if you love the bookish life

Of Nina Hill… I have TWO recs for you!

The Bookish Life of Nina Hill was fun… and also thoughtful. A coming of self more than a coming of age, a chance to hang out in someone else’s head—with just the right amount of found family and romance to satisfy.

If you felt that way too, I have two suggestions for you this week! And not just because of the title echoes… honestly there are many, many books that structure the title that way now and not all are good read-alikes at ALL. I’m telling you, these have the vibe.

First, The Candid Life of Meena Dave. If you follow me on Instagram (and if you do not you should) you saw that this was the book I dropped in my “books I didn’t want to end” reel. I really don’t ever drag my feet as I get to the end of a book. I turn pages! I want to know what happens! But this… I did. A woman who’s never had the chance to know Indian own culture finds herself in a house full of meddling aunties—and does eventually find herself—and history, and a little romance—but SO not in the way one expects. It’s unexpectedly twisty—and the house and the neighborhood and the whole world she’s given are (like the one in Nina) highly immersive. I loved it.

Next: The Collected Regrets of Clover. First off I have to say that this is NOT SAD even though she’s a death doula. And it is also surprisingly twisty and involves a whole lot more figuring out of who she is and what she wants for the protagonist than romance, although there is a touch of that.

I’m noticing that these sound a little like MY books—as in, people coping with family and figuring out who they are in the world and what they want from it with just a touch of romance. So, yeah, I read what I write. It is, as they say, what it says on the tin!

So check these out—and while you’re at it, if you have never read In Her Boots (and I know some of you have not) maybe grab that too or if you’ve somehow missed The Chicken Sisters, well there you go. OH AND THEY MAKE GOOD MOTHER’S DAY gifts. I’ll send more ideas for those next week! (But if you need to order now maybe The Sweet Spot? Or Dava Shastri's Last Day? Both of those are on my list for my mom. Who reads this. Oh, well. I sent you something else anyway mom. Not telling.