The Bookish Life of Nina Hill - Abbi Waxman (Review & Summary)

Date of Reading: 10/03/2020

Author: Abbi Waxman

Publisher: Berkely

Publication Date: July 9, 2019

Rating: 5/5

About the book:

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.

Review:

       I don't think any book lover alive fail to relate to this book as one or other way Nina Hill represents some of our quirky character traits. Thanks are due to my book club for selecting this as the BOTM; looks like that was the only incentive I needed to transfer it from my TBR pile. And so glad I did.

      As you must have gathered from the blurb, the story revolves around Nina Hill, a bookworm who prefer books to reality. Aren't we all? Her days are meticulously arranged with a planner and all these come tumbling down when the father she never knew suddenly died, leaving behind a large family. This is a precarious situation. Now she is forced to get her head out of books, and mingle with actual people. Sounds familiar guys?

       With lots of bookish references, dry humour and a whole set of endearing characters, this book proves to be a light-hearted and engaging tale from beginning to end. So bookworms of the world unite in reading this; after all, this is your story.

Summary:

       Nina is the daughter of a single mother who is a world-famous travelling photographer. Due to her mother’s frequent travels, she is practically raised by her nanny, Louise. Now at the age of twenty-nine, she is happy with her job in the bookstore, her trivia team and the company of her cat, Phil. Everything changes with the visit of a lawyer who informs her that her father, William Reynolds, is dead. Though she knew that her mother is not Virgin Mary type, she was not expecting to hear about the father figure in her life. To make matters worse, her father has married three times and consequently, she has four siblings and a bunch of nephews, nieces, grandniece and grandnephews.
       Her nephew Peter comes forward to introduce the family and soon Nina learns that genetic plays a great role in creating similarities. Even with Archie, her brother whom she thought will be resentful, she finds a comradeship since both share anxiety issues. But Lydia, her grandniece refuses to accept her and considers her as a gold digger.
         Meanwhile, Tom, the leader of their opposite trivia team (You’re a Quizzard Harry) is interested in Nina. They are put together in many situations quite ‘coincidentally’ thanks to the matchmaking skills of both their friends. Nina is not comfortable with surprises or changing her schedule but with Tom, she feels a sense of security. Same goes with her family since she feels no qualms about changing her plans for her youngest sister, Millie, who is also heavily invested in books. But her anxiety problems come as a villain again and cracks begin to appear in her relationship with Tom. The news of her bookstore about to get closed causes a panic attack, but instead of taking the help of Tom, she prefers to spend her time alone as her usual habit. But unlike earlier times, wrapping herself in a cocoon fails to give much comfort.
      Finally, the anticipated will reading occurs with the huge wealth of William Reynolds divided among his legitimate children and grandchildren. Nina is left with her father’s favourite car (a1982 Pontiac Trans Am). She is asked to drive it at least once even if she chooses to sell it. With the help of Moltres, the garage keeper, Nina manages to learn driving and inside she finds letters addressed to all children and grandchildren. 
         From the letter addressed to her, she learns that her father was keeping track of her life even though he was not allowed to meet her. He confesses to the mistakes he has made and asks her to learn something from his experience. He has left more than two and a half million dollars to her but his real gift is her newly acquired family. Nina delivers her father’s letter to Lydia and finally, both of them realizes their bond. Lydia, it seems, is quite brilliant with trivia. 
    Nina goes to Southern California Quiz Bowl Final because Tom’s team has reached the final round. When a question is posed to the audience, in typical cinematic fashion, Nina makes her feelings public and apologizes to Tom. The lovers patch up their differences and there begins their happily ever after. Nina buys the bookshop with her money and intends to spend her whole life with books.

Meet the author:

Abbi Waxman, the USA Today bestselling author of The Bookish Life of Nina Hill, Other People’s Houses, and The Garden of Small Beginnings, is a chocolate-loving, dog-loving woman who lives in Los Angeles and lies down as much as possible. She worked in advertising for many years, which is how she learned to write fiction. She has three daughters, three dogs, three cats, and one very patient husband.