Nina Hill is perfectly pleased with her comfortable life: employment at her local bookstore (including running their many book clubs), trivia competitions and movies, morning with her planner and nights blocked off for reading. It only takes one event to turn her life upside down: learning that her father has named her in his will alongside all the members of the rather large and unusual family that she’s never met. As Nina navigates all the new twists life is throwing her way, she might just learn to accept that life isn’t always going to happen according to plan. The Bookish Life of Nina Hill is a book I did enjoy, particularly because of Nina, who felt incredibly relatable to me on a personal level. Waxman does well in incorporating details that bring Nina and her world to life – the trivia nights, Nina’s penchant for organization and vision boards, her deep love of books and reading, the personalities of Nina’s extended family members and friends. The only thing that I didn’t love was the writing style. It felt very detached and impersonal, though that did improve a little bit in the second half of the story. The Bookish Life of Nina Hill is a charming, feel good contemporary story, and I’m ultimately glad I read it.

What kind of trivia night would you be good at? If we were competing regarding Disney movie songs or characters, I think I'd be a good team member to have!

The Bookish Life of Nina Hill was released on July 9, 2019 from Berkley Books.
I received an ARC from the publisher for review.

Amelia Linehan finds her entire life derailed when the liver condition she's had since birth has a flare-up severe enough to land her in the hospital. As she waits for her chance at an organ transplant, Amelia grapples with the physical and emotional ramifications of her condition and its bearing on her life and future. Don't let the seriousness of the bones of this tale fool you - The Arrival of Someday is an emotionally intense read that reduced me to tears more than once, but it managed to delight and surprise me along the way.  Malone impressed me with her compelling take on what it is like for a teen to have to come to terms with a disease that affects their whole life. Her portrayal of how difficult it is to toe the line between optimistic and realistic, to not want your disease to define you, to dealing with the fear of the unknown - these things definitely added to the novel's raw emotional edge. Malone also took the time to flesh out secondary characters and Amelia's core relationships, allowing readers to see how each person who loved Amelia was affected by and reacted to this new development in her condition. Heartfelt, emotional and compelling, The Arrival of Someday was well worth the read (though you need to be prepared to experience heavy-hitting emotional ups and downs, especially if you've personally experienced a loved one having a life-threatening medical condition). 

Were you part of any competitive team events, athletic or otherwise, in high school? There was a very, very brief time when I was part of the swim team during our sports festival. But aside from that, I can't say that I was into competitive team activities!

The Arrival of Someday was released on July 23, 2019 from Harper Teen.
I received an e-galley from the publisher via Edelweiss.

I can't believe I finally got to cross a new place off my travel bucket list. The place in question, as the title of this post totally gives away, is Ireland. I've wanted to visit the Emerald Isle since I was a child, and to be able to have that experience and share it with three of the people I love best in the world - Macky, Mel & Rachel - was truly special. I'm very excited to share all about our trip!

[As a special note, anything I particularly loved during our trip is marked with a heart – it’s something I’d personally recommend taking the time to do if you’re planning to go to Ireland. I’m happy to answer any more questions if you’ve got them, so feel free to leave a comment or reach out via email or DM on Twitter or Instagram!]

Travel Tip #3: Book tickets online for timed activities. We did this for our visit to the Guinness Storehouse and the Book of Kells exhibition, it saved us a lot of time that might have been spent queueing up for tickets bought on the actual day.

• ♥ Trinity College (including the Book of Kells Exhibition and Old Library): We did see a bit of the actual university grounds, but our primary reason to pop into the college first thing in the morning was to see a very special room in person, at my request. We wandered through the exhibit that highlighted the Book of Kells (an illuminated manuscript Gospel book) and its history, before we ascended the staircase to see the Long Room in the Old Library in person. I felt an immediate sense of awe at being in a place filled with so much history, and rows and row of rare and old published work. It was so cool to finally be there in real life!
• ♥ Cliffs of Moher: Honestly, since I was a young girl, I have always wanted to visit these cliffs in person. (It may or may not have something to do with a specific Westlife video...) It was quite the drive to get there, but it was honestly worth it as we spent hours wandering down and back one of the cliffside paths. While we were there, we were blessed with both overcast skies and blue skies and sunshine and that worked in tandem with our walk to surprise us with different perspectives of the cliffs. Honestly, if we'd allotted more time for a visit, we'd probably have wandered even further or in the opposite direction, but I guess that just means we'll have to return one day.
• My Melody: We popped into this restaurant on a whim on our way back to Dublin. The place is small and cozy, and it seemed to be a place where a lot of regulars came. But personally, I thought the service and the food were both so-so and not particularly memorable.
• Sean's Bar: This was actually the real reason we were in the town where the restaurant above was, as it's got a place in the Guinness World Records as the oldest pub in the world. We wanted to be able to say that we'd stopped in and had a drink, though if we'd had more time and didn't have to make the drive back to Dublin, we'd probably have lingered to hear some of the live music and have more drinks.

Travel Tip #4: Check to see if your hotel or AirBNB is in a central location. Even if you end up paying a bit more, it'll be worth it if you can find plenty of options for food, shopping and sightseeing within walking distance from where you're staying.

I can't believe I finally got to cross a new place off my travel bucket list. The place in question, as the title of this post totally gives away, is Ireland. I've wanted to visit the Emerald Isle since I was a child, and to be able to have that experience and share it with three of the people I love best in the world - Macky, Mel & Rachel - was truly special. I'm very excited to share all about our trip!

[As a special note, anything I particularly loved during our trip is marked with a heart – it’s something I’d personally recommend taking the time to do if you’re planning to go to Ireland. I’m happy to answer any more questions if you’ve got them, so feel free to leave a comment or reach out via email or DM on Twitter or Instagram!]

• Chapters Bookstore: Thanks to Google Maps, we discovered that there was a bookstore just a few blocks away from the flat. Macky and I wound up dropping by on our very first afternoon, and were pleasantly surprised! There are two floors - the ground floor with all the new releases and merchandise, and the top floor filled with secondhand books, DVDs and CDs. We spent a good amount of time browsing through their selection and ended up walking out with four new books to add to our shelves!
• ♥ The Kingfisher Restaurant: Before the girls arrived, Macky and I ended up sitting down to dinner down the block. We had our hearts set on fish and chips (and we really liked their version), but we also tried their seafood chowder (A+) and bread & butter pudding (which I basically inhaled).
• ♥ L. Mulligan Grocer: Once the girls arrived and settled their stuff into the flat, we decided to walk over to this pub for a late dinner. It was well worth the 20 minute trek! It's got the feel of a traditional pub (which was a delightful way to spend our first night), and their offerings were tasty. We all tried a variety of alcoholic beverages (I tried a White Hag, Macky had a Godfather, Mel tried Trouble Brewing and Rachel picked out the Rascal Strawberry Milkshake) and shared Chicken Kiev, Scotch eggs and a side of corn.

Ireland Travel Tip #2: Wear comfortable shoes. If you intend to do a lot of walking (whether within Dublin's city limits or along the countryside) the way we did, you'll definitely want to ensure that your feet have the right support. It'll lessen the aches and pains you feel at the end of the day for sure!

Be sure to come back to the blog tomorrow to find out about the second half of our trip!