The Bookish Life of Nina Hill (ARC)

by Abbi Waxman

  Nina stood up tall. “His last words were, ‘I have made a terrible mistake, Tom. There is room for you in my life, plenty of room. Please give me a second chance.’”

  Total silence. QuizDick frowned and flipped over the card in his hand. “Uh, that’s not what I have here.”

  “Wait,” said Tom, “he also said, ‘What about the next time you freak out? I don’t want to be with someone who’s ready to throw me under the bus every time she loses her composure.’”

  “He has a point,” muttered Lydia.

  “Shut up,” said Nina.

  The Quizzly Bear captain said, “Wait a minute, are you allowed two guesses?”

  “I know,” replied Nina. “I’m sorry. I can only promise to try harder.” She swallowed and raised her voice. “Being with you is as good as being alone.”

  There was a pause, then Tom stepped away from the podium and walked over to Nina. “That’s the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me,” he said, and wrapped his arms around her, lifting her off her feet and kissing her deeply. He was vaguely aware of a woman jumping up and down nearby, saying, “Conan Doyle’s actual last words were to his wife. He said, ‘You are wonderful.’” And then, as Nina and Tom showed no signs of stopping, “The longest kiss on record was over fifty-eight hours long!”

  While Tom and Nina didn’t set a new record for kissing, they did cause the clip of the Trivia Bowl Final to go viral on YouTube. Weeks later, when QuizDick’s Trivia Channel was launched on YouTube, he acknowledged that if it weren’t for this peak romantic moment, his success would never have happened. He wasn’t ready to share the advertising revenue, of course, but you know, it’s a cutthroat world, trivia.

  • • •

  Once the contest was over, and the Quizzly Bears had graciously bought everyone in the bar a beer, Tom and Nina made their good-byes. Lydia and Lisa were deep in discussion about fantastic traffic jams in history, and barely noticed them leaving.

  “I want to take you to my place,” said Tom. “It’s actually not far from here.” Nina nodded, and they walked through the dark streets in perfect happiness, holding hands and saying nothing.

  They reached a low building, and Tom pulled a key from his pocket. “This is where I work,” he said, “rather than where I live, but I need to show you something.”

  He unlocked the door and led her inside, along a narrow hallway to a large room at the back of the building. Nina followed him, wishing she were still holding his hand. The room they walked into was filled with wood and pieces of furniture. It smelled wonderful, of sawdust and linseed oil. Of Tom.

  “This is my workshop,” said Tom, switching on the lights.

  “You said you were a carpenter.”

  “I am,” he replied, smiling at her. “But not the house-building kind. I’m a cabinetmaker. I make furniture.” He pointed. “In particular, bookcases.”

  “You’re joking.” Nina looked around; he clearly wasn’t joking. There were several large, beautiful bookcases in the room. They weren’t simply shelves; they had doors and glass and drawers and little wooden twiddly bits that probably had a proper name.

  Tom shook his head. “No, really. I talked to Peter about it that day at the Festival, and we agreed it was too corny to tell you. I was kind of waiting for the right moment and then … you know … we broke up, so it didn’t matter.”

  Nina gazed at him. “It’s …”

  He blushed. “I know. It’s ridiculous, a man who makes bookcases dating a woman who sells books.”

  “Yeah.”

  “How about I refocus on cupboards and dressers?”

  She smiled. “I could quit my job.”

  “I could carry on making bookcases, but make them really badly so the books keep falling off.”

  “Knight’s could switch to selling audiobooks only.”

  They looked at each other. “See,” said Nina. “I’m willing to change.”

  Tom stepped closer to her and took her hands. “I don’t want you to change, Nina. I want to take care of you. If you get less anxious, great, but if you don’t, then that’s fine, too, because that’s who you are.” He shrugged. “I’m never going to be a huge reader, I’m never going to know all about the stuff you know all about, but that’s who I am.”

  “I like who you are,” Nina said, not feeling anxious at all. “And you know plenty of stuff I don’t know. Like Don Shula. I don’t even know who Don Shula is.”

  “You don’t? Well, maybe this won’t work after all.” He grinned. “Look, I cleared you a corner.” Tom pointed to an area near a large window. It was dark then, of course, but in the daytime it would get plenty of light. “I was going to surprise you and put a comfy chair there so you could sit and read while I worked, and we could, you know, hang out.” He tugged her closer and kissed her. “I want to be with you the way you are, the way you’re going to be, and the way you end up. Every way you are is beautiful to me.”

  They kissed, and then Nina said, “That was the cheesiest thing I’ve ever heard. I think I may be about to fall into a diabetic coma.”

  Tom laughed. “Really? I worked on it in my head for days.”

  Nina was going to make fun of him again, but didn’t. He wasn’t a poet, but whatever. She wasn’t a competitive skier. It didn’t matter what they weren’t; it only mattered who they were.

  “I could be in love with you,” she said.

  “I could be in love with you, too,” he replied.

  “We’re very romantic, aren’t we?”

  “Very,” he said, and kissed her again. “Let’s go home and be alone together.”

  Thirty

  In which Liz loses her mind, finds a friend,

  and gains a partner.

  The next morning, Nina woke up to find Tom already awake and looking at her.

  “Good morning, creepy boyfriend,” she said. “Have you been staring for long?”

  “About thirty seconds,” he replied. “Your cat registered a complaint by standing on my eyeball.”

  Phil was sitting on the chair, washing his paw with the air of a cherub grooming his wing.

  Nina grinned and got up to feed him. She went to get the coffee started and found it already set up, water in the reservoir, coffee in the filter. She paused.

  “Did you do this?”

  Tom turned over in bed and nodded. “I was inspired by my brother’s wedding vows.”

  Nina was opening her mouth to comment positively on this when her phone rang. She looked at the clock. Oh. Ten o’clock. Not exactly the crack of dawn.

  It was her friend Vanessa.

  “Hey, I think you better get over to the bookstore.”

  “Why are you in the bookstore? And why are you whispering?”

  “I’m not.” Vanessa sounded suppressed, like she was either about to laugh or cry. “I’m hiding from the manageress because we’re not supposed to be on the phone at work, and I think you should hurry up because there’s a crowd outside the store and occasionally Liz appears and hands out books.”

  “Sells them?”

  “No, gives them away.” Vanessa paused. “Enthusiastically.”

  “I’ll be right there.”

  • • •

  When Nina arrived, she and Tom found Liz sitting in the middle of the store, with Mr. Meffo, in the midst of chaos. Every book in the store’s inventory was off the shelves, and Liz sat in the middle like the Caterpillar on his mushroom. Meffo, who reminded Nina more of the White Rabbit, was perched by the register. Both of them seemed to be having a marvelous time.

  “Ah, Nina!” said Liz. “You’re just in time.”

  “For what?” said Nina carefully. “It looks like I missed the main event, which was apparently trashing the store.”

  “Not at all! We’ve been having a literary discussion requiring illustration,” replied Liz, fluidly. “It was necessary to refer to multiple volumes.”

  “Are you all right?” Nina picked her way over to Liz, who pushed aside a stack of book
s to make room. She patted the carpet beside her.

  “I am fantastic,” Liz said. “Pull up some rug and pop a squat.”

  Mr. Meffo giggled, which was alarming.

  “Did you have breakfast?” asked Liz, holding out a bakery box. Inside were a selection of brownies, cupcakes, and muffins.

  Nina took a mini muffin and popped it in her mouth. “Wow, these are good.” She took another. “Where are they from?”

  “I can’t remember. Do you know,” Liz continued, leaning closer, “that books have been the cornerstone of my life?”

  “Yes,” said Nina, chewing.

  “I distinctly remember the first time I recommended a book—it was Snow Crash, by Neal Stephenson, and I recommended it because the customer enjoyed both William Gibson and S. J. Perelman, and I thought, hey, Snow Crash is futuristic and hilarious …” Here she seemed to lose the thread for a moment, but after a second remembered where she was going with all this. “And he came back to the store and said he’d loved it, and I was hooked.”

  “On science fiction?”

  “No, on introducing people to books. To reading books, knowing people, and putting them together. Love Bridget Jones AND Rebecca? Try Mary Stewart, who crushes the romantic suspense genre and wrote over a dozen fantastic books.” Suddenly, she reached over and grabbed Nina’s arm. “Do you know the best feeling in the world?”

  “Uh …” Nina shook her head, despite having some ideas.

  Liz glowed. “It’s reading a book, loving every second of it, then turning to the front and discovering that the writer wrote fourteen zillion others.”

  “Fourteen zillion?”

  “Or a dozen!” Liz turned to Mr. Meffo. “Mr. Meffo came by to help—isn’t that lovely of him?”

  Liz was definitely losing her mind. Nina looked at their landlord. Ex-landlord. He looked sheepish.

  “I was passing,” he said, somewhat defensively, “and I heard noises and investigated. It was Liz.” He cleared his throat. “Singing.” He smiled at Liz. “And she invited me in and we had pastries and coffee and talked about books.” He was almost happy. Nina had never seen him like this. “It turns out we have a lot in common.”

  “We both worry about Curious George, for example,” said Liz. “Why doesn’t the Man with the Yellow Hat take his responsibility seriously? Why does he keep leaving George in these obviously dangerous situations and then walking away?”

  “No, no,” said Mr. Meffo. “You’re looking at it wrong. The Man with the Yellow Hat is the victim. George keeps promising to behave, but he never does. Not to mention,” he said, warming to his theme, “that Curious George basically teaches kids it’s acceptable to damage property as long as you do something cute afterward.” He threw his hands in the air. “What kind of message is that?”

  Nina glanced over at Tom, who had been leaning in the doorway listening quietly. He was looking at Liz and Meffo with narrowed eyes.

  “Where did those muffins come from?” he asked.

  “From the lovely, lovely lady who’s stealing my store,” Liz told him. “I think she felt badly about the fighting and the ice cream, so she came over last night and dropped off a peace offering.” She reached for the last mini muffin. “I ended up eating some for dinner, and then I decided to reorganize the books.” She looked around. “I started well, but then I got distracted.”

  There was a pause.

  “You’re stoned,” said Nina.

  “Don’t be silly, Nina.”

  “Liz, she sells pot-infused makeup. Someone who thinks pot should be in eye shadow certainly isn’t going to hold back when it comes to baked goods.”

  “Huh,” said Liz. “Well, that might explain my pressing desire to raise goats and live in harmony with nature.” She turned to Mr. Meffo. “My apologies, Mr. Meffo, I appear to have given you adulterated muffins.”

  “Adulterated Muffins is a great band name,” he replied, giggling again. “Plus, we’re adults, so adulterated is completely appropriate.”

  “You’re funny,” said Liz. “I should never have called you Mephistopheles.”

  “And I shouldn’t have called you Slippery Liz.” His eyes softened. “I will miss our monthly cat and mouse. Of all my delinquent tenants, you were my favorite.”

  “But wait,” said Nina to the landlord. “Do we really have to close so soon? I have money now. I want to buy into the store, pay you back, and help Liz run Knight’s for another twenty years.” She looked at her boss. “I wasn’t sure until just now, but I love readers, too, and books, and there’s nothing I want more than to spend my working life making introductions.”

  “Are you sure?” Liz looked worried. “I mean, I get that the universe whirls in mysterious yada yada, but wouldn’t you rather travel the world?”

  “No, I’d rather stay home and read.”

  “What about investing in real estate?” asked Meffo.

  “In this market, are you mad?” replied Nina.

  “What about your photography?” asked Liz.

  “I’ll buy a nicer camera, but I’m not quitting my day job.” Nina grew exasperated. “What is with everyone? I don’t want to travel, I don’t want to buy a house, I want to run a bookstore, and this is the bookstore I want to run.” She turned to Tom. “You believe me, don’t you?”

  Tom nodded. “Baby, you do you.”

  “Well, I don’t know …” Mr. Meffo was frowning. “Puff and Pout signed a lease.”

  “They just got you guys high without warning you! I think a strongly worded conversation should encourage them to back off.”

  Liz looked around. “It’s going to take a while to reorganize all this.”

  Nina felt triumphant. “That’s OK, Tom and I are going on a road trip, anyway.”

  “We are?” asked Tom.

  “Yes,” crowed Nina. “To Mexico. I just decided. I like being spontaneous!”

  “Oh my God,” said Liz, who was clearly losing her buzz. “You’re like a character in a book.”

  “Lizzy Bennet? Katniss Everdeen?”

  “No, the stubborn guy in Green Eggs and Ham. After all the irritating and obsessive planning, it turns out you like to wing it after all.” She adopted a singsong tone. “I do! I like being flexible! And I will do it on a train, and I will do it in the rain.” She turned to Tom. “I guess that makes you Sam-I-Am.”

  He shrugged. “I’ll take that. Persistent and loyal are pretty good character traits.”

  Nina laughed out loud. She’d found her purpose—not reading as many good books as possible, but helping other people do so. She was going to make Knight’s a huge success; she was going to add a big, shiny coffee machine, and put her photos on the wall, and get a store dog and call it Admiral Frontispiece … or maybe it was just the muffins kicking in.

  “Come on,” she said to Tom, jumping up. “Let’s go!”

  • • •

  So, dear reader, that’s precisely what they did. And once they’d finished doing that, they lived happily ever after.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  Writing books is both a solitary job and a team effort. I would never have finished The Bookish Life of Nina Hill without my trio of early readers and my wonderful editor. Leah Woodring, Candice Culnane, and Ali Gray read it waaay before it was ready, and made comments and changes that improved it immeasurably. Then my editor, Kate Seaver, dragged it over the finish line. All four of you are goddesses and snappy dressers, and I’m lucky to know you.

  The beautiful planner templates Nina uses are from happy digitaldownload.com, and my thanks to P.S. Lau for permission to use them here.

  READERS GUIDE

  Questions for Discussion

  1. At the outset of the novel, Nina appears very happy, although she really prefers to be alone. How does that change by the end of the novel? What role does solitude play in your life?

  2. Nina loves books and is a self-proclaimed introvert. What does she find so appealing about reading? Do you think both extroverts and introverts c
an be passionate about reading books? How do you think the experience is similar and different for both personality types? Why do you enjoy reading?

  3. Pages from Nina’s planner were included in the book. Do you feel that added to the narrative? How did Nina’s planner pages reflect her state of mind? Do you find planning and organizing helps you feel more in control?

  4. Nina’s mind is constantly moving, filling with ideas, facts, and information. How does this help and hinder Nina? What do you think are the pros and cons of having such an active brain?

  5. Nina has found a group of friends who share her love of books, trivia, and popular culture. At the opening of the novel, these people are her chosen family. What interests are you passionate about? Do you have a chosen family of like-minded people, or are your friends drawn from a wider pool?

  6. Nina was raised by her nanny, Louise, a woman who wasn’t her biological parent, but who loved and cared for her very deeply. Does Nina consider Lou family? What part do you think biology plays in the formation of family?

  7. After discovering her father, Nina realizes his personality resembles hers in many ways, something she feels conflicted about. What traits does Nina share with her father? What does she like about sharing certain personality characteristics with him? What does she find difficult about it? What attributes or flaws do you share with your parents, and how does that make you feel about yourself and about them?

  8. Do you think Nina will be permanently changed by discovering her family, or will she remain essentially the same?

  9. Nina struggles badly with anxiety, which is often quite debilitating. What are her coping mechanisms? Do you think they are healthy ways to deal with her stress? How do you handle anxieties and fears in your own life?

  10. For Nina, a bookstore or library represents sanctuary. Why do you think that is? Do you feel similarly? What are some of your favorite bookstores and libraries? What are other happy places in your life?

  11. Tom is not a bookish person, but his character complements Nina’s. Why do you think Nina and Tom work so well together as a couple? How do they complement one another? In what ways have your relationships succeeded or failed because of how well you “fit” together?