I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by
Abbi Waxman Published by Berkley on July 9, 2019
Genres: Contemporary,
Romance,
Humor Pages: 333
Format: eARC Source: NetGalley
Amazon •
The Book Depository •
Audible Goodreads The author of Other People's Houses and The Garden of Small Beginnings delivers a quirky and charming novel chronicling the life of confirmed introvert Nina Hill as she does her best to fly under everyone's radar.
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, 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.
God, I love this cover. These covers give me life. Like, I know I’ve talked about this ad nauseum in my I’ve Got You Covered posts, but it bears reiterating how amazing the cover art work being done at Berkley is. Also, it bears mentioning, particularly since this is a review, that it’s not just the cover art that’s good. The Bookish Life of Nina Hill‘s a very atypical sort of romance, and I’d urge you to think of it more as a contemporary novel because stylistically it really doesn’t fit the romance novel genre. BUT omg it’s so cute and funny and quirky and unique, and I loved it so much.
(more…)