The Bookish Life of Nina Hill

Bookstore employee Nina Hill likes to read—a lot. She also enjoys keeping an uberdetailed planner and not digressing from her schedule, even if it involves doing nothing. Similar to Greta Garbo, she wants to be left alone—by most people. She likes her quirky coworkers, her trivia team members, and her cat, Phil. She doesn't want anything to do with her newly discovered family or Tom, the good-looking sports buff on a rival trivia team. Now seems like a perfect time for Nina to come out of her shell, but is she ready or even able? Waxman's third novel (The Garden of Small Beginnings) is full of pop culture references (bonus points for readers who catch the Men at Work one), and the handwritten planner entries are reminiscent of those in Bridget Jones's diary. However, the third-person narration doesn't really work here—Nina would tell her story better—and the occasional sexual references don't fit the book's innocent tone.