The Bookish Life of Nina Hill

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.

I was so intrigued by this book. As an anxious bookish introvert, I was definitely drawn in by the synopsis.

It took me some time to get into this book, though. I think the writing style or voice was a bit too cutesy for me, and when I put the book down, I didn’t feel excited about picking it up again like I do when I’m really into a book.

But as the story went on, particularly as Nina met some of her new family members, I found myself more pulled into this. While I found the storyline with Nina’s boss annoying, overall the book was a nice cute and cozy distraction from real life this week.