This review contains affiliate links, which earn me a small commission when you click and purchase, at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting my small business and allowing me to continue providing you a reliable resource for clean book ratings.
Nina Hill has a comfortable and satisfactory life. She works at a bookstore, she has a cozy apartment with plenty of bookshelves, and she has a lot of time to read. She does have a social life: she runs several book clubs and is a member of an awesome trivia team.
Her life, of course, gets a good shakeup when the father she never knew dies, and she learns from his attorney she is mentioned in his will. Plus, she has several new sisters, a brother, nieces and nephews, and even great-nieces and nephews. And most of them want to get to know her. The family life she’s known for almost 30 years, of peace and quiet, being raised by a single mom who traveled and left her in the care of a loving nanny, has changed irrevocably. And it’s giving her not a little anxiety.
To compound the complexities being introduced to her life, Nina realizes that she’s attracted to Tom, a member of a rival quiz team. She thought he was just a sports dude who didn’t read, so she couldn’t possibly have anything in common with him. But their friends can see the two are a nice match, and there they are.
This story follows a common theme: a person satisfied with a life that works for them but who really could enjoy more that life has to offer. Like closer relationships and a few more of them, getting out into the world a bit more. Finding a good romantic relationship. Sure, it’s a common premise, but really, if it’s well-written, I think it’s always enjoyable to read about a character blooming and coming out of their shell.
Abbi Waxman writes characters who are real and easy to cheer for. She also apparently can’t help but write constantly clever and witty prose and conversation. Metaphors; observations about people, about Los Angeles, about books and bookish people… it’s all so much fun. I also admit I just doubled over laughing (and my husband did as well when I read this passage out loud to him) about a bawdy conversation among several women about when men send women photos of their private parts. Sure, it’s not clean, but my goodness, it was funny.
The Bookish Life of Nina Hill provides a lot to love. I already had a follow-up to the story on my to-read list, so I’ll be getting to that soon, I hope.
Rated: Moderate. Profanity includes 1 use of strong language, around 20 instances of moderate profanity, about a dozen uses of mild language, and 15 instances of the name of Deity in vain. Sexual content includes some brief references to a couple having sex, one with a little detail but more generalized, as well as a few spots of some vulgar humor. A three-page section discusses characters’ opinions about men sending up-close photos of their male anatomy.
Click here to purchase your copy of The Bookish Life of Nina Hill on Amazon.
