#abbi waxman
Text
Catching and holding the attention of an eight-year-old on Halloween is like trying to catch a hummingbird with a piece of dental floss. It's theoretically possible, but not very likely.
Abbi Waxman
3 notes
·
View notes
Text
Adult Assembly Required, Abbi Waxman
1 note
·
View note
Text
This Chick Read: Adult Assembly Required by Abbi Waxman
This Chick Read: Adult Assembly Required by Abbi Waxman
After recovering from a debilitating car accident, Laura Costello moves across family to get away from her over protective family. After barely moving in, her apartment burns down and she gets caught in a downpour outside a bookstore in Larchmont Village, a community located in the heart of Los Angeles. She meets the ladies in the bookstore, Nina, Liz, and Polly, and they take her in. Polly…
View On WordPress
2 notes
·
View notes
Text
Her anxiety lurked inside like a parasite that occasionally threatened to kill its host; sometimes she could hear it breathing.
Of course, being scared of having a panic attack meant she was permanently on edge, which increased the chance she would have one, so she would berate herself for getting anxious...and so it goes, as Vonnegut would say.
~The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman
0 notes
Text
JOMP BPC: has a mental illness
-Nerdy Panda
1 note
·
View note
Text
"She was small and slender and gave the overall impression of a baby deer, until she spoke and you realized you'd been looking at a fox all along"
— The Bookish Life of Nina Hill, Abbi Waxman
1 note
·
View note
Text
Even after all this time I’m not quite sure 100% what I want my blog to be, but I think I’d like to be off the passive sidelines? Idk. Maybe I’ll just go back to silently cheering everyone on and reblogging current obsessions until people are annoyed but.
For now here is what I’m currently reading. Abbi Waxman is a favorite who never disappoints and I’m already loving her newest book! 📚❤️
1 note
·
View note
Text
Short Take: Adult Assembly Required
This is one of those books, one of those reading experiences, that I wanted to curl up in and live in. I didn’t think Abbi Waxman could top The Bookish Life of Nina Hill, but with Adult Assembly Required she returns to Larchmont and her quirkily endearing cast of characters and just completely melted my heart. We meet Laura in the opening pages, a recent transplant to L.A. for grad school. After an unsuccessful job interview, an apartment fire, and a freak rainstorm, she dazedly wanders into Knight’s Books in Larchmont, and is immediately taken in hand by Liz, Polly and Nina. Between the three of them, they dry her off, offer her fresh clothes and, in Polly’s case, a place to live. The boarding house Polly takes her to is the kind of place we all wish we could land when life is being unkind. A lovely room for affordable rent (doesn’t that sound like a dream these days?) in a beautiful home in a gorgeous neighborhood with a spectacular garden, good food, and good-hearted (and one particularly handsome) residents. Honestly, it’s the LA equivalent to Penelope’s Gloucestershire cottage in The Shell Seekers.
But even more than the cozy setting, Laura’s emotional arc throughout the book is what caught at my heart. Waxman is deft at portraying mental health with compassion and Laura is no exception. We soon come to realize why Laura left New York and each new friend she makes, all dealing with their own particular humanity, supports her gradual journey towards acceptance and growth. Waxman has a hefty dose of cheekiness in her humor that balances the heavier moments in her narrative. One of my favorite reading experiences is coming across an author who articulates a truth you recognize but haven’t quite put words around for yourself. In these pages that happened again and again as I would be laughing one moment and underlining the next. While it’s not necessary to have read her other books to enjoy Adult Assemby Required, if you have, you’ll be glad to see some old bookish friends again. An excellent addition to any summer reading pile!
— Lori
0 notes
Text
Review: Adult Assembly Required by Abbi Waxman
I devoured and giggled my way through The Bookish Life of Nina Hill recently, so I was delighted to have this spin-off book to dive straight into. While you don’t necessarily have to read Nina Hill to read Adult Assembly Required, I think it’s a good idea to do so, in order to get to know some of the characters a little better. A big thank you to Isabelle at Headline for putting me on the blog tour!
When Laura Costello arrives in LA, her apartment catches fire and she finds herself stumbling into a bookstore to shelter from the pouring rain. That’s where she meets bookstore employee Poppy. Poppy offers Laura a room in the same lovely but illegal communal house that she lives in. As the days go by, Laura meets her other housemates, including the mysterious but Impossibly Handsome Bob and an array of delightful animals. Laura’s plans in LA were to go to grad school -she had no idea that she’d be saving a trivia team and dodging her ex, who seems desperate to win her back.
Waxman’s humour is one of my favourite parts of these books. The animals all have inner monologues and I adored being privy to them. I couldn’t help but fly through the pages with a huge smile on my face and I definitely laughed out loud several times.
Like many young women, Laura struggles with self-esteem issues. Despite being tall, slim and beautiful, she manages to find several parts of herself that she is insecure about. However, she’s not one of those girls who invents her insecurities in order to appear more relatable to the average woman -to her, they are genuine flaws. I know that this is the case for the vast majority of women and so many readers will connect with Laura in this.
Laura is escaping from her life in New York and throughout the book, that life is trying to chase her. Her mother often calls telling her that she’s making a mistake in moving to LA and her ex is desperately calling her back too. We learn that Laura has been through a terrible ordeal and is simply trying to reinvent herself in a new place. I totally understand the anxiety that Laura experiences and the questions that she asks herself -what if her family are right and LA isn’t the right path for her? However, the friendships that she forms and roots that she starts to put down reassured me that Laura was exactly where she belonged and I loved seeing her realise that too.
I loved spending time with Nina again because she always makes me smile. I think this is why reading The Bookish Life of Nina Hill first is important because Nina can come across as a bit spiky and possibly irritating, know-it-all. She has a lot more vulnerability in the first book and that’s because by the time Laura arrives, Nina has already been on her own journey of self-acceptance and romance. I would have loved a few more Tom cameos in this book though!
I loved how mental health issues were dealt with in this book. Laura realises that she can’t shoulder her burdens alone and that some people genuinely want to help her with them. It’s amazing how many adults don’t realise that it’s ok to ask for help and that no one is ever too old for it. In fact, with issues like PTSD and social anxiety, which are both explored in these books, help is imperative to life improvement.
Adult Assembly Required is a funny, heartwarming book with a very loveable heroine and some fantastic side characters. I laughed, I shouted, I held my breath -all very good signs that I was thoroughly engaged and present in the action. I would love a whole novel from the point of view of Daisy the pug or Phil, Nina’s cat. Could that please be a thing?
1 note
·
View note
Text
Penny Waxman headcanons since nobody else is gonna do it
I know I said this before….multiple times, but I’ll say it one last time bc it technically counts as a hc: Her and Teeth are just friends/coworkers in real life. There is literally nothing romantic going on between them off-camera. It’s purely platonic and professional. She’s cool with him though. They’re all buddy-buddy
She has a malewife husband named Ted who she absolutely adores. Their relationship is the epitome of “Excuse me, he asked for no pickles”
She’s gotten a lot of hate from fans of Muppets Mayhem and she will fight them. She doesn’t take any shit from anyone
She may be fiery, but she’s got the warmth of 1,000 suns around kids. Has a real soft spot for them
100% the type of woman to pinch your cheeks. She doesn’t care how old you are
Always mistaken for being older than she really is (60-80). She’s really in her 50’s.
She bakes delicious chocolate chip cookies….that are filled with cayenne pepper. When she brought them to the band, they had to douse themselves in milk
Her high spice tolerance runs in her family
Only piece of jewelry she would wear is a ring…and she envies Teeth for having so much
May not be able to sing, but boy can she bust a move
Second mom figure to Abby Cadaby. Change my mind
#headcanons#penny waxman#at first i didn’t like her much but as the series progressed i was like aiight you cool#got mad respect for her now#muppets mayhem#the muppets
29 notes
·
View notes
Text
Midnights: An Inspired Reading Recommendations List
To All The Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han (Lavender Haze)
All The Bright Places by Jennifer Niven (Maroon)
Yolk by Mary H.K. Choi (Anti-Hero)
The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han (Snow On The Beach)
Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid (You're On Your Own, Kid)
Solitaire by Alice Oseman (Midnight Rain)
Moxie by Jennifer Matthieu (Question...?)
Six Of Crows by Leigh Bardugo (Vigilante Shit)
Women Don't Owe You Pretty by Florence Given (Bejeweled)
Nana by Ai Yazawa (Labyrinth)
Instant Karma by Marissa Meyer (Karma)
Anne's House Of Dreams by L.M. Montgomery (Sweet Nothing)
Once Upon A Broken Heart by Stephanie Garber (Mastermind)
Memphis by Tara M. Stringfellow (The Great War)
Call Me By Your Name by André Aciman (Bigger Than The Whole Sky)
Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston (Paris)
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy (High Infidelity)
One Of Us Is Lying by Karen McManus (Glitch)
The Secret History by Donna Tartt (Would've, Could've, Should've)
The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman (Dear Reader)
Better Than The Movies by Lynn Painter (Hits Different)
#midnights mayhem with taylor#midnights#midnights taylor swift#midnights 3am edition#midnights 3am version#midnights till dawn edition#books#book blog#booklr#readblr#book reccs#book recommendations#eras tour#taylor swift book#taylor swift book reccs#taylor swift is amazing#taylornation#taylor swift#midnights era#bookaddict#bookworm#books and reading#book community#book lover#book blogger#taylor swizzle
8 notes
·
View notes
Text
Books read October-December
My goal was to read 120 books this year. I just finished number 129. (Some of these I reviewed as part of my WWW posts).
October:
Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt. I had high expectations for this book, as it had been so praised, and I felt let down by it. Still enjoyable, but needed more octopus.
Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe. Read as part of Banned Books week.
The Romance Rx by Kathryn Riya. I wanted more medicine and medicine-related residency drama.
Unraveling: What I Learned about Life While Shearing Sheep, Dyeing Wool, and Making the World’s Ugliest Sweater by Peggy Orenstein. Just a really lovely memoir about life changing and feeling present in the world.
The Unfortunate Side Effects of Heartbreak and Magic by Breanne Randall. Such a disappointing book.
Deerskin by Robin Mckinley. Reread. Not my favorite book of hers, but it’s still a great retelling.
November:
Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel. A retelling of an old Hindu religious myth, a story I was only passingly familiar with. I enjoyed the world building, I had trouble with some of the motivations of the characters. And I think it’s hard to write a retelling of a story that a major religion is based on.
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke. This is such a wonderful book, with the mystery and characters slowly being revealed.
The Halcyon Fairy Book by T. Kingfisher. Just witty retellings of fairy tales with a lot of humor and grim.
The Anthropocene Reviewed: Essays on a Human-Centered Planet by John Green. I really loved this collection of essays on our world.
Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer. Audiobook. A beautiful exploration of our connection with the world and how we can heal that relationship.
The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abby Waxman. Library find. Cute light book, (although if I had a boss who didn’t pay the rent for 6 months straight and I was threatened with losing my job because of it, I wouldn’t be all “oh she’s just that way”) but one that I probably won’t remember in a year or two.
The Twisted Ones by T. Kingfisher. The atmosphere in this book is almost its own character. I loved the secondary characters, but the middle sagged a lot.
Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros. I struggled so much with the beginning, because the set up was so ridiculous. It picked up after that and ended strongly. I don’t know how she’s going to write a 5 book series though.
The Magical Language of Others by E.J. Koh. NPR did a write up on her debut novel, but it wasn’t available at the library. It was a quick read but I found the writing to be confusing in places and lacking in emotional growth.
Check & Mate by Ali Hazelwood. Charming, nerdy, engaging. Just a fun new adult book.
Sweet Like Jasmine: Finding Identity in a Culture of Loneliness by Bonnie Gray. This book was not for me. Ugh.
The Ladies of Grace Adieu, and Other Stories by Susanna Clarke. Audiobook. Just a lot of fun going back into the world of Jonathan Strange. I really want her to write a prequel with The Raven King.
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir. I loved Rocky and the ending.
Part of Your World by Abby Jimenez. Still on the lookout for the perfect doctor romance. This one was enjoyable and mostly accurate.
December:
Mister Magic by Kiersten White.
Payback’s a Witch by Lana Harper.
Gwen and Art Are Not in Love by Lex Croucher.
Paladin’s Grace, Paladin’s Strength, Paladin’s Hope by T. Kingfisher. Reread these in anticipation of the release of her latest Saints of Steel’s book. Just excellent world building and romance and humor.
Know My Name by Chanel Miller. Book club book. Harrowing memoir, but what I really appreciated was the description of how the justice system is so awful for victims.
Paladin’s Faith by T. Kingfisher. I cannot wait for the other 3 books.
Yours Truly by Abby Jimenez, the sequel to Part of Your World. I liked this one better and it was almost the doctor romance that I’ve been craving.
The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan. I’d read it if you like dystopian novels, but I’m still grousing about how the villains were single, childless women.
A Restless Truth by Freya Marske. Reread. I liked it better than the first time, maybe because I skipped over a lot of the romance (it’s a trope that I just don’t like).
Carry on by Rainbow Rowell. Reread, audiobook. The audiobook was a lot of fun and I’ve forgotten a lot of details in the last 5+ years.
A Power Unbound by Freya Marske. A satisfying conclusion to the trilogy, but the first book was definitely the best of them all.
Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree. The prequel to Legends & Lattes, which I adored last year, and I think I liked this one even better.
3 notes
·
View notes
Text
After a tumultuous childhood, Christa Liddle has hidden away, both figuratively and literally. Happily studying sea snails in the middle of the Indian Ocean, Christa finds her tranquil existence thrown into chaos when her once-famous father—long thought dead after a plane crash—turns out to be alive, well, and ready to make amends. The world goes wild, fascinated by this real-life saga, pinning Christa and her family under the spotlight. As if that weren’t enough, her reunion with an old childhood friend reveals an intense physical attraction neither was expecting and both want to act on . . . if they can just keep a lid on it. When her father’s story starts to develop cracks, Christa fears she will lose herself, her potential relationship, and—most importantly—any chance of making it back to her snails before they forget her completely.
Ever since I read Abbi Waxman’s Garden of Small Beginnings I have been a huge fan. Christa Comes Out of her Shell captures that same quirky real life effervescence that the first novel had. Right from the moment Christa is introduced while viewing her sea snails I fell in love and as the story moved along each moment had its own reveal about Christa’s character. She wasn’t perfect, but she was perfectly awkward and fun to read about. The story itself about a long lost father who appears out of nowhere after twenty-five years was a bit unrealistic but I’ve never let realism get in the way of great storytelling. This family who was angry but at the same time overjoyed to see their father had moments that rang true. Conflicting emotions, long held convictions, but overall a love for each other who saw and would see each other through difficult times. It was such an easy story to read.
When it comes to romance, I’m not sure it’s Abbi Waxman’s focus. She’s such a great storyteller that sometimes the romantic angle kind of feels like an add-on. I’ll admit that for me that was the case with the romance between Christa and Nate but I also loved how that romance was an escape from the press of responsibility for Christa. She didn’t know how to feel about her father but that instant connection with Nate was easy to figure out and explore. It made sense while at the same time felt like it wasn’t needed. See, I was conflicted too!
Needless to say, I’ve liked all of Abbi Waxman’s story’s and this one was no different. In fact, it’s my second favorite that she’s written. Cute, light, and an escape from reality.
❤️❤️❤️❤️
I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review and it was honest!
Click this link to purchase this book!* Christa Comes Out of Her Shell
Copyright 2024 The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved
*Amazon Associate- if you purchase this book through the above link I’ll receive a small stipend.
View On WordPress
0 notes
Text
November NoveList Challenge
For this month's challenge, give thanks and read a book about chosen family or family gatherings! For more recommendations, be sure to check out NoveList - all you need is your library card!
Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson
Everyone in my family has killed someone. Some of us, the high achievers, have killed more than once. I'm not trying to be dramatic, but it is the truth. Some of us are good, others are bad, and some just unfortunate.
I'm Ernest Cunningham. Call me Ern or Ernie. I wish I'd killed whoever decided our family reunion should be at a ski resort, but it's a little more complicated than that.
Have I killed someone? Yes. I have.
Who was it?
Let's get started.
This is the first volume of the "Ernest Cunningham" series.
Adult Assembly Required by Abbi Waxman
When Laura Costello moves to Los Angeles, trying to escape an overprotective family and the haunting memories of a terrible accident, she doesn’t expect to be homeless after a week. (She’s pretty sure she didn’t start that fire - right?) She also doesn't expect to find herself adopted by a rogue bookseller, installed in a lovely but completely illegal boardinghouse, or challenged to save a losing trivia team from ignominy… but that’s what happens. Add a regretful landlady, a gorgeous housemate, and an ex-boyfriend determined to put himself back in the running and you’ll see why Laura isn’t really sure she’s cut out for this adulting thing. Luckily for her, her new friends Nina, Polly, and Impossibly Handsome Bob aren't sure either, but maybe if they put their heads (and hearts) together they’ll be able to make it work for them.
This is the second volume of "The Bookish Life of Nina Hill" series.
The Monsters We Defy by Leslye Penelope
In the summer of 1925, along Washington, DC’s “Black Broadway”, a malevolent entity has begun preying on Negro residents. Twenty-three-year-old Clara Johnson is determined to discover what’s going on in her community. Using her natural ability to talk with spirits, she begins to investigate, but a powerful spirit tasks her with a difficult quest: steal an ancient, magical ring from the finger of a wealthy socialite.
When Clara meets Israel Lee, a supernaturally enhanced jazz musician also vying for the ring, the two decide to work together. They put together an unlikely team including a former circus freak, a pickpocketing Pullman Porter, and an aging vaudeville actor to pull off an impossible heist.
But a dangerous spirit interferes at every turn and conflict in the spirit world is leaking out into the human world. With different agendas, even if Clara and Israel pull off the heist, only one of them can truly win.
Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng
Twelve-year-old Bird Gardner lives a quiet existence with his loving but broken father, a former linguist who now shelves books in a university library. Bird knows to not ask too many questions, stand out too much, or stray too far. For a decade, their lives have been governed by laws written to preserve “American culture” in the wake of years of economic instability and violence. To keep the peace and restore prosperity, the authorities are now allowed to relocate children of dissidents, especially those of Asian origin, and libraries have been forced to remove books seen as unpatriotic - including the work of Bird’s mother, Margaret, a Chinese American poet who left the family when he was nine years old.
Bird has grown up disavowing his mother and her poems; he doesn’t know her work or what happened to her, and he knows he shouldn’t wonder. But when he receives a mysterious letter containing only a cryptic drawing, he is pulled into a quest to find her. His journey will take him back to the many folktales she poured into his head as a child, through the ranks of an underground network of librarians, into the lives of the children who have been taken, and finally to New York City, where a new act of defiance may be the beginning of much-needed change.
#family stories#fiction#fall reading#library resources#library books#reading recommendations#reading recs#book recommendations#book recs#tbr#tbr pile#to read#booklr#book tumblr#book blog#library blog#readers advisory
2 notes
·
View notes
Photo
July Monthly Recap
I’m once again pretty late on the review, but that’s because I’ve been too busy reading to talk about my reading on Tumblr! I read 18 books in July (and I’m up to 17 so far in August as well), and 4 of them were 5 star reads, so I had a pretty good month! My favorites were The Echo Wife, The Soldier’s Scoundrel, A Lady for a Duke, and Wrath Goddess Sing.
Remote Control by Nnedi Okorafor: 4/5
A Madness of Sunshine by Nalini Singh: 4.5/5
The Echo Wife by Sarah Gailey: 5/5
Fevered Star by Rebecca Roanhorse: 3.5/5
Pain and Prejudice by Gabrielle Jackson: 3.5/5
An Unconditional Freedom by Alyssa Cole: 4.5/5
Sister of the Forsaken Stars by Lina Rather: 4.5/5
The Soldier’s Scoundrel by Cat Sebastian: 5/5
The Palace Job by Patrick Weekes: 3.25/5
Rosebud by Paul Cornell: 4.75/5
A Lady for a Duke by Alexis Hall: 5/5
Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue by John McWhorter: 4/5
The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman: 2/5, dnf
The Lawrence Browne Affair by Cat Sebastian: 4.75/5
My Dangerous Duke by Gaelen Foley: 3/5
The Grief of Stones by Katherine Addison: 4.5/5
Wrath Goddess Sing by Maya Deane: 5/5
Carpe Jugulum by Terry Pratchett: 4.25/5
And my progress on my goals down below:
22 in 2022: 10
Read 100 Books: 100 (Whoo!)
Read 40% AOC: 37%
Completing Series: 18 caught up/completed vs. 11 started
Translated Works: 2
Books in Spanish: 0
Numbered TBR: 9
Discworld: 1
Books by an Indigenous Author: 2
Physical TBR: 10
Storygraph Recs: 3
20 notes
·
View notes
Text
May 2022 Reads
Lords and Ladies - Terry Pratchett
Nettle & Bone - T. Kingfisher
Book Lovers - Emily Henry
Part of Your World - Abby Jimenez
The Wedding Crasher - Mia Sosa
By Any Other Name - Lauren Kate
Adult Assembly Required - Abbi Waxman
Never Fall for Your Fiancee - Virginia Heath
Portrait of a Scotsman - Evie Dunmore
The Suite Spot - Trish Doller
The Royals Next Door - Karina Halle
Sadie on a Plate - Amanda Elliot
The Mistletoe Motive - Chloe Liese
I Guess I Live Here Now - Clare Ahn
Go Hex Yourself - Jessica Clare
The Pisces - Melissa Broder
The Body Keeps the Score - Bessel van der Kolk
Waking the Tiger: Healing Trauma - Peter A. Levine
Trauma: The Invisible Epidemic - Paul Conti
The Deepest Well - Nadine Burke Harris
How to Do the Work - Nicole LePera
Taste: My Life Through Food - Stanley Tucci
Back to the Prairie - Melissa Gilbert
Mean Baby - Selma Blair
Out of the Corner - Jennifer Grey
Goodbye, Again - Jonny Sun
Korean American - Eric Kim
Metabolical - Robert H. Lustig
The F*ck It Diet - Caroline Dooner
The Upgrade - Louann Brizendine
How to Keep House While Drowning - K.C. Davis
Machiavelli for Women - Stacey Vanek Smith
Zen: The Art of Simple Living - Shunmyo Mason
Bold = Highly Recommend
Italics = Worth It
Crossed out = Nope
Thoughts:
Me: Why am I so mentally exhausted?
Me: *sees monthly reading roundup with basically every book on trauma*
Goodreads Goal: 162/200
2017 Reads | 2018 Reads | 2019 Reads | 2020 Reads | 2021 Reads |
2022 Reads |
28 notes
·
View notes
Last Seen Blogs
heelsjobbers
Jobber Lover
davisleather
Davis Leatherworks
unitreepump
Unitree Pump
successtogether
Без названия