. . . even though I don't like libraries (too smelly). But I love what they represent. That is, books. And in this world, there are few things more comforting than books about books and the people who love them. Because I'm one of those people too. So, The Bookish Life of Nina Hill was on my short list of must reads. If the title sounds a little like The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry, then 1) congrats, you've been listening! and 2) that's because it's in that league. Like A.J., Nina is all about stories. And knowledge. And sharing those stories and that knowledge with fellow bookworms who appreciate them.
Here are some things about Nina:
She's twenty-nine, lives in Los Angeles, and works in an independent bookstore. She's the captain of a pub trivia team called Book 'Em, Danno. She has an absentee, award-winning photojournalist mother and a father she's never met. She's witty and arch, sometimes silent, sometimes outspoken. Order is very important to her, and she enjoys spending time alone. Also, she's anxious. And like many anxious people, she's ruled by a mix of imagination and restraint. I liked her immediately.
The Bookish Life of Nina Hill is somehow both light and heavy, like ambrosia or non-diet canned pears. Like its heroine, this novel is organized and moves nimbly from point A to point B. Yet despite its sound structure, it falls firmly into the camp of books that are about thoughts as opposed to actions. If it were a movie (and I hope that someday it will be!), then it'd be an indie film instead of a big budget blockbuster. To me, that's the fiction hall of fame sweet spot. Quirky and cute and just a little bit sad and played out in the life of the mind. But instead of nattering on and giving away the ending, I'll share three of the quotes that made me fold the pages. By the way, I used to think that page folding was blasphemy. But I've since accepted it as one of the best parts of being a bibliophile. Not to mention a good reason to say neigh to the Kindle.
A quote that's Nina in a nutshell:
"Nina worried she liked being alone too much; it was the only time she ever fully relaxed. People were . . . exhausting. They made her anxious. Leaving her apartment every morning was the turning over of a giant hourglass, the mental energy she'd stored up overnight eroding grain by grain. She refueled during the day by grabbing moments of solitude and sometimes felt her life was a long-distance swim between islands of silence. She enjoyed people -- she really did -- she just needed to take them in homeopathic doses; a little of the poison was the cure." (17).
A quote that's lyrical and mentions makeup:
"As the light dwindled, palm trees and distant buildings would become black silhouettes against an impossibly rosy backdrop. Sunsets are beautiful in California, the cornflower blue of the sky diluting as the light fades into a teenage girl's pastel palette of nail colors." (96)
A quote that's a little bit serious and a little bit funny:
"It (The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran) contained Nina's favorite saying: You talk when you cease to be at peace with your thoughts. She wanted to wear it on a T-shirt, embroider it on a pillow, or maybe tattoo it on her wrist. But the trouble with wordy tattoos was that people start reading them, then you have to stand still while they finish, and then they look up at you and frown and you have to explain yourself . . . Way too much human interaction, plus also the needles, the pain, the fear of the needles and pain. So, no tattoo, but an embroidery wasn't out of the question." (183)
In the way of novels, things happen to Nina. These things, of course, involve other people, presenting her with the challenge of expanding her comfort zone while remaining true to herself. So yeah, she's like A.J. and Sara and Susan and Eleanor and countless other outsider characters. Which is to say, human. And, despite her issues, perhaps not so odd after all.
So, here's to word nerds everywhere and living one's best life by -- and not by -- the book.
Sounds like an epic tattoo -- er, embroidery -- to me.
