The Bookish Life of Nina Hill in Some Like It Hot!

Jun 06, 2021 Wendy rated it really liked it

Shelves: jun-21, 5000-2021

This is a perfect, light, feel good read!
Introverted Nina lives a solitary life with Phil her cat. A lover of books, she works in a bookstore, belongs to a book club and is in a competitive trivia group.
One day Nina discovers she has another family upon learning of her father's death, a father she never knew. She also suddenly desires a boyfriend.
Full of quirky and laugh out loud moments this is definitely a fun read! ...more

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Feb 01, 2022 Britt Lovelady rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, womens-lit, 2022

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Did I enjoy this book? Yes. Did I feel like it ultimately lived up to its potential? No, not quite.

Nina Hill , a huge bookworm, enjoys her job at an independent bookstore. When she’s not participating in her trivia league with her friends, her favorite thing to do is to curl up in her comfy chair at home and read a book. She also suffers from anxiety, and to combat this, she meticulously plans every aspect of her life. So she feels like her life is completely upended when she receives a letter Did I enjoy this book? Yes. Did I feel like it ultimately lived up to its potential? No, not quite.

Nina Hill , a huge bookworm, enjoys her job at an independent bookstore. When she’s not participating in her trivia league with her friends, her favorite thing to do is to curl up in her comfy chair at home and read a book. She also suffers from anxiety, and to combat this, she meticulously plans every aspect of her life. So she feels like her life is completely upended when she receives a letter out of the blue telling her that her father (whom she never met) has passed away and she is required to be at the will reading. She also discovers that not only did he father her, but he was also apparently quite the ladies man who fathered multiple children, leaving Nina with a huge family to get to know. Add in a budding romance with a guy from a rival trivia team, and suddenly Nina finds that her perfectly planned life is no more.

The story follows Nina as she learns to deal with her anxiety, which comes to a head when she blows off Tom during one of her attacks. This forces her to come to the realization that being with certain people may be “better than being alone,” which she ultimately confesses to him when she tries to get him back.

As far as the overall plot, for most of the book I felt like it would have been better suited to have only one major conflict for Nina, but by the end of it, I felt like her being forced to interact with her new family, especially when she has to deliver a letter to Lydia, helped her to realize that she wants Tom in her life.

I also appreciated that the novel tackled the issue of a mental illness, and maybe that’s also where I felt a little disappointed. I could relate to Nina in many ways, such as wanting to be alone a lot and preferring books to most people, but I also felt that she was rather outgoing and willing to put herself out there for someone who seemed to have such an introverted personality. Meeting her relatives for lunch, being on the trivia team…it kind of seemed like it didn’t fit with her personality. That being said, anxiety takes many forms, so just because I couldn’t necessarily relate doesn’t make it a bad or untrue thing.

There were also several moments where I laughed out loud, which is always a good (but not easy) thing to accomplish.

The plot was a 7.5 out of 10, while the characters and readability are both a 9. Overall, I give this book a B-. Going to rate it three stars – I feel like it deserves a 3.5 but I also didn’t like it as well as some of my other 4 star books. ...more

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Aug 07, 2019 Sheila rated it it was amazing

Nina works in a book store which is her sanctuary. She then learns her father has died and she has relatives she never knew of and she meets a man who could be the one. She may not survive.

This is what I call a feel-good book. I enjoyed it. It made me happy. And that is all I ask for. I laughed throughout the book. The characters are interesting--all of them. What a group! I was rooting for Nina the whole time hoping she'd be able to deal with what was coming. This was just fun! Perfect summer r ...more

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