Bloggin' 'bout Books: Cute Bookish Rom Com a Fun Romp

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Cute Bookish Rom Com a Fun Romp

3:13 PM

(Image from Barnes & Noble)

Usually, I write my own plot summaries, but I think the one on the back cover of The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman sums things up perfectly, so I'm not going to bother reinventing the wheel. Not this time, anyway.

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, 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 are all—or mostly all—excited to meet her! She will have to...Speak. To. Strangers. And as if that was not enough, Tom, her trivia nemesis, has turned out to be cute, funny, and deeply interested in getting to know her. Does he not 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 is time for Nina to come out of her comfortable shell, but she is not convinced real life could ever live up to fiction. It is 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.

Cute, right? Although Nina is not quite as adorkable as the summary makes her sound, she's still a highly relatable character, one in whom any book lover will recognize themselves. It's easy to root for this introverted bluestocking as she navigates the rocky worlds of family, romance, and newfound wealth. The Bookish Life of Nina Hill is chock-full of fun, interesting characters. It also features an engaging, upbeat plot and some life lessons that are especially pertinent to those of us who are wont to stick our noses in a book and ignore real life. While the novel has a couple raunchy parts that will stop me from recommending it as widely as I otherwise would, I still enjoyed this light, entertaining, bookish read.

(Readalikes: Reminds me of The Bookshop on the Corner by Jenny Colgan)

Grade:

If this were a movie, it would be rated:

for language (1 F-bomb, plus milder expletives), mild sexual content, rude humor, illegal drug use, and innuendo

To the FTC, with love: I received a finished copy of The Bookish Life of Nina Hill from the generous folks at Penguin Random House. Thank you!

6 comments:

Samantha@WLABB15 July, 2019 16:16
I adored Nina and this book put me over the moon. I just had so much fun reading it, and it gave me lots of warm fuzzies too.
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Katherine P15 July, 2019 16:26
I'm glad to see you liked this even if it wasn't a favorite! I just used an audible credit on this one and am looking forward to listening to it.
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Unknown16 July, 2019 06:46
Totally adding this to my TBR!
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Lark 16 July, 2019 10:12
I really want to read this one!!
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Helen's Book Blog25 July, 2019 15:53
This sounds like a cute fun book as the cover suggests. I have been reading heavy stuff lately and could use a light read.
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M. | RAIN CITY READS03 December, 2019 00:01
I read this one recently and similarly thought it was good and an enjoyable read, but had a few things that brought it down from being a favourite. Still, any book set in a bookstore is going to appeal to me!
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