![Bookish life of Nina Hill, The- A book review]()
review, Romance |
What is your dream life like? If you are a bookworm, I kinda think you will be jealous of the life of Nina Hill. I am not even an introvert and yet I was. I totally loved the book, the writing, as should every bookworm. Go ahead read to find what’s so good about The bookish life of Nina Hill, okay?
About the book
Book Name: The bookish life of Nina Hill
Author: Abbi Waxman
Genre: Fiction – Romance
Characters: Nina Hill, Tom Byrnes, Peter Reynolds, Archie Reynolds, Liz Quinn, Lydia & Katherine Reynolds, Polly Culligan, Eliza & Millie Reynolds, Alice Reynolds, Lili, Annabelle & Clare, Sarkassian
Setting: Los Angeles, California, The United States of America
The plot
Nina Lee Hill, an anxious introverted bookworm leads a perfect life with her job in a bookstore, a great trivia and Phil, her cat. She takes books seriously and actually considers talking to non readers worthless. Yep, seriously. And oh she is a list maker and planner! (See, whats not to like?)
When she comes to know that her estranged father is dead, she doesn’t realize her perfect world may not be as is. She has a family and a huge one at that. And also she might be named in his will. Also her arch nemesis from the trivia club, Tom may not be so bad after all.
How would Nina be able to cope with all these sudden changes forms the rest of The bookish life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman and you definitely should be reading it.
My initial thoughts
I was hooked with just the blurb and the title. I mean I loved the premises and the plot and the mere fact that there is going to be a lot of bookish-ness in the book. And I was not disappointed at all.
On a more serious note, I am sure most bookworms would feel relatable to Nina and her love for all bookish things. Other characters are too perfect to believe, I loved them anyway.
I loved that Nina wasn’t portrayed as a typical nerdy, closed introvert but as someone who has a social life with select people. Her time is well divided between trivia, movies with friends (or alone) and book club meetings. See, bookworms are not all alone, in reality!
I love a book with a family reunion, or new family in this case. The bookish life of Nina Hill is more of drama than a romance and I really liked that the romance takes a backseat after a while. I wish the author had spent a little more time to this aspect of the book and cut short on her inner ramblings.
Things that worked for me
- Very relatable characters that are well developed.
- I loved the witty conversations sprinkled here and there.
- Books. Books. Lists. BOOKS EVERYWHERE.
Things that didn’t work for me
- I literally rolled my eyes when I read about stereotypical “fabulous gay nephew”.
- The first few chapters with so many references and facts wore me a bit down.
Bottom-line
If you are bookworm whose life revolves around books and bookish things, The bookish life of Nina Hill is definitely for you. Easily one of the good books I read in 2019.
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![Bookish life of Nina Hill, The- A book review]()
Drama, Review Shots, Romance |
You know I usually say I never read a book when everyone is talking about it, right? But I am here to show you that I have read some books at the right time. And of course, I forgot to review them right then, which is quite like me of course.
So in our new episode of review shots, let me tell you about books that were not on my TBR and I read them only because of the hype. Well, that never turns out quite well, does it?
Books that I read only for the hype
Book Name: Everything, Everything
Author: Nicola Yoon
Genre: Fiction – Romance, Young Adult
Characters: Madeline “Maddy” Furukawa Whittier, Oliver “Olly” Bright, Pauline Furukawa Whittier, Carla Flores
Setting: Los Angeles, California, The USA
This YA took the Twitter world by a storm and I got the book almost immediately to read it.
Maddy led a very sheltered life all through her life due to her illness. She has never stepped out of her house in years and her mother and her nurse are the only one she interacts with. Them and her book blog. Until a new family moves to their next house.
I liked the book and would have loved it even until for the twist at the end, which I didn’t see coming at all. I normally would love to be thrown off, but this twist was kinda ‘trying too hard’. I also didn’t like the theme that ‘love conquers all, even illness’ that kept surfacing.
I loved reading the story, for the cutesy cheesy love story but it didn’t win my approval.
Book Name: Turtles All the Way Down
Author: John Green
Genre: Fiction – Romance, Young Adult
Characters: Aza Holmes, Davis Pickett, Daisy Ramirez, Mychal Turner, Noah Pickett
Setting: Indianapolis, Indiana, The USA
You all know my beef with John Green.
This book had everything that the book world is talking about and needs now. Turtles All the Way Down has #Ownvoice leads, one of whom suffers from mental illness and a mystery the leads had to solve in relation to their parents. Sounds all good to me.
Yet I could not relate to the characters at all, nor did I buy their ‘love story’. Did I mention this book had an absentee parent as well? I know lots of people loved this book but for me it ended as a so-so read because of these reasons and more.
I wanted to like it more than it deserved any way. And probably will stay away from John Green hereon.
Book Name: My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry
Author: Fredrik Backman
Genre: Fiction – Drama
Characters: Elsa, Granny, Alf, Britt-Marie, Kent, Ulrika, Lissete, George
Setting: Sweden
Oh I loved Backman’s other book A Man Called Ove and I started reading this one almost immediately. But it took me more than a month to finish this 350 and odd pages and I will tell you why.
The precocious ‘almost eight’ years old Elsa has just lost her grandmother to cancer. Her grandmother was also her best and only friend, who kept her safe at night with the tales of the Land of Almost-Awake and the Kingdom of Miamas.
Now she is set with the task of handing over apology notes to the wacky characters in their apartment for her grandmother’s past and getting to know more about them and her family as well.
I liked the concept of the book and how the little girl learnt to deal with all the changes and new people in her life. I loved many of these characters and their sub plots. But the book totally went over my head when it came to the imaginary land and its people.
Maybe there is a reason to why I don’t read fantasy much.
Bottom – line
Of course I don’t regret reading them at all. But I wish I hadn’t tried as hard to like them and gave up when I should have. Well, lesson learnt. Maybe.
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![Bookish life of Nina Hill, The- A book review]()
review, Thriller, YA |
Do you know who is up to date on all book trends and posts reviews as soon as they finish a book? Not me. Even when I rarely catch up with trend and read something that everyone likes and raves about, everything doesn’t go as smoothly as planned. Let us take the example of One of us is lying by Karen M McManus, a YA ‘whodunnit thriller that rocked the Twitter and blogs last, read on to know more.
Almost a year ago, everyone I knew and followed read and spoke about One of us is lying. After a tedious hunt I found the book and read it as fast as could. You see, I do try to keep up. But I never posted a review because I am generally forgetful and I forgot about the book. Read further to know why the book was so forgetful.
About One of us is lying
Book Name: One of us is lying
Author: Karen M. McManus
Genre: Fiction – Young Adult, Mystery
Characters: Bronwyn, Nate, Addy, Jake, Cooper, Simon
Setting: California, The USA
Plot Summary of One of us is lying
The story begins at detention with five students that fit the popular stereotypes – Bronwyn the class nerd, Nate the brooding bad boy, Addy the pretty and popular girl, Cooper the athlete, and Simon the outcast.
Simon holds a knife over everyone else’s head with help of the school’s gossip website and he knows a lot. Things go haywire when Simon dies of an allergic reaction right in front of them at the detention center.
The police suspect foul play and the four teens are brought under spotlight. Did the fact that Simon was going to publish their secrets the next day had anything to do with his death? You will have to read One of us is lying to know more.
Book review of One of us is lying
As someone who loves reading whodunnit, I sorta guessed the murderer easily. Well, my theory almost worked, though not completely. Karen M. McManus’s writing was fast at some places, especially around the murder, and then lagged in other places. I wish it had a consistent pace but it was not a deal breaker.
Things that worked for me
- It is definitely an easy to read book and I finished reading it in a few hours. And needless to say it was un-put-down-able.
- Kudos to the author for writing such a mostly fast paced story with typical characters and yet, make her mark.
- I liked Addy’s character growth, from an airhead to sort of empowered(?). It would have been great if there was such a character development for all the other characters as well.
- Though marketed as a thriller, it has much more of romance and drama from the other side plots, which kept the story moving, all though slowly.
Things that didn’t work for me
- The multiple POVs for various characters sounded pretty much the same to me.
- How many red herrings are too many? ‘One of us is lying’ many. Since I kinda already guessed it, I felt the clues were too many apparently misleading.
- The romance kinda felt forced and the book might have been more crisper without it.
- I think I keep repeating this on all my YA reviews. Where are the adults? And why is the police so incompetent?
Bottom line
Despite the cliched characters and events, One of us is lying held my attention for the few hours it took for me to finish it.If you like a YA mystery that is more on the side of YA, you might like One of us is lying. If you are looking for more solid mystery/thriller, there are better options.
Similar Book reviews you may like
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![Bookish life of Nina Hill, The- A book review]()
Drama |
What more would you want when everyone thinks you seem to have it all? Degrees of Love is a women’s fiction that follows the life of Susan Sinclair and her journey into self-discovery after spending almost a decade and a half trying to be there for her family and proving she could do it all. Did she really have it all? Read ahead to know more.
About the book
Book Name: Degrees of Love
Author: Lisa Slabach
Genre: Fiction – Drama
Characters: Susan and Matt Sinclair, Reese Kirkpatrick
Setting: California, The USA
Disclaimer: I received a free copy of the book from iReads book tours.
Plot
Susan, a devoted mother of two, is smart, successful and creative and just been promoted to the senior vice president. She doesn’t regret that she had to give up her acting career and her dreams to live in New York for the family. The price she had paid for that doesn’t seem too high when Matt, her husband offers the stability her life had been missing before she met him.
But with every hike in her salary and her career, Matt has been growing distant and indifferent. Of late she has started to suspect that Matt has been keeping her boys away from her and putting her down whenever possible. She craves for the feeling of being needed and appreciated by them. Her increased load at work and work-related travels are the only things that keep her sanity.
And that changes when she meets her new boss, Reese Kirkpatrick. With the fiery chemistry and whirlwind romance, Susan cannot stay away from Reese and her feelings are reciprocated manifold. Ridden with the guilt she is forced to take a decision that might change not only her life with Matt but also that of her young children. Find out what ensues by reading Degrees of Love.
My initial thoughts
Degrees of Love is a realistic and poignant novel that follows the life of Susan Sinclair and the difficulties in marriage. Lisa Slabach’s down-to-earth portrayal of its characters will be relatable to all women. Despite the book being 340+ pages I finished it in two days, (nights, rather) mainly due to the engaging narration and the writing style.
Though it would be easier to blame Matt and Susan, I was able to understand the circumstances and try to be not judgmental of them. There were times when I wanted to strangle Susan’s choices but that is how real life is, confusing and chaotic.
Bottom – line
I will recommend Degrees of Love to anyone who likes reading women fiction about strong women. I just want to warn off those who strongly react to books about cheating.
Meet the Author
Degrees of Love is Lisa Slabach’s debut novel. She is currently working on her third full-length manuscript and a collection of short stories inspired by her experiences growing up in a small farm community in Washington’s Yakima Valley. In addition to writing, Lisa works for a Fortune 500 Company, leading a sales team in the financial industry. She currently resides in Northern California with her husband and has two daughters, who are both pursuing careers in film. In her free time, she enjoys drinking wine with friends and cooking in her pink kitchen.
Connect with the Author: Website ~ Twitter ~ Facebook
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review, Romance, YA |
Do you know what is the overused word that I have been dreading to hear or read about a book? Nerds. Thanks to John Green, Chetan Bhagat and the likes, I am pushed to cringe physically when someone describes themselves as nerds. So when every book blogger I adore went crazy reviewing about the new YA on the block with two Indian leads who are nerds, I was not sure I would like the end of that melodrama. Still, I had to try it, right? Read more to find out what I feel about When Dimple Met Rishi
Book Name: When Dimple Met Rishi
Author: Sandhya Menon
Genre: Fiction – YA Romance
Characters: Dimple Shah, Rishi and Ashish Patel, Celia
Setting: San Francisco, California, The USA, India
Dimple Shah has ambitious plans for her life and has been accepted to Stanford. She wants to attend a coding camp that might give her a chance to work with her role model. But her parents have other plans for her. Rishi Patel, her parents’ choice of the groom for Dimple, arrives at the Insomnia Camp to spend time with her. Dimple ambushed by her parents hates Rishi even before she gets a chance to know him. Does her opinion about Rishi changes after she knows him better?
Rishi is the perfect first born son for his Indian parents, who follows his dad’s footsteps into computer engineering. He falls for the girl his parents chose for him and agrees to woo her at the summer program she has enlisted to. Does this arranged marriage situation end up well for his hopelessly romantic self? Does he realize what makes him happy, than just being the model son? You have to read the When Dimple Met Rishi to find out more.
Dimple and Rishi are so opposite in their beliefs and value systems, though their origin and culture are the same. While she is a rebel and wants to shine out in the world for herself before she could think of marriage, Rishi stays true to his roots and wants to fulfill his parents’ desires. They are both perfect for each other and fight hard to keep on their courses despite the fact that they were falling for each other. Oh, by the way, I totally adored the other duo (Ashish and Celia) in the story, and I am more than excited to know that there might be a follow up on their stories too.
When Dimple Met Rishi is a cute YA contemporary that would make you grin in all the right places. This short read is what one needs one a bored afternoon to lift you from your slump. Yes, there are some stereotyping towards Indians. And even as an Indian from a similar background, I could not believe these kids were just eighteen. I mean I was never that serious even then. I actually pegged Rishi to be in his late 20s or early 30s, before I had read further. You know I had already another Rishi with whom I had the same problem.
There are a few Hindi slangs but not too many to be turn-offish and the writing is so fluid and breezy that I read the book in less than three hours. Is When Dimple Met Rishi
worth all the commotion it has created by the Twittersphere and the great reviews found online? I would say a YES! If you are in the mood for a YA/romcom this season your choice is right here.
