The Bookish Holiday of Nina Hill

by Abbi Waxman

In which our heroine enjoys the spirit of Christmas. Mostly.

Genres: Christmas, Fiction, Romance, Short Stories, Holiday, Contemporary, Chick Lit

36 pages, ebook

Published December 1, 2019

About the author

Hi there. I'm a chocolate loving, dog loving writer living in Los Angeles. I sit down if I can, and lie down whenever possible. If you enjoy my book and would like a personalized, signed bookplate to go in it, email me your name and address and I'll send you one! abbi@amplecat.com

Reviews

[MarilynW · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Bookish Holidays of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman

I almost missed this short story when I saw the title because I thought it was the novel, The Bookish Life of Nina Hill. Then I saw it said "bookish holidays" and not "bookish life" and I realized this was a short story. This story takes place the Christmas after the book and we get to spend time with old and new characters. The story is just 36 pages long and is a nice tie between The Bookish Life of Nina Hill and the upcoming Adult Assembly Required, also set in the world of Nina Hill.

Link to the free short story: https://assets.website-files.com/5de4...

[Maureen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sweet little Christmastime novella. Join in the festivities as Nina and her colleagues at the bookstore plan a Christmas trivia quiz, and hire Ferdinand the marmalade cat to deal with a mouse problem.
It definitely leaves a warm fuzzy feeling whatever the time of year!
Free on this link https://assets.website-files.com/5de4...

[Jayme C (Brunetteslikebookstoo) · Rating 4 out of 5]

“People who say they hate cats just haven’t met the right cat yet-the right cat changes everything!”

🐱

What a HAPPY, little holiday novella!

Coming in at just 36 pages, you get to touch base with Nina Hill at the bookstore, as they host a Christmas trivia contest, and borrow Ferdinand the cat, to help them with a mouse 🐭 mouse problem so that the mouse doesn’t nibble on those delicious new Berkley titles.

Does it work?

And, how many of the trivia questions will you get right?

Adorable!

And, perfect to read before “Adult Assembly Required” where Nina is a supporting character!

Review for “The Bookish Life of Nina Hill”: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Thank You to my friend MarilynW for providing the link to this story which I had been searching for in vain, since I found out about it! 🥰

[Paromjit · Rating 3 out of 5]

A delightful Nina Hill short story set around Christmas time, it involves organizing a Christmas Trivia contest that goes down extremely well with the young and adults alike. As a mouse 🐁 is seen in the bookstore, a cat, Mr FE Line, initially rented becomes a much loved feature of the bookshop, particularly when it has kittens! And will Tom make it back for Christmas? Just wish the story had been longer.

[Catherine (alternativelytitledbooks) - still catching up! · Rating 4 out of 5]

Needless to say, this Christmas morning started in the perfect way: a warm mug of peppermint mocha coffee, a snuggly blanket, and a quiet home…and a dose of holiday cheer from our resident introverted bookseller and trivia extraordinaire herself, Nina!!

I had heard about this short story probably a year after I finished The Bookish Life of Nina Hill and heard it was on the author’s website, so I popped over to look at it…and was devastated when I discovered it was no longer there. But one of my Goodreads friends Marilyn reviewed this one…and had the link to a website where it has been saved in all its Christmas glory…and I almost jumped for joy! (Well, mentally I did anyway! 😂)

This 36 pages of pure Christmas delight centers around a Christmas themed trivia contest…and a large grumpy cat set to handle the mouse infestation (of one mouse) at the bookstore…and all I can say is WHY WASN’T THIS A FULL BOOK?! SUCH cuteness and fun packed into such a small package…but if this was simply a stocking stuffer, I can’t imagine what the full size gift would have been! 🤩 🎁

So if you happen to come across this review Abbi Waxman…I think it’s obvious what we could ALL use for Christmas next year! 😉

4 stars

(And if you’d like to check it out for yourself the link is here: https://assets.website-files.com/5de4...
Thanks again to Marilyn for sharing the joy of Nina AND Nina at Christmas! 🎄♥️)

[Blaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

When Tom wasn’t there she worried she would lose him, then she got annoyed at herself for not being a strong, independent woman who didn’t need no man, then she would beat herself up for not allowing herself to feel her feelings, then she would get tired and eat something she probably shouldn’t and THEN she would punish herself for squashing her feelings with food...you get the picture. It was exhausting sometimes simply being alive.

The Bookish Life of Nina Hill was arguably the most pleasant surprise of my 2020 year of reading. Nina is a completely charming character, and the book is a light rom-com that will make you feel better about time spent reading, about other people, or just better. When I learned there was a sequel novella available for free on the author’s website, I decided to save it for the holidays. Several of the novel’s characters are back, and there are even a few cameos by characters from other books by Ms. Waxman. The story revolves around a holiday trivia contest—and a cat—but is mostly a chance to catch up with and get a few new revelations about the characters. A cute story, worth the quick read if you enjoyed The Bookish Life of Nina Hill.

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short story available on the author’s website. It’s not Christmas but I’ll read anything in order to escape right now.

[Obsidian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great short story!

Full review:

I thought this was a great short story to follow Nina after she finds her family and invests in the bookshop. It was sweet and very cute. And we also get to follow up on former characters we know and love from "The Garden of Small Beginnings", Lillian and her boyfriend and two daughters.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a cute holiday novella!

If you loved The Bookish Life of Nina Hill then you will love this short story.

This was such a great holiday story.

[Diana · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was nice to spend a little more time with Nina! This is a fun short story that follows up where The Bookish Life of Nina Hill left off. This holiday story is just as fun and entertaining as the novel was! A glimpse at one of Nina's holiday thoughts: "...could this warm feeling in her heart be holiday spirit? Or was it eggnog and heartburn?"

[Elisabete · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute christmas novella

[Stephanie Anze · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nina Hill has meet and successfully integrated with her newly discovered family. She actually likes them and vice versa. She still has her dream job at the bookstore, her trivia nights and has even fallen in love with a man form an opposing trivia team. Now, the holidays are here and Nina handles them with her unique style.

I was in the midst of reading The Bookish Life of Nina Hill when, by chance, I learned of this short story. Under 40 pages long and available for free, this was a quick read. I can not say that I liked it as much as the book that inspired it in the first place but I did enjoy visiting with Nina. again. As a whole, it was fun and quirky and kept the spirit of The Bookish Life of Nina Hill. It is a good compliment though I wish it had been longer. All and all, I enjoyed it.

[thelittlereaderthatcould · Rating 5 out of 5]

OooooooOoooo this was so cute ! Ferdinand and Clare are officially my favourite characters of all time 🩵🩵

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

it was cute ☺️

[Ann Lou · Rating 3 out of 5]

I downloaded this from the author's website. Need more Nina. Too short that's why only 3stars.

I really love the characters in this book. They're the kind of people I want to meet in real life.

So here we have a holiday trivia contest. A mouse, that ended with them hiring a cat. Who they thought is a male cat but it is actually female and gave birth to four kittens. Polly is an expert in cat labor by watching youtube videos. *grins*

I am still not ready to leave Nina, Tom and the others. Hope will get more short stories. 😊

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good fun. Not very long but just enough to get a picture for how things are going with Nina and Tom post book. And the cat is a hoot.

[Evelin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Krátka 36 stranová novela o hrdinke a jej priateľoch cez vianočné obdobie.
Má to vtipný štýl, ako aj hlavná kniha o Nine Hillovej, niekoľko humorných scén (dej sa točí okolo mačky :D) a milé happyendovské dialógy. Nič výnimočné, ale naozaj som sa zasmiala niekoľkokrát na dialógoch :D
Takže ak ste fanúšik Niny, nevynechajte to.

[Natalia · Rating 5 out of 5]

omg i love this characters so much
"solitude to read and eat in peace was deeply desirable" i want this tattooed on my forehead

[booksandbark · Rating 2 out of 5]

This follow-up short story was heavy on the things I disliked about The Bookish Life of Nina Hill and light on the things I enjoyed. The events of the book read very much like a Hallmark holiday movie, except with no plot. That would have been fine, because I very much enjoy revisiting old characters, but there were so many cameos packed into this short short story that everyone's personality, including Nina's, got lost in the jumble. And in my opinion, there was far too much of Tom (who I found quite bland even in the book) and not enough of Nina's fantastic family (the high point of the book). In fact, except for Millie, there are no cameos of Nina's family at all, which saddened me as I found Peter and Archie to be some of the strongest characters in the original book.

Of course, all of these criticisms are subjective. If you love Hallmark holiday movies and Nina and Tom's romance in the book, and don't mind missing out on Peter and his stationary obsession, you'll probably really like this follow-up.

[Robert Cohen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a delightful story, and it’s so nice to re-visit characters that I think of as good friends. But Thirty-Six pages? You know, some of us out here in the hinterlands of America are in love with Nina, Tom, Liz, Polly, Peter, Clare, Millie, Archie, Lydia, Phil, and Howard the QuizDick (especially him). Thirty-Six pages is just a tease.

More, more, more. We demand a sequel to The Bookish Life of Nina Hill.

And Abbi, if you are already planning one, don’t tell me. I want to be surprised. But for goodness sake, stop reading this review and get to work.

[Niki · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a sweet quick read. But far too short. I’d like to see Abbi Waxman revisit Nina Hill’s life.

[Marilee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute sequel short story on the author's website. It's worth reading if you liked the original book.

[Kellie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cute!

[Erica Chaillot · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute short Christmas story.

[Katie Fitzgerald · Rating 5 out of 5]

I meant to read this during Christmas, but I forgot about it until now. This was a fun follow-up to The Bookish Life of Nina Hill, which I really enjoyed when I read it in April of last year. I enjoyed visiting with all my favorite characters from the novel and checking in on how they are all doing a few months down the road. Especially given its brevity, I was impressed by how satisfying it really was. This is a perfect festive read for Nina fans.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short story set at Christmas, that takes place several months after the events of The Bookish Life of Nina Hill. This follow up is actually more about a cat named Ferdinand than it is about Nina, but it includes plenty of book references and random Christmas trivia.

It's a quick read at 36 double spaced pages. You can get it by signing up at Abbi Waxman's website and you'll be emailed the PDF.

[Sharyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a surprise!! When I looked to make sure I have read all her books I found this novella!! More happy endings plus a cat and kittens. Now I have really read all she has written. Since I read the books out of order, I know see that various characters show up in each book. I think it is going to be a long wait until the next one.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very cute short story follow up to the book. It was a fun refresher to one of my most adored books. I also thought it was funny she mentioned Erin Morgenstern who wrote one of my other favorites, "The Night Circus."

[Mk · Rating 5 out of 5]

A sweet tenny tiny book that warmed my heart even though it's not remotely Christmas season.

I had missed the character's from the bookish life of Nina Hill and this was surely a chance to get a glimpse at them, especially now that I'm well informed about lily and Edward's story

[Annie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been waiting for Christmas to read this. I love Nina: solitude to read and eat in peace was deeply desirable. 😻