the bookish life of nina hill by Abbi Waxman

Twentieth book of 2020

Reading period: Mar 18th 2020 – Mar 25th 2020

Summary

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.

Rating

Review

I don’t know how to feel about this book.

I like the book references, and all the meetings Nina have like the different book clubs (especially the one with ten years old girls), the wedding and the trivia nights, even if I loathe Howard. 

Nevertheless, for me, the story has two distinct sections, but there is no link between them. They cohabit, they approximately have the same space in the book, and it’s too much. So the story isn’t smooth and easy to follow; it’s more jerky. 

I also had a problem with the chapters titles. I didn’t find the purpose of those little sentences. 

Overall, even if I have a significant problem with the construction of the story, I like the bookish things in the book and the characters that make the story an enjoyable reading.

Liz.