The Bookish Life of Nina Hill

Nina has her life all mapped out. She is a person who thrives on being left alone, the world revolves around books and her trivia tournaments at bars. She’s in a league and she thrives on it. Hey team wins a lot so they get kicked out of bars often.

She works in a bookstore (Knights) and her life is all set. She plans everything down to a visual journal t. Monday, work, eat, pee, pretend to exercise, etc. Tuesday, Same as Monday, Wednesday, Same as Tuesday. Thursday, Scheduled to do nothing (that’s her time to read.)

All was good in her land until she meets a guy who is on an opposing team (Quizzards) and catches her eye. His name is Tom. Her unbroken record at trivia winning list too the Quizzards due to a sports question. Tom knew that answer and Howard, the Quiz bowl’s trivia host, gave it toTom’s team for the win.

And so the dance begins where the two opposing players eye each other, like each other and both have a hard time making their attraction known. It wasn't until Nina decides to go to the movie theater, by herself, that she runs into Tom and his teammate, Lisa. Lisa knows of Tom's attraction to Nina so she feigns a headache and gives Nina her ticket and leaves. Once alone with Tom, she pulls back over the awkwardness and just leaves.

In the meantime, her life in being the only child and being alone in life is about to change. A lawyer, Sarkassian, visits her at Knights and tells her, her father (William) has left her in his will. She's got step-siblings and relatives who all live nearby. Mind you, not all of the relatives will be there with open arms at the reading of the will. The first person who reaches out to her is her brother, Peter. They have much in common and they get along great. Next comes Archie, who’s mother was pregnant with William’s child when he decided to cheat on her with Candice (Nina’s mother). He might not be so receptive and nice since “that slut caused my father to cheat on my mother” syndrome. They meet and he is so poised to hate Nina. They chat over coffee and he discovers she's not to blame. William was just a lying cheating bastard. It is through Archie, she starts to learn William worked a lot. Finally we get to Mr. Sarkassian’s office (he’s the esquire) and while most are accepting of Nina, cousin Lydia is furious at everyone for accepting Nina and goes off and declares Nina is a money grubbing liar who may not even be Nina. Nina declares she’s not interested in the inheritance.

All the while, Tom and Nina find every excuse not to get too close even though it’s obvious to everyone, how smitten they are with each other. Ah, the dilemma of young love. They have their shares of strange “dates” and just when Tom thinks he’s getting somewhere, Nina’s anxieties get the better of her and she retreats back into her safe places and ghosts Tom.

The best thing that happened to Nina is inheriting the classic car. She goes off to collect the car because she has no choice and meets the mechanic, Moltres. He’s gruff and a bit annoyed with Nina because a) he really loves that car b) she can’t even drive a stick. He softens up as he teaches her how to drive a stick and tells her a bit about her dad, such as his love for reading. The more she meets the people from her father’s life, the more she finds things in common she had with her father. She also is bequeathed 2 ½ million dollars.

Everything culminates when she finds the letters addressed to her and to the rest of her relatives. She reads about her father’s anxiousness and how he coped by drinking. While his life fell apart when his wife, Rosie died, he realized how he'd neglected her and still continued with his drinking. He gave her the advice of never being afraid to open yourself to love. Learn to trust people and be brave instead of relying on solitude. He explains that Eliza was the one who helped him through therapy. When Nina and Millie go to see Eliza, she tells Nina that “life is about finding someone who complements one’s personality.”

She decides to give them all their letters but really wants to hand deliver the one to her most caustic relative, Lydia. They meet and talk and iron things out.

As they are coming to an agreement, she gets a frantic phone call to please come to Knights because the landlord to Knights (Mr. Meffo) has no choice but to sublet it to someone else since Nina’s boss hasn’t paid Mr Meffo’s rent for 6 months! He sold it to a cosmetic person who uses marijana infused with her cosmetics. Passion rages from many customers who are loyal customers and come to Nina’s and Liz’s storytimes are there for support. What is done is done and Liz will lose the business.

Of course, the ending is to everyone’s satisfaction and this is an easy and delightful read.

5 glorious

Cute.

A simple, feel-good read. I could relate immensely.

I truly enjoyed this quirky, relatable, and perfectly written novel. I could not help but see aspects of myself in Nina, a book loving introvert who figures out being extroverted on occasion has its benefits. I loved each character, even Lydia (in the end), and how they each helped bring out Nina's full potential. The story was lovely ~ an ode to friendship, family ties (better late than never), and readers.

Looking forward to reading more about Nina, Tom, Liz, Polly, Lisa, Peter, Lydia, Archie, and Millie...plus all the others who've now become part of Nina's life.

Definitely will be a top recommendation for anyone asking for a light read that packs more of a punch than you thought it would.