A whimsical, funny story about an introverted bookworm who gets her life turned upside down by the death of the father she never knew.

Nina has a cute apartment in a historic neighborhood, a cat that she imagines conversations with, and an activity for every day of the week to keep her anxiety in check. She even has a cute nemesis at trivia night, Tom, the team captain of "You're a Quizzard, Harry." She adorably can't stop herself from spouting out random facts at inopportune times, though she's found her people who appreciate her.

But when a lawyer marches into the bookstore she's worked at and introduces her to a large, dysfunctional family filled with people like her, spanning the generations and three wives of the mysterious William Reynolds. At the same time, she starts to realize that Tom may like her too.

All this change sends Nina into a tizzy, as she must stretch her life in ways she never thought possible. This is a character-driven book filled with great lines that make up for the lack of exciting events. Even the will reading felt a little anti-climactic to me.

Still a cute, quirky summer read. ( )

I tend to shy away from books with such rave reviews as I often am disappointed; The Bookish Life of Nina Hill was quite the contrary - it was such fun!

Nina is in her late-20s, with a loving but very absent mother and a father she has never known or even heard of until he dies and she is listed as an heir. Suddenly, the single child is thrust into the chaos of multiple siblings, nieces, nephews, and cousins. Accustomed to her only real drama being in the form of the books she reads or sells at the book shop where she works, Nina must learn to navigate family for the first time, which is fun for the reader, trying for Nina.

As a side note, and to bring a twist to the plot, Nina is a trivia geek and belongs to a group of competitors vying for a bar trivia championship; here, of course, is where she meets her love interest, Tom.

The book is so well-written and fun that it doesn't really matter the depth or perhaps lack thereof in the plot; not that the plot is lacking - but you get the gist. Gone with the Wind, it is not.

Abbi Waxman has done a lovely job of weaving this story and her words flow and are so true and seamless that it is easy to get lost in the pages. I strongly suggest blessing Ms. Waxman to take you on the journey of Nina Hill, it's worth the time. ( )

A treat! ( )

The last few pages were stupid, but the rest was great. Full review to come! ( )

I liked this but I didn’t love it. Enjoyed Nina’s relationship with her new family but wanted a little more of her friends and the awkward romance with Tom. I really wanted to know more about him. I felt like maybe I should have remembered him from Waxman’s other books but I didn’t.
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