Score: 5/5 Bookmarks

Steam Rating: 🍆/5

By the time I was a third of the way into The Bookish Life of Nina Hill, by Abbi Waxman, I already knew it was going to be one of my favorite books. From that point I was torn between wanting to consume every delicious word, and wanting to savor it for as long as I could. It will definitely be a book I re-read.

The main character, Nina Hill, lives a quiet life working in a bookshop, and filling her spare time with bookclubs, trivia nights, and planned evenings alone to read. She lives in a quaint neighborhood in LA with her sweet, quirky cat named Phil. She likes her own company, and her life, and isn’t looking for more relationships. But they find her anyway.

While I’m in love with Nina Hill, the supporting characters are completely wonderful as well. The dialogue throughout the book is hilarious and real and I could picture myself being part of the conversations.

The book is all-round a joy to read, and if you haven’t read it yet, you should definitely add this one to your ‘to be read’ list! If ever I wished there would be a sequel to a book, this would be the one.

The audiobook is also completely fantastic, with narration by Jessica Preddy. You can get it on Libro.fm as part of a three for one audiobook deal by clicking the button below. You can also grab the physical book here.

Synopsis:

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.