"It also meant she thought of books as medication and sanctuary and the source of all good things. Nothing yet had proven her wrong."

I spend way too much time trying to figure out my next best read. I’m the Jimmy Carter of book selecting. Just have to gather a little more information before I make a final decision and download the audible or crack the spine of a shiny new book.  Afterall, a little forethought almost always goes a long way. I simply don’t have time for mediocre pages.

Maybe it’s the lesser of two evils? Spend the time to avoid a literary crime. I’m rarely disappointed.  That’s not to say I always agree with what my homework suggests—can’t say that I see eye to eye with reviewers who compared Abbi Waxman to Jane Austen.  My reverence for Jane runs deep. When Nina Hill was named “a modern-day Elizabeth Bennett,” I couldn’t hit download fast enough.  Nina is quirky. She’s witty and smart and bookish of course. I thought she was lovable too—she’s the female version of Ken Jennings, she works in a book store that refuses to fold, she owns the fact that she finds joy in missing out, and she’s book obsessed.  (She’s hilarious…love her quips about exercise…she’s gonna make you chuckle.) When her quiet life is upended by the news that her now-dead father (that she didn’t know she had) left her an inheritance, life outside the pages takes a real turn.  I’d love to hang out with Nina myself, I’m just not ready to call her Elizabeth—I might be willing to say Tom has some Mr. Darcy in him. 

If you liked Evvie Drake Starts Over, you’ll like The Bookish Life of Nina Hill. The millennial does have a conversation with her book club that I could have done without.  It felt gratuitous to me.  I’d skip over it and stick with the good stuff. And it is good stuff.

Posted by Tracy