The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman

The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman is shelved under romance and chicklit in Goodreads, but I don't know if I'd say it's either...

Nina Hill is in her late twenties, works at a bookstore, has a cat named Phil, and covers her miserable existence by filling her days with fitness classes, book clubs, movie nights, and bar trivia. She is the only daughter of a single mother who travels the world as a photographer. Nina rarely leaves Los Angeles. She suddenly finds out that the father she never knew existed has died, left her something in his will, and that she has a whole bunch of extended family, including siblings. 

There's a lot going on here. 

And then Waxman overlays this with Nina trying to start a relationship with some guy whose name I can't remember from an opposing trivia team. A guy who doesn't have a planner or keep a calendar, doesn't read, and seems to only like Nina because she'll pay him attention. And somehow this boring loser is supposed to make this a romance novel?

AND. Let's talk about this. Nina is supposed to be a reader, but we never see or hear about her reading. She's super obnoxious about trivia (IMAGINE trying to have a meal with this woman - every time you started a topic she'd derail it into some inane piece of trivia even she thinks is boring, but somehow she thinks you need to know that she knows) and honestly I feel like that could have been enough, but Waxman is like "she's a reader and that's how she knows all the trivia," but Nina is so busy that she has to have Thursday night set aside to read. Excuse me? If your entire identity is tied up in being a reader, you read all the damn time (ask me how I know). 

AND. Let's talk about Nina's identification as an introvert. I'm not suggesting that introverts never leave their house, but introverts generally do not like to leave their houses. We will, of course, but then it takes us days to recover and be willing to go out again. My husband and I joke about how I spent a few hours with a friend a couple of weekends ago (a friend! a lovely person! doing something very low-key! I enjoyed it!) and then needed the entire week and the next weekend to recuperate. I have a limit that I will do one fitness class a week after work and one social event on the weekends. That is my max. I'm literally not over here filling in every second of my schedule. I suspect Waxman is an extrovert. 

AND. I don't understand if Nina is smart or not. Ha ha! My boss is always late with the rent and we hide from the landlord. That's super normal, right? (WTF, Nina?) Ha ha! My father, who I've heard was quite wealthy, left me something in the will. If it were me, I'd be wondering what he left me. Money? Jewelry? A letter? NOTHING. SHE NEVER THINKS ABOUT IT. What is wrong with her? When she asks her mother about her father, she never seems to think about whether or not this discussion will make her mother uncomfortable or bring up unpleasant thoughts. 

Predictable ending - you knew the ending as soon as the will was mentioned, right? And the boyfriend (Tom? Tim? Tad? Tyler? Theo? - okay, fine, I looked it up - his name is Tom)? We know they're going to be together in the end, but is that what we want? Doesn't he seem like an utter douche canoe who is super boring and doesn't communicate well in arguments and pouts like a child? So many red flags, there, Nina. Get out. Or maybe don't. Maybe you two people deserve each other.

Don't read this book. 2/5 stars - I have a lot of regrets about finishing it. When will I ever learn to DNF? 

Lines of note:

How many people do we encounter every day who might be related to us, or simply people who might have become the best friends we ever had, or our second spouses, or the agents of our destruction, if we only spent more than seconds with them? (location 1979)

This is an interesting question. Every person we interact with has an entire life. How many of those lives would fit in with yours?

“He wasn’t right for me, anyway. He didn’t read.” 
“Reading isn’t the only thing in the world, Nina.” 
“It’s one of only five perfect things in the world.”
“And the other four are?” 
“Cats, dogs, Honeycrisp apples, and coffee.” (location 2160)

First, she ends up with a jerk who doesn't read in the end. Second, what are your five perfect things? 

Libraries were her favorite places, and when she traveled, she would start out at the local library, thus immediately identifying herself as a total nerd. (location 2202)

I also like to go to libraries when I'm on vacation. BUT! There's a whole thing in here about how she never leaves LA, but then she talks about traveling all the time. FIGURE IT OUT, WAXMAN.

Phil was perched on top of the gate, watching them. Nina nodded. 
“I do. He’s mine.”
 “What’s his name? He’s judging me.”
 “His name is Phil, and actually,” said Nina, “he’s judging me.” (location 2434)

Cats should not live outdoors in cities. It is unsafe for them and they are killers of birds and small mammals. #teamphil #ninaisaterribleperson

The new dog had his tail tucked and his eyes were grave. (location 2543)

Welcome to my house. My dog is like this a good 20% of her life. Last night when I was making human dinner after feeding animal dinner, Hannah came up to me with her tail tucked and sad eyes and bumped my hand for pets. After petting her for about ten seconds, I got back to dinner. Then she went over to the backdoor and nudged the doorknob, so I opened the door and went outside with her. Her tail started wagging and she was content to just go over to a pinecone and sniff it. She played me like a fiddle. 

Parents get stuck in the amber of childhood, right? Whenever my parents visit, I feel myself becoming a cranky fourteen-year-old. (location 3221)

I instantly revert to a snotty teen when I'm around my sister. I try not to, but...

What I looked up:

“She also likes those drawings by Hirschfeld, you know, where he hid the name Nina somewhere in the picture . . . (location 2799)

This was vaguely familiar to me, but I couldn't quite place it. I have already looked up Hirschfeld before for a book review. Hirschfeld was an American caricaturist who was known for placing the name NINA in his drawings. Nina was his daughter and he started this practice after she was born.

Hat mentions (why hats?):

She said sockAH instead of soccer, or lollies instead of candy, but it wasn’t like she walked around in a hat with corks dangling from it. (location 249)

Nina reached Larchmont Boulevard, with its artisanal hat and cheese shops (two different shops; that would be a weird combination, especially in warm weather), and turned into her favorite café to grab a gluten-free low-fat bran muffin. (location 393)

Mr. Sarkassian was balding on top but with hair around the sides and back, like someone wearing a brown woolly hat with everything but the brim removed. (location 440)

“Backward hats, or, actually, any hats. I hate hats.” (location 707)

The hat store had a sale on berets. (location 1128)

“All right, young one,” said Liz, pulling on her battered Dodgers baseball hat. (location 1297)

Walking into a room full of strangers was about as comfortable for her as putting on a hat full of wasps and tugging it down firmly. (location 1594)

...and a large felt hat with a brim the size of Poughkeepsie. (location 3606)

...the California Quizzly Bears had also brought a sizable contingent of fans, who were wearing bear claw gloves and Smokey Bear hats. (location 3698)

She was wearing an entire grizzly bear head as a hat. (location 3718)

“Why doesn’t the Man with the Yellow Hat take his responsibility seriously?" (location 3833)

"The Man with the Yellow Hat is the victim." (location 3835)