The Bookish Life of Nina Hill Audiobook By Abbi Waxman cover art

The Bookish Life of Nina Hill

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The Bookish Life of Nina Hill

By: Abbi Waxman
Narrated by: Emily Rankin
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Instant USA Today best seller!

“Abbi Waxman is both irreverent and thoughtful.” (Number one New York Times best-selling author Emily Giffin)

“Meet our bookish millennial heroine - a modern-day Elizabeth Bennet, if you will... Waxman’s wit and wry humor stand out. She is funny and imaginative, and Bookish lands a step above run-of-the-mill romantic comedy fare.” (The Washington Post)

The author of Other People’s Houses and The Garden of Small Beginnings delivers a quirky and charming novel chronicling the life of confirmed introvert Nina Hill as she does her best to fly under everyone's radar.

Meet Nina Hill: A young woman supremely confident in her own...shell.

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.

©2019 Abbi Waxman (P)2019 Penguin Audio Family Life Fiction Genre Fiction Literature & Fiction Women's Fiction Comedy Funny Witty Feel-Good

Critic reviews

“Move over on the settee, Jane Austen. You’ve met your modern-day match in Abbi Waxman. Bitingly funny, relatable and intelligent, The Bookish Life of Nina Hill is a must for anyone who loves to read.” (Kristan Higgins, New York Times best-selling author of Good Luck with That)

“It's a shame The Bookish Life of Nina Hill only lasts 350 pages, because I wanted to be friends with Nina for far longer.” (Refinery29)

“The Bookish Life of Nina Hill will put a smile on your face the entire time you’re reading it. It’s a light, fun summer read with a cast of colorful and lovable characters that you wish were real and that you had on your trivia team. This book is the perfect beach read or pick-me-up for a cloudy day.” (Hypable)

Editor's Pick

Smooth, sweet summer listen
"The first thing that stood out to me about The Bookish Life of Nina Hill was the language. Conversations that actually sound like the ones I hear and participate in every day? Impossible! You'd think it's easy, but I've listened to more than my fair share of well-intended attempts at capturing contemporary speech that just fall short on authenticity. And the "quirky" main character is another trendy go-to these days that at times can feel cliché. Well, I'm thrilled to report that Nina Hill is *actually* quirky, and her conversations with those around her *actually* sound like they could take place in the real world. Combine that with a bright and lively performance from Emily Rankin, and you've got the perfect light listen to start your summer off with a smile."
—Lavina K., Audible Editor

Witty Dialogue • Relatable Protagonist • Excellent Narration • Charming Storyline • Heartwarming Relationships
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This book was very disjointed. I found it hard to like the main character and to believe in the randomness of this book and it's bipolar characters.

Disjointed

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This book was so cute, corny, funny and had a happy ending. I loved it!!

A happy read for book nerd's everywhere

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Not my usual fare but I really enjoyed it. The humor was spot on. Not much happens—it’s drama-comedy-romcom, none of which are what I usually listen to, and it’s kind of a fairytale masquerading in part as slightly-realistic fiction—with its tender and serious treatment of anxiety, it feels like it’s trying to be more “real” but then it throws in a picture perfect romcom romance and a miraculous inheritance that sort of throws the “real” out the window. I don’t mind since I like fairytales, but it felt like the story wasn’t 100% sure what it wanted to be when it grew up. Great main characters. Nina was an anal snob but managed to be mostly likable. No villains. The 2 supposed antagonists were resolved incredibly easily, adding to the fairytale flavor. Loved the humor and the writing style. I laughed all the way through.
Narration was absolutely perfect.

Inconsistent but lots of fun

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Unexpected love story, and not necessarily in the way we’ve come to expect. It all comes down to the last few chapters, then, Bam! Bam! and Bam! again. :) lThe storyline throughout is well played...

Such a cute book!

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The narrator is so good at setting the scene in this book. As a true book dragon, I wanted to live in Nina's little guest house with all her book shelves and Phil.

A real book lover's book!

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I miss the characters!!! Want more!!! Wish it was longer. Great book. Sequel would be nice

So sad when it ended

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Loved every second. People are good if you can get past their defenses. I am just going to believe that going forward no matter what.

Can you ask more from a book?

Sometimes Hype is True

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Truly entertaining. Great story line and I couldn’t stop listening! Reminds me of the bantering within Gilmore Girls tv show. Great light read.

Laughed out loud

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In the initial chapters ... in fact, quite far in to the book ... I kept thinking "this isn't for me". Something made me carry on with it though, and in the end I am glad I did.

I nearly gave up

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This is the best book I have read in a long time. This is a wonderful breath of fresh air. My faith in quality writing is renewed. The author knows how to lure you in to the story and doesn't rely smut to hold a readers attention

Excellent

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