls in mysterious yada yada, but wouldn't you rather travel the world?"
"No, I'd rather stay home and read."
Nina Hill's life is
perfect as it is, thank you very much.
She has an adorable little apartment, a fabulous job at
a local bookstore (Knight's), and a grumpy cat (Phil).
Nina looked down and smiled...with the plentiful sarcasm and soothing rows of book spines. It was heaven on earth.
And on her wild days - she plays trivia at a local bar (provided it isn't one of the places she's been banned from) (it happens, okay?). Tom, her greatest rival, can be a bit of a jerk and Nina takes extreme pleasure in showing him up.
Her life
comfortably circles around books. And honestly, she wouldn't have it any other way.
"Are your criticizing Harry Potter?"
"Never. I'm a Ravenclaw."
But unfortunately, what you want and what you get isn't always the same thing.
Nina's mother is a world class photographer and as a result, Nina spent most of her childhood
curled up with a good book along with her live-in nanny.
In short,
Nina is not overly fond of adventures (at least in real life).
Now, nearly thirty years old, Nina learns that not only did her mother actually know who Nina's father was... but also
her father is dead.
And she's in his will. But in order to claim it, she must meet...her (many) relatives (shudder). Strangers. Dangers. And all that.
Annnnd, all this turmoil continues to spiral.
Her trivia nemesis, Tom, is actually
far less of a jerk than she anticipated.
"He's objectively attractive but subjectively repulse, on account of his overwhelming self-confidence."
And Tom, well, he's always noticed Nina but now he's
reallllly noticing her.
"She's really smart, probably too smart for me."
And to top it all, Knight's Bookstore is on its last legs. It was actually on it's last legs months and months ago.
Nina is heartbroken but at least
her boss has a plan...though it's not much of one.
"Make the books look pretty. Smile, but look pitiful. When people ask if we're closing, shake your head softly and suggest they buy a boxed set."
Bookish Nina will have to do something she's never even considered before - take charge and make a difference.
Will she do it in time? Or will everything crumble before she even begins? Dammit. Now she was going to have to change her planner.
This book was perfect I honestly have not related so much to a main character in years.
There are people who have no time for books...Nina judged them.
I feel like Nina and I are soul sisters.
I loved Nina's fierce love of any and all things bookish - especially her dedicated reading time!
Sometimes people tried to get her to do something instead, but she was fiercely defensive of her nothing.
The characters were
firmly fleshed out and their personalities were so vibrant that I felt like I could have a conversation with them.
One of my favorite parts about this book was actually reading it with my mother.
My mom always gets to check out the books sent to me by publishers and she snatched this one up so fast that if I had blinked, I would have missed it.
Reading this one with her was truly a wonderful bonding experience.
We laughed so hard whenever we saw Nina interact with her family and we sighed with happiness at the ending.
Waxman paced those snappy conversations perfectly for our sense of humor.
The relationship was over-the-top but in a totally believable way - you know what I mean. It's like a meet-cute but one that I can actually see happening.
"Good night, tiny bookworm."
And probably the best quote of the entire book:
"Being with you is as good as being alone."
Pure happiness.
Unbelievably huge thanks to Berkley Publishing for sending me a free copy in exchange for an honest review.YouTube | Blog | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Snapchat @miranda_reads
Rating: really liked it
Yaaayy!!! Good news my friends! Nina is back for holiday!
Click this amazing author’s website: abbiwaxman.com
to get your story and boost your holiday spirit!🎉🥳🎄
And of course here’s my review for this smart, entertaining, one of the best books of 2019!📚
Five bold, big, underlined, shining, intellectual, quirky, weird, nuts, but so so so much entertaining, perfectly crafted, how can I resist to love it stars!!!
How any ordinary human being could resist the charm of Nina Hill’s characteristic attributes! Not me, this was love at first sight. I loved her!
She is not a regular smart, nerdy, introvert book-worn, she’s so busy, social with her scheduled book club events, trivia competitions (with her straightforward comments, standing up against the unfairness, cheating or any other miscalculation of their earned points, her friends and she are banned from most of the competition places!), movie nights at Arc Light theatres (mostly her date is greasy popcorn)!
She reads a lot, she drinks wine a lot! ( My God this is definition of me !!)
She may suffer from ADD, OCD, anxiety and panic attacks! ( OMG this is still me !)
She has great sense of humor, sensitive observation skills, quite creative imagination. ( I don’t want to look like pretentious but it’s still me! Oh boy! Did I know the author from somewhere????)
She has a long distance relationship with her mother since she was a little baby( She was left with a nanny and only communication way to her mother were postcards) and no relationship with her father because she doesn’t know who he is. ( Mother part is close but I love my father! Okay, the author is not BB or stalker! That means there are millions of people like me. Good to know not to be alone)
Didn’t I mention, she‘s so busy with her impeccably detailed and organized schedule, so WHO NEEDS A FAMILY! WHO NEEDS A BOYFRIEND! RIGHT?
ERRRRRRR! Wrong answer Nina! So sorry, you may answer all the trivia question without blinking or breathing (at least she didn’t suffocate) but she has a crush on Tom who is a member of rival team competing against them at the trivia quizzes.
And she learns that she has a father who has watched her from a distance, married too many times, lived a joyful life, put her into his will before dying from a sudden heart attack.
Now she learns that she has brother, sisters, nephews( older than her), grand-nephews, a crowded, crazy, dysfunctional, big family. ( Okay this part is close to me ! For the first time in my life I have so much common with a character))
Now she wants TO RUN, HIDE, DISAPPEAR! Anything she can do not to connect with those people who fight too much, who resent each other so much, who have so many differences but still they manage to stay together! Isn’t this a classical definition of a regular family?
I loved the parts about Nina’s worldview changing. As soon as she starts to connect with each member of her family and open her heart to Tom by letting him in, she realizes she still likes to be alone but in the meantime she also enjoys to be with the people she loved deep in her heart!
This book is about resistance to change but learning to adapt and be brave to share your feelings, be openminded to enjoy different and challenging experiences of life, take risks, embrace your differences, quirks, antics and finally learn to love yourself and share your love without putting any restriction or limitation.
Yaaaayyyy ! I found my fiction twin! Of course it was easy to give five stars!
I loved the author’s way of thinking, writing, creating characters that so easy to be resonated. I mostly agree with her comments and observations about LA life. I really laughed so much at those parts, my cheeks still hurt!
So as soon as it’s released( on July 9th), go and get this book and devour every word of it! Laugh without thinking people giving you weird faces! (They gave me but I handled it maturely. I stuck my tongue!)
Special thanks to Berkley Books to send me ARC copy via NetGalley( also special thanks to them, too) for exchanging my honest review. ( This part always reminds me of Academy Award speeches but at least this is short one. )
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Rating: really liked it
This feels like a book that was written for me. I related to it so hard.
I love witnessing the growth of characters I can relate to and seeing them come out of their shell. I love reading and finding out how they handle what life throws at them. You almost seek them out for advice. Fiction is always a great thing to turn to not only for comfort and escapism, but for answers as well. And because so many elements of this story were parallel to mine, I connected to it deeply.
Nina Hill preferred her life to be quiet. A lot of that had to do with her upbringing and the anxiety that formed because of it. She would avoid surprises as much as she could, plan things out in as much detail as possible to avoid things that could potentially overwhelm and trigger her anxiety.
But life throws some hurdles her way anyway and we follow her on this journey of her coping with it all.
I
loved it. I can see myself rereading this over and over again. It’s a comfort read, it’s a happy read. A story that reminds you that things turn out okay regardless.
————————
Social recluse. A book nerd. Prefers to be alone.
She is me.
Buddy reading with the lovely Karima! 💛
Rating: really liked it
Abbi Waxman's creation, the book obsessed 29 year old Nina Lee Hill was an absolute joy for me to spend time with, particularly with the mass of literary and cultural references littered throughout this wonderful piece of contemporary fiction with all its comic humour. Set in the offbeat district of Larchmont, LA, Nina works at the independent bookstore, Knights, established in the 1940s. It's the best fit for Nina, an OCD over planner, so Monica from Friends is obviously her favourite character. Nina is smart, sarcastic, socially awkward and anxious for whom spontaneity and the unexpected throws her for a loop. Books are at the top of the list in her 5 perfect things, they are medication, sanctuary and the source of all good things, nothing has yet proven her wrong and it's little wonder libraries are her idea of heaven.
Her mom is a famous photographer and free spirit, she has never known her father, and she was bought up and loved by her nanny, Louise, and Khalil Gibran's The Prophet has the most apt saying that defines her, 'You talk when you cease to be at peace with your thoughts' as she lives her life in her off the wall and exciting fictional universe. Amidst her busy, tightly scheduled life of Trivia nights with her team, Book 'Em Danno, numerous book clubs and reading, that are her weapons of self defence, Nina's life has an almighty spanner thrown in it. She discovers a father she never knew about has just died, she is in his will, and is struck numb when she realises she has a huge and disparate family right on her doorstep. Then there is Tom, a member of another Trivia team, a whizz on the subject of sport, Nina's weakest area, annoying, really not a suitable boyfriend for her, after all he is not a reader, but.....she just cannot stop thinking about him.
Nina struggles to accommodate the idea that life is what happens whilst she has been busy making other plans, and overcome her personal intrinsic belief that 'Books are safer than other people' (Neil Gaiman). Waxman writes a gloriously funny novel with a raft of fantastic characters that lit up my life as I read it. Nina is endearing, a sharp cookie who can wax lyrical on the most obscure of subjects, her brain is a veritable encylopaedia of facts and knowledge, it's just her emotional side that is a challenge and which she needs to work on. This is for all those book worms out there, especially for those for whom books are one of the most perfect elements in an imperfect world, and for anyone else who enjoys well written contemporary fiction with oodles of warmth. Many thanks to Headline for an ARC.
Rating: really liked it
How could I resist a book about a bookworm? Not just a bookworm, but an only child bookworm that finds solace and peace in books, a child whose mother is absent and father is unknown. Well, until a lawyer appears informing Nina her father had died and she has half-siblings.
I love the writing style that Waxman uses. Reminiscent of a 19th century novel, complete with witty glimpses of what is to transpire at the start of each chapter.
There’s a dry sense of humor to this book. “He didn’t remind her of herself, but, to be fair, she was a slender 29 year old woman with dark red shirted and freckles, and he had been a rounded old man with white hair and wrinkles, so it wasn’t exactly apples to apples. More like grapes to raisins.” And that’s a quote from the book I can include! One of the funnier ones would probably be banned by GR.
This book is just plain fun. But it also makes some wonderful points. I just adored how they all discover their similarity, as the weird things that seem to be genetic enthrall me. I found it a delight to read and wanted to spend every waking minute with Nina, her friends and her new found family. Make sure you actually read the daily planner pages that precede each chapter.
My thanks to netgalley and Berkley Publishing for an advance copy of this book.
Rating: really liked it
Re-read 6/3/22: Lowering my rating from a 5 to a 4 with this re-read, but it was still an absolute delight! Just not as much of a favorite now as I thought it might be back when I first read it. With that being said, I do still strongly stand by the way that this book got Los Angeles (specifically the East side!) *so* right. Really makes me want to drop everything and go over to my dad's and walk around my old neighborhood, just taking it all in. Pls ignore me as I feel my sappy, I-love-my-hometown feelings!!!
Original read 11/23/19: This was the perfect book at the perfect time and I loved it SO MUCH! It was so charming and nerdy and got Los Angeles RIGHT and I just really, really, really enjoyed this. 10/10 do recommend reading this one when you're in need of a pick me up because it was just so good!!!
CW: absent parents, death of a parent, depictions of anxiety/panic attacks
Rating: really liked it
The subject matter of this book seemed like a perfect fit to my tastes, seeing as how I identify so closely with the main character, Nina Hill. Just like Nina, I would much rather sit in a comfy chair with a beloved pet nearby curled up with a book and some coffee, than doing most anything else. I would much rather be in these same circumstances than have to make small talk with people. Like Nina, the bubble of my home is my happiness, with my kindles and thousands of book files (in her case, actual physical books on bookcases) at my fingertips. We also know a lot of facts and relate to our pet like they are a real person. However, even though "Bookish Nina Hill" and I are kindred spirits, I did not enjoy this book quite as much as I had hoped.
For a brief overview of this story, Nina lives by herself in a little guesthouse with bookshelves, a comfy chair in the corner, and her cat Phil. She happily works in a bookstore called Knight's Books. She occasionally suffers from panic attacks, and finds comfort in routines, schedules and making daily lists. These cute, handwritten daily lists precede each chapter. Nina is a geek that participates in trivia quiz competitions. There also are several book groups that hold meetings at the store in the evenings. Needless to say, Nina's life is full, and she seems to be quite content with it. Her mother is a successful travelling photographer, but Nina was raised by a loving nanny named Louise. In many ways, Louise seems more like her mother than her biological one. In addition, Nina never knew her father because her birth was the result of an affair. NIna's Mom had an agreement with Nina's father that he would never contact her. However, when Nina's father dies, a lawyer contacts her with the news and that she has an extended family. Nina's life is suddenly stirred up with unexpected people to meet and deal with, with the possibility of an inhertitance.
I thought I was in for a delightful ride as I first delved into the book and periodically found myself breaking into laughter. Now that I think about it, I enjoyed the story of Nina's life by herself more than when she discovered her new family members. That's the part when I began to lose interest. I didn't connect with these other characters, and there were too many of them to follow with any recognition. They became a distraction to the story I was enjoying about Nina's insular life. I also was bored reading about the trivia quiz competitions Nina participated in.
I was initially intrigued by her burgeoning relationship with Tom, an attractive, worthy opponent on the other trivia quiz team. However, I was turned off by Nina's sexual encounter on their second date, when they barely knew each other. In addition, on a later outing when Nina ran into some common friends and was asked about Tom, she couldn't bring herself to label Tom her boyfriend...this after having slept with him. Call me a prude, but I found it bizarre behavior, especially for a "bookish" type that I had been identifying with.
A book that started out so promising for me with unexpected bursts of laughter gradually ran out of steam for me. I know I am an outlier on this, but by the book's end I was ready to read something else.
Thank you to Berkley / Penguin Publishing Group who provided an advance reader copy via Edelweiss.
Rating: really liked it
3.5 stars (I have to round up since I love making lists and of course, I’m bookish.)
The truth is that many of us are like Nina Hill and live bookish lives. We might not be as quirky and maybe not as smart (I know I’m not), but there’s so much about the bookish part that’s relatable and that’s what made this made light and lovely and even though predictable read, so much fun. Oh, I rolled my eyes a few time when it was a bit too cute. But overall, even knowing that I could tell you how it was going to end, I couldn’t help but root for Nina the whole way.
Nina prefers to be alone and preferably reading, but she’s not exactly a recluse. She has friends, plays team trivia, runs book clubs and has her dream job in a bookstore. She’s a planner, maybe OCD, and when she has free time, it’s not really free since that’s when she reads . I definitely get that ! She has no real family to speak of except Louise, the nanny who raised her. Her mother for all intents and purposes abandoned her, and while they are in touch, they see each other rarely. She doesn’t know who her father is. That is, until she is named in his will and family takes on a whole new meaning. And, of course, she meets someone. Can she find room in her schedule or more importantly her life for her new half siblings, nieces and nephews? This is that feel good summer book I was looking for, light but not too light, full of heart and a character who will touch the heart of many book lovers. She did mine.
I received an advanced copy of this book from Berkley through Edelweiss.
Rating: really liked it
Buddy read badge from For Love Of A Book 💕
I wasn’t sure about this book but one of my groups is doing a buddy read so I got it from the library. I’m going to buy this book now. This book made me laugh, love and cry! Favorites list peeps!
Mel 🖤🐶🐺🐾
Rating: really liked it
Everyone is talking about how much they relate to Nina Hill and I didn't at all. Am I the weirdo here?
His cat is named Mom? Now that's weird.
To me, it was just too much. It's like, okay you can wear the unicorn t-shirt, but when you pair it with the cat leggings, the orange Converse, the rainbow hair, AND the cat-ears head band you are no longer being original - you are a walking stereotype.
That was Nina Hill to me. She worked in a bookstore, had hundreds of books at home, lived alone with a cat, was awkward as fuck, and yet had tons of friends and an active social life. She had the understanding boss and the slutty friend who worked with her. She didn't know how to talk to a guy without coming across as someone who was new to the planet, but he was charmed by it. Also, he was super hot.... yeah. Mr. Hottie also pursued her relentlessly when she didn't act very interested because of her awkwardness. Someone is trying to press all of our buttons.
In spite of all of that, I did mostly enjoy the book because it had a lot of fun pop culture references and funny moments. But, something inside of me didn't like the idea that just because someone reads a lot they must be awkward and living in a fantasy world of their own making. It seemed like it was stereotyping us, and so many other kinds of subcultures.
Like the gay nephew she meets. He's got to be exactly the gay man in every sit-com. He introduces himself as "your fabulous gay nephew," and proceeds to gay it up all over the place. Now, my brother was gay and I had a huge circle of gay friends because of him while growing up. They actually don't use the word "fabulous" as often as heteros think they do. And most of them can fit into society without doing obvious "gay things". You would never even know they were gay.*gasp* And, they might not even like shopping! *gasp again* And, they may not want to be your gay best friend because you always wanted one. *gasping too much now. Need to stop this before I hyperventilate*. But, the gay nephew is treated just like you would expect - on television or in books.
Then the daydreaming thing annoyed me. Just because we read, we must be making up imaginary scenarios in our head like the kid from A Christmas Story? Let's be honest here, if we stepped out of reality and had some walking dream about an ice cream war going on in the streets, we would most likely be suffering from some form of ice cream PTSD and need therapy. I read every night - almost a book a day - and yet I can live in complete reality. I even socialize with other humans perfectly well. As a matter of fact, I make friends everywhere I go because I actually like people and know how to chit chat. *look, I'm not going to gasp again, because I just came down from the last paragraph's breathing exercise, but you know there should be several gasps here, right?* So, no, we readers aren't unable to cope with reality and live in fantasy worlds that we can't control.
I bet he's not a reader. A reader would know how to cover up his crime.
Also, the ending was super cheesy. Like, your fingers will suddenly be orange from how much cheesiness it's manifesting. It's like tree pollen in the South in spring. Or, for you Yankees - it's like eating cheetos.
Still, I think most people will like this as a fluffy read. I'm just exceptionally snarky today. Now, it's time to go read something more realistic - maybe some werewolf porn or alien porn.... as long as it's porn.
Rating: really liked it
(7.3.20: Brief note added to the end.)
I hate everything about Abbi Waxman’s
The Bookish Life of Nina Hill. The shallow characters. The inane, trite dialogue that is mostly composed of trading quips about pop culture. The poorly constructed plot. The ridiculous, unconvincing romance. The silly errors that make me believe the author read her manuscript only once and her editor read it never. Mostly I hate that Waxman has written a book that tries to pass off being an avid book reader as a personality trait, and not even a positive one: apparently book lovers are always loners, friendless, socially awkward, too smart for their own good, and anxious wrecks—AKA introverts.
Nina Hill is a 29 year old who lives in Larchmont, an LA neighborhood. She works at Knights, the local bookstore, is a killer at trivia quizzes, and leads a contented, uncomplicated life…until a lawyer walks into the bookstore and tells her she has a family she’s never met. This doesn’t make Nina happy. It’s a complication and she does
not like complications. Plus, she may or may
not have a crush on a trivia competitor—and true love is another complication she doesn’t want. Will Nina’s extensive trivia knowledge and her love of Harry Potter be enough to help her cope?
I had hoped that this book would be a fun, light, amusing read—a break from my much more serious nonfiction reading. It is not. It’s so awful I’ve been compelled to take pages of notes and stick post-its to several pages of this book. TBLoNH provided few instances of genuine humor and enjoyment. There will be no spoiler alerts in this review. The happy outcome for the bookstore and Nina’s romance is never in doubt. On page 39, I have a post-it note predicting exactly how the bookstore will be saved and—no surprise—I was right. Other intelligent readers will likewise not be surprised, although they may be taken aback by how much orange artificial cheese coats the entire last 15 pages or so. It’s vomit-inducing.
As a person, Nina is a fail. Granted, all the characters in the book are failures, but Nina is the main character and thus the most important. Not only is she a failure, she’s a bore. Despite having lived her entire life in LA, her only friends are her bookstore coworkers and trivia teammates. What about high school and college friends? Oh, yeah, that’s right. She loves books so automatically that makes her a friendless loser because no one likes readers! (Although I’m not convinced Nina is much of a reader. This novel covers a 3-4 month span, but in that time she’s described reading only one book. That is
not the sign of an avid reader.) In Nina, Waxman created a character with absolutely no character. Her personality seems to be limited to loving books and having a sporadic, needed-only-when-the-plot-calls-for-it anxiety disorder. Loving books is not a personality. Nor is having anxiety, but Waxman bases Nina’s entire character on these two things. What I know about Nina doesn’t impress me. Despite having a globe-trotting mother, not only doesn’t she travel, she seems to have no curiosity about the world outside her immediate area. Even though she’s supposedly socially awkward with anxiety issues (again, an introverted book lover), she’s incredibly handy with quips and zippy comebacks. Not that I think she’s all that witty or smart; her dialogue is loaded with pop culture references, heavy on Harry Potter. This description of Nina basically works for the majority of the characters in this book. They are all variations of Nina. They all have the same facetious, jokey way of speaking. They are all book lovers (I’ll address Tom the love interest later). Nina’s newfound family consists of Nina clones—or maybe she is the clone of them? Everyone, from the dead father she never knew down to Millie, her young half-sister—looks like her, likes the same food, and loves books, which marks them as either current or past friendless losers with on-going anxiety issues. This is such bullshit.
Waxman stereotypes pretty much everyone in this book. Peter, Nina’s nephew, introduces himself to her by announcing that he is “gay and fabulous” and proceeds to be exactly that. All the children are precocious and adorable in that cheesy, crappy tv sitcom style I love to hate. Readers’ personalities are defined according to reading interests: mystery readers are like X, nonfiction=X, romance readers are very X (I’d quote it but can’t find the damn passage in the book--update: page 293. Quoted in comments section below). The idea that most readers cross genres and read a whole lot of everything doesn’t seem possible in Nina’s world. The most egregious stereotyping is book lovers as social rejects. Nina, Millie, dead father—all specifically cite their love of books as a reason for their social awkwardness. Millie says she sometimes has friends, but most of the time she doesn’t because they don’t read books other than Harry Potter and because they don’t read the same books she does, she can’t talk to them. Not only that, they think she’s weird because she’s smart and asks questions (247-248). Of course, Nina identifies with her: “[The conversation] was giving her flashbacks to her own school years. Recess and lunch, finding a spot to be alone, and then half wishing someone would find you” (247). More bullshit. Being a reader doesn’t automatically mean you are a friendless loser. Why the hell does Waxman want to perpetuate this stereotype? I read a lot as a child and I had a lot of friends. It’s fucking possible to love books AND have friends and even—gasp!—have friends who aren’t readers. I also call bullshit on the automatic definition of introvert AS loner and friendless loser. That’s not who an introvert is. I’m so sick of seeing this. I’m an introvert. I have friends who are introverts. It doesn’t make us losers or anti-social bomb-building terrorists. It means that you are very comfortable being alone, but that doesn’t mean you avoid human interaction. I enjoy meeting people and will basically talk to anyone. However, as an introvert, I need time alone to recharge my battery because
people are exhausting. The main differences between extroverts and introverts is how we choose to relax and what refreshes us; it’s not sane and social vs. unbalanced and loser loner. It’d be fucking delightful if authors and mass media would stop the lazy depiction of introvert=freak.
The other egregious error of this book is depicting Nina as suffering from an anxiety disorder. Her feelings of anxiety are inconsistent and depend on the demands of the plot. Nina says she schedules her life so thoroughly because her routines keep her anxiety at bay; unscheduled activities and surprises cause anxiety attacks. Bullshit. Nina rarely follows her own damn routine (as detailed in the over-the-top cutesy planner pages). Almost every diary entry has some form of “go shopping” but she never does. If yoga doesn’t happen, well, that’s okay too. Nina shrugs and goes home. Having last-minute lunch plans with her fabulous gay nephew? Not a twinge of anxiety. The only time Nina feels anxiety or has an anxiety attack (and let me say that the author uses “panic attack” and “anxiety attack” interchangeably. THEY ARE NOT. These are two different disorders. It’s possible for one person to have both, but they are NOT the same. Waxman, get your goddamn facts straight) is when the plot calls for it. Meeting the guy she sorta likes? Ooops, she has an anxiety attack because, you know, she’s an introverted book loving socially awkward freak. Plus, that’s a plot device Waxman will need to use again. Having an anxiety disorder isn’t something you can just turn on and off. I know this because I have an anxiety disorder. It’s not fun and it’s not a convenient plot point. So to read this book in which the author uses anxiety as a way of defining personality and to move the plot forward really, really pisses me off.
There are very few intelligent conversations. Most of the dialogue is throw-away quips and one-liners and heavy on the pop culture references. The entire dick pic/penis conversation at the beginning of the book is incredibly juvenile, more so considering all the women are over the age of 15. And the characters all sound alike. Nina sounds like Peter sounds like Liz sounds like Polly sounds like Lisa sounds like dead father. Tom’s the only character who isn’t a reader, but Nina (after some resistance) graciously forgives him this and loves him anyway. The romance is underwhelming. They both act like virginal dating neophytes instead of adults of 29 and 30. I particularly detested the Grand Gesture during the quiz tournament (btw, I would have totally aced that question) and how nobly Tom forgives her for having an anxiety disorder and then takes her to his work space and shows her the spot he’ll set up just for her so she can sit there and read and admire him while he builds his bookshelves. That’s fucking creepy. The all-you-need-is-a-big-strong-man-to-take-care-of-you vibe is irritating. Let me tell you, anxiety doesn’t give a shit about the status of your love life. Nina can have a crew of big strong men (readers or not) and that won’t solve her fucking anxiety.
The idiotic errors. On page 13, Nina comes home from work and turns on the kettle. A few paragraphs later, she’s pouring herself a glass of wine (15). What happened to the kettle? When Nina meets Peter for lunch, she apparently forgets she has to return to work because they both go shopping and then she goes home (68). Huh. That wasn’t in the planner. Nina states many times that she doesn’t travel and has never set foot outside of California (as an adult). Yet when she describes her collection of
Peter Rabbit books in different languages, she says, well, she and her mom hadn’t been to
all of those countries together. This implies Nina travels (181). And on 183, Waxman writes: “Libraries were her favorite places, and when she traveled, she would start out at the local library, thus immediately identifying herself as a total nerd.” (Or maybe as a smart person who just likes to check out libraries. Being smart isn’t by default a nerdy or negative thing.) Um, Nina never fucking travels. Possibly Waxman at one time conceived of Nina as a traveler but changed her mind and not her manuscript. Lastly, Nina accompanies Peter to his mother’s house. A woman drops off a rescued dog for Becky (the mom) to examine…and then the shelter woman disappears (214). Poof! She doesn’t leave, she just vanishes from the novel. Excellent!
There are serious themes in this book, but they are completely mishandled. Nina’s mother basically abandoned her to be raised by a nanny and is rarely present. Wouldn’t that cause Nina some resentment? If so, it’s very subtle. Mom also lied about knowing who Nina’s father is and legally prevented him from contacting Nina. Mom says she did this to protect Nina from him because he’d be a crappy father, but she denied Nina from knowing her father and her extended family. Is Nina upset about this? Nah. Dead father, in his letter to Nina, says he watched over her as she grew up. Why the hell didn’t he fight for his legal rights as a father? He would have won. Why didn’t he bother to contact her when she turned 18? Who knows why. There’s no fucking logic to any of this—it’s drama Waxman created to have the drama. Despite what mom said, he
did want to be a part of Nina’s life. Why he wasn’t is just lazy writing and piss poor plot development. Nina’s response to all of this is confusing. She doesn’t seem angry, resentful—any normal emotion you’d expect under these circumstances. Why not? Lazy writing. She is anxious though and frankly the anxiety is tied more to her being an introvert than her family dynamics.
The possible demise of the bookstore you’d think would be anxiety-producing for Nina. Nope. Despite Mr. Meffo visiting the store attempting to get his rent payment, Nina the idiot thinks it’s funny: “She’d always kind of assumed the dance about the rent was just one of those things, a normal part of business” (156). Look at Liz, the crappy store manager, hide from Mr. Meffo! Ha ha!
Nina, you’re a fucking idiot. In what world is it “a normal part of business” to be late in paying your fucking rent? She pays rent. Does she think it’s hilarious to pay her rent weeks late? I’m sure if Harry Potter did it somewhere, she’d do it too. Supposedly this woman has an anxiety disorder. I’m guessing that even the
hint of the bookstore closing, thus depriving her of income, would be a HUGE disruption of her scheduled activities. The first time Mr. Meffo came looking for rent, Nina the realistic character would have: gotten a sinking feeling in her stomach, asked Liz about the rent repeatedly, stayed awake worrying about it, polished up her resume, checked her bank account and cut expenses, worried more, stayed in a more or less consistent state of nausea, and made numerous contingency plans in the off-chance she would be unemployed. Being anxious means going immediately for the worst-case scenario. Nina would have done all of those things, not shrugged it off. When does she finally have an anxiety attack? Oh yeah, when the plot requires it. She goes from zero anxiety to a million. Again, for someone with anxiety, that’s fucking bullshit. She’d also be thinking—hey, my dad was rich. I’m in the will. Maybe he left me money. That’s not a horrible thought to have. It’s normal. Does she EVER think this? Ever show any curiosity about why she’s in the will and what he may have left her? Again, never.
The Bookish Life of Nina Hill is a disgrace. The writing is overly cutesy, the pop culture references are off-putting and a lazy way to define characters, all the characters sound almost exactly the same…this book fucking sucks. Book lovers are not anxious social misfits. Waxman’s use of an anxiety disorder to define Nina is fucking awful and unrealistic. The reader’s guide discussion questions at the end—are you fucking kidding me? And one last thing…why the fuck does Phil the cat talk? What the fuck! I hated this book with every fiber of my being. I recommend it to NO ONE, unless you are teaching a class on shitty novels.
Note about Introverts:
I was recently talking to a friend about a shared acquaintance. We were listing her negative qualities & Sally finished with "...and she's an introvert!" Me: "Now, hold on. I'm an introvert." Sally: "You're not an introvert!" (She was shocked, like I had just called myself a pedophile.) Me: "Yeah, nothing wrong with introverts." Sooo...this anecdote supports my argument that media/pop culture loves to paint introversion as an extremely undesirable personality trait, when it's nothing of the sort.
Rating: really liked it
Delightful, amusing, & full of heart!THE BOOKISH LIFE OF NINA HILL by ABBI WAXMAN is an engaging, fun, charming, and lighthearted tale that totally captures the beauty and life of a bookworm perfectly. I was immediately taken with this story and found myself totally mesmerized and in awe of how relatable, thoughtful and fantastic this story was. I pretty much had a smile on my face the whole time I was reading this book.
ABBI WAXMAN delivers an interesting, witty, endearing, and beautifully written read here with lovable and quirky characters and a setting that totally captivated and intrigued me. I think reading a book about a bookworm is probably one of the most satisfying, pleasurable, gratifying and validating experiences out there and so relatable to all of us book lovers. I was totally taken and fascinated with Nina Hill’s character and she fully captured my heart. There were so many times I felt a strong kinship to Nina and nodding in agreement to pretty much every aspect of her character and to plenty of scenarios in this book.
I loved reading Nina’s day planner pages and how they were used as chapter breaks which definitely added a little extra flare to the novel for me.
Norma’s Stats:
Cover: Pretty, intriguing, whimsical, eye-catching and a fitting representation to storyline. I absolutely love everything about this cover -- especially the colour schemes.
Title: Appealing, intriguing and absolutely love how perfect the title is to the storyline. The title of this book definitely enticed me to read it. Anything book related in the title I’m in!
Writing/Prose: Well-written, beautiful, witty, fluid, fun, engaging, and captivating. I totally connected with and absolutely loved ABBI WAXMAN’S writing style.
Plot: Fun, humorous, touching, memorable, perfectly-paced, absorbing, enjoyable and entertaining.
Ending: The last line of this book was perfection! Absolutely loved it!
Overall: I absolutely adored this book and didn’t want it to end! It definitely gave me that huggable, warm and fuzzy feeling! Would highly recommend!
*Traveling Sisters/Friends Read*
I’d like to thank Elisha at Berkley Publishing for gifting me an advanced copy of this book. It was an absolute delight reading this book!
This review can also be found on our Two Sisters Lost in a Coulee Reading book blog:
https://twosisterslostinacoulee.com/
Rating: really liked it
The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman is a 2019 Berkley publication.
Sweet, witty, clever and whimsical- my kind of people- in my kind of book! By some standards, Nina may seem a bit eccentric. But, truly, she just likes her job and her books and a solid routine. She may be a classic introvert, but she hangs out with her friends and competes in trivia competitions.
However, her quiet, ordered life turns topsy-turvy when she is informed that her father, a man she never knew, has passed away, and she has been named in his will. Suddenly there are lawyers, and a slew of relatives invading her life- none of which fit into her carefully constructed day-planner.
Nor, does dating, it would seem, although there is an interested party- except it’s Tom, her main competition on Trivia Nights. If this weren’t enough to rattle her, her job at the bookshop is in jeopardy because her boss can’t pay the rent.
Although, Nina does her best to avoid the lawyers and new family members, and genuinely tries to pencil Tom in for a date night, she isn’t having much luck on either count. Will Nina ever be accepted by her new family? Will her day planner ever make time for poor Tom? Will the bookshop sink or swim?
I new I would love this book!! The characters are easier for me to relate to than the ‘loudest person in the room’, voted most gregarious types- and of course, who doesn’t love books about books?
I’ve never been to trivia night, but it certainly sounds like a lot of fun- although I’m not that knowledgeable or competitive. Everything about this book is executed perfectly- pace, dialogue, characterizations, and tone. It’s light, but has depth, is poignant, but mostly it’s a fun, feel good story anyone can enjoy. I loved Nina’s life so much, I felt a bit wistful, wishing I could find fit into the mix of work, family, and friends that make up her charmed life. The ending was the cherry on the cake and left me grinning from ear to ear!!
This is just an all-around great story about the truly important things in life and staying true to oneself while adapting to life’s inevitable changes. Of course, us bookworms and introverts will find this book highly relatable, maybe seeing a bit of ourselves in this story, which makes it even more charming and touching!!
All the stars for this one!! (Did you ever doubt it?) That's makes three for three for Ms. Abbi Waxman!!
Rating: really liked it
The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman
I actually laughed out loud several times while reading this book and that's a rarity for me. Nina Hill really has most of her life put together so tightly that there is no room for dating or any other deviation from her very organized schedule. Even her one free evening that has "nothing" on her calendar is reserved for four hours of reading. In some ways, I'm not sure there is anything wrong with Nina's life, not sure anything needs to be "fixed". We are all different and I admire the character of Nina for knowing what she wants and being happy with her life as she has planned it.
Several things happen to disrupt Nina's peace of mind though. Nina suffers from anxiety attacks, which is a big reason why she has her life so planned out and controlled. She'd been doing pretty good lately, staving off the attacks but then she is contacted by a lawyer and finds out she has a very extensive family and that she is part of the reading of the will of her late father, someone who she never knew in any way. Nina was raised by a nanny while her mom traveled the world as a photographer and her mom never would tell Nina anything about her father.
About this time, Nina and a guy, Tom, on a competing trivia team, pop up on each other's radar. Nina wants to avoid dating and a relationship at all costs, after a heartbreak many months ago and knowing that her carefully cultivated and organized schedule is her way of staying anxiety free. There is NO room for dating, for a relationship, for letting someone in her life that would interfere with her aloneness, which she loves so very much. Added to these two problems is the fact that the bookstore she works for is way behind on its rent and there are threats that the store will be shut down.
This was such an easy and lighthearted story for me. Nina is no hermit with no friends. She has rich relationships with people young and old and a full life, despite having only a distant relationship with her mother and having sworn off dating. But with the help of a new family, her dear friends, and the interest of a smart, good looking potential love interest (heaven forbid!) Nina's safe world is about to be rocked.
Thank you to Berkley/Penguin Publishing Group and Edelweiss for this ARC.
Rating: really liked it
‘she thought of books as medication and sanctuary and the source of all good things. nothing yet had proven her wrong.’ i relate to nina on so many different levels - as an introvert, as a lover of books, as a planner/list maker/routine follower, as a cat owner, as a trivia fanatic, and as a woman.
i think AW does a wonderful job at representing all of these great attributes in one complex and relatable character. i know i am not the only person who sees themself in nina and i think that is a beautiful thing.
while this truly is a heartwarming story, there are a few things which prevent me from rating this higher. i just couldnt quite get on board with the writings sense of humour - its just not my style. i also found many characters to be too quirky or too unique - it made the characterisation feel unnatural and gave the impression of trying too hard (which is never a good look). and i wanted more romance - tom and ninas connection feels both rushed and cut off.
overall, this is a lovely story and i wish i didnt find so many little things to nitpick at, but sometimes you just cant help it.
↠ 3 stars
