One Sentence Summary: After spending her 30th birthday in jail, Nina decides to embark on a journey to fall in love with herself, much to her traditional Indian mother’s consternation.

Overall
30 Things I Love About Myself is a fun story of one woman learning to love herself. In true women’s fiction fashion, it’s focused on Nina, her non-romantic relationships, and her growth. This is her journey, complete with ups and downs, steps forward and steps backward. I loved the huge incorporation of her Indian culture and of mental health and the depth it lent to both her and her story. I wish she had been a little less self-absorbed and maybe thought a little more before jumping, but Nina is so unapologetically herself that I also couldn’t help but admire her courage and conviction in herself. Overall, her’s was a fun journey to read about, and a delightful one to enjoy at the beginning of a new year.

Extended Thoughts
Right before she turns 30, Nina breaks up with her fiance and ends up in jail when she spontaneously decides to join a protest and ends up being the only one arrested. But, while waiting to be released, she learns her best friend is now engaged, and one of the guards hands her a self-love book that she then takes with her and begins her journey to loving herself.

Over the course of a year, Nina has her ups and downs as her traditional Indian mother mostly only sees shame in her daughter being outspoken and unapologetically finding ways of loving 30 things about herself and her older brother is dealing with depression and her ex-fiance is trying to get over her, just as she’s trying to move past him.

30 Things I Love About Myself is a fun and realistic, albeit a bit long, take on a person learning to love things about themselves. I loved that Nina experienced highs and lows, infamy and fame. It was wonderful to watch her grow and take those steps back, but she was so determined and I loved how committed she was. This was a fun women’s fiction read where romance was mostly out of the question. I really liked how Nina’s whole goal was to love herself instead of falling into the arms of a lover. The end was on the cheesy side, but it also fit well with Nina’s characterization.

This is, undeniably, Nina’s story. It’s her journey, and everyone else is just along for the ride. There are a number of wonderful characters, some more open and loving than others, and some more judgmental and self-absorbed. I liked that her family played a huge role, but her story was never really derailed in favor of the things going on with her mother and brother. I liked that, instead, it worked well with Nina’s journey and also provided color to her life and the story.

There were times when Nina annoyed me, when I wished she did a little more and thought a little harder about what she was doing and saying. For much of the book she was quite self-absorbed, but I suppose that’s because she was learning to love herself. But she kept wanting input from those around her, which kind of annoyed me because clearly the people around her had their own lives to live and problems to deal with. As the story wore on, though, it was easy to see the growth Nina was undergoing. She had some wake up calls that were really nice and I really liked how she just seized whatever opportunities came her way. She wasn’t one to shy away from things, but probably could have benefited from thinking it through a little more. It was nice to see that, as she learned to love herself, she also learned to be there for others and offer more of herself to them.

I adored Nina’s family. Her mother felt so quintessentially Indian and it was so easy to picture her and her behaviors. It was a lot of fun to get some insight into their culture through her, and it added another layer for Nina to struggle through. Being East Asian myself, I certainly understand the concept of shame and how a child’s behavior reflects on the family no matter the age, so it was really nice to see it played up so much in 30 Things I Love About Myself because it also really highlighted the love between Nina, her mother, and her brother. But it was also just wonderful to feel immersed, in a way, into Indian culture and it felt like it came alive around me. Nina’s brother was, understandably, a bit more absent, but I loved the brother-sister relationship. There were so many instances of forward and backward progress, but I loved how Nina and her mother never gave up, how they always tried so hard to help him and be there for him. There’s clearly a lot of love in this family and it was really beautiful to see.

30 Things I Love About Myself is the story of a woman learning to love herself. Nina grows a lot over the course of the story. There were times when it felt a little too fast and times when it felt a little too slow. There were some bits I could have done without. But it was nice to see the challenges Nina came up against and how she overcame them. I loved that there were so many ups and downs. There were a number of steps backwards, but Nina always pushed through so there was always some forward progress as well. I wish there had been more with Nina’s friends, but I think this is really a story about Nina and Nina and her family. It felt a little long at times, but I really appreciated what the story was about and all the things Nina and her family had to face.

Overall, 30 Things I Love About Myself is a fun women’s fiction novel with minimal romance and a great deal of family and Indian culture. It felt real even if some of the events felt a bit blown up in the way fiction usual is. Still, I found it to be a really enjoyable read. I really appreciated the focus on mental health, family, and Indian culture, and that I could see how Nina’s journey could potentially touch anyone regardless of their culture. The ending did make me cringe a little, but one of my favorite things about Nina was just how unapologetically herself she was.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for a review copy. All opinions expressed are my own.

You can't be sure you're reading a novel until Nina actually reads How to Love Yourself (and Fix Your Shitty Life in the Process). Really? A bit on-the-nose to reach her when she's in the clink! I mean, I'd just sit out the sentence before I'd read that. Still, Nina's pretty much looking at her (pretty comedic) arrest as an intervention from the Universe.

But, given her inability even to make a decent choice of only-phone-call recipient resulting in her return to her *truly*ghastly* mother's orbit, that could prove to be life saving. Or losing...it's a close-run thing whether she'll survive Daily Mailish history-chucking-out nightmare Mum. *I* almost didn't survive Mother Mistry. What a gorgon. In fact...just being totally transparent here!...I really didn't like wishy-washy, what's-the-female-nebbish-called Nina. I get it...a mother like that one would kick the sense and the sensibility right out of you. No one knows more or better than she does! Then there's drippy, dreary, depressed closet case Kal. Yeesh!

Why, then, am I reviewing it. Two words: Tantric. Sex.

You'll have to read the book to figure out why. But you'll have a lot of fun doing it, so I'm not wasting my tears for you. You're going to be glad you did, you nutty slacker. Glad you powered past the ex bringing his new squeeze to a party when Nina was guaranteed to be there...because dear ol' Mum dragged her. Glad you ignored the fact that a thirty-year-old online journalist needed her brother to explain doxing to her. Or when her self-immolative attempts to go up against a TV shock jock are so very, so painfully naive....

And let's be honest, folks, the sheer number of us humans who can use...really, really use...the truth behind Andrew Solomon's quoted-in-story quote, "The opposite of depression is not happiness but vitality..." runs into the octuple digits. I suspect, though, that quite a lot more of y'all will follow Nina Mistry, Financial Abundance Manifester, in her (unorthodox but) proven effective plan to get the, um, kitty replenished.

What the heck is all this in aid of...well, my olds, there is absolutely no better time than the New Year to manifest self-love and self-acceptance by reading something that will make you giggle, and squirm, and blush. Cringe comedy lovers, here's you a book! Silly self-help sozzlers, here's you a book! You are in need of grins? You are in luck, here's you a book!

And you know what? Many more books need to have "Namaste, bitches," in them.

Bridget Jones meets Eat Pray Love! While some parts of this book were touching and reflective, others felt like they were reaching to be more insightful than they were. I didn’t find any of the characters to be particularly likable, but the shenanigans and adventures were humorous, nonetheless.

This is a really interesting book about self-love. When Nina finds herself in jail on her 30th birthday after a break up with her fiancé she sees a book and decides to spend time on finding self-love. The concept of the book is quite desirable in that it is important for all to find a way to love themselves. Nina is a British Indian woman and it’s also interesting to see how she has to deal with her family while she finds her way through this new journey in life. It’s also interesting in that Nina personality is not always the best initially but as she goes through a journey not only do you like me no more but she likes her self more as well. The secondary characters add to the story and it’s a compelling story written very well. If you are looking for a book that is about finding happiness through finding yourself this is the book for you.

Thirty Things I Love about Myself


On her thirtieth birthday Nina Mistry finds herself in jail on her 30th birthday because she was pushed into a demonstration. While there she comes across the book Thirty Things I Love About Myself. Only being able to list six things she loves about herself, she realizes she has some work to do on herself.
Nina’s home life was dysfunctional growing up. Her father commited suicide while she was growing up and left her mother with the burden of raising her and her brother on her own. Her mother did this with a stern hand rather than with compassion.

Nina had to move back home because she has just ended a long term relationship with a live-in boyfriend. Her brother was a brilliant stock broker but his mental illness has caused him to not be able to work and also move back home. Now theory are all under one roof again trying to make it work!

Nina is a journalist for an online publication, Raze, where she primarily writes about fashion hoping to one day cover stories with more substance. She is interviewed by a popular morning talk show host that makes her sound racist. This causes backlash on social media and takes Nina a while to work through and have the courage to come back writing from her heart. This ends up being a turning point for her career.

This is a great personal growth book and mending relationships with family. Several of the characters have mental health issues but they are discussed with great care. Sanghani’s humor shines through even with the difficult topics discussed.

Thanks to Berkley for an advanced copy of 30 Things I Love About Myself.

The premise of this book is great == reflecting on youself and self love, but unfortunately this book missed the mark for me. I just didn't like Nina, the main character and thought she was naive and kept making similar bad decisions. She did show some growth throughout the book. The astrology was a little too much for me also.

I did like how this book tackled some tough topics such as racism, depression/suicide, mental health and Indian culture in England.

If you like coming of age books with strong female characters then you might enjoy this.

The night before her 30th birthday, freelance journalist Nina finds herself under arrest and in a holding cell. Reading a book given to her by a sympathetic police officer about self-love, she has an epiphany about turning her life around.
Having recently broken up with her fiance and moved back in with her mum, Nina decides by her next birthday to find thirty things she loves about herself.
This book gets off to a hilarious start, and then follows Nina on her spiritual journey as she deals with her stalled writing career, the Indian culture of high expectations, a family history of depression, and a dwindling pool of friends. Many will be able to take inspiration from Nina’s story - for me, it was a great way to kick off the new year.

Really cute story which prompted me start on my own list of 42 Things I Love About Myself, since I will be 42 this year, instead of the 30 years of the heroine. I enjoyed reading it.

Life is not going well for Nina Mistry. Her career is going nowhere, she has just broken up with her fiancé and moved back home with her overbearing mother, and as if that isn’t enough, she finds herself locked up in jail on her 30th birthday wearing only her pajamas. While sitting in her cell contemplating the sad state of her life, Nina finds herself in possession of a self-help book called “How to Fix Your Shitty Life by Loving Yourself,” Nina decides to embrace the philosophy of this book and it turns out to be a life changing experience for her. 30 Things I Love About Myself by Radhika Sanghani follows Nina on her journey of self-discovery and self-love.

Nina’s journey to find 30 things she loves about herself is compelling and it’s one that had me wondering if I could find anywhere near 30 things I loved about myself. I found myself very interested in what kind of wisdom Nina’s self-help book would dole out and even though some of Nina’s experiences as she follows the book’s instructions might be a little over the top for dramatic purposes, I think the essence of the story is one that many readers, especially those right around Nina’s age, will relate to. Nina makes plenty of mistakes along the way as she pushes herself out of her comfort zone, but overall, the book’s advice to embrace bold actions and try new things, whether it’s yoga, meditation, or even tantric sex is truly the game changer Nina needs.

While I enjoyed following Nina on her journey, I do have to confess that I found my attention wandering a little by about the halfway point. I think part of that was that her story is so sad in the early stages that I found it somewhat draining, especially since I was grieving the loss of two loved ones around the time I read this book. I probably wasn’t in the best headspace to read a book about someone hitting rock bottom. Plus, her brother, who is also living with their mom, is suffering from depression and can barely function, which was also just so heartbreaking to watch. Thankfully though, the more Nina learns about herself and continues to build her list of 30 things, the more upbeat and hopeful the story got.

Even though the emotional weight of the book made me struggle with it a bit, I still think 30 Things I Love About Myself is a very worthwhile read. I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys stories about self-love or who may be looking for inspiration to embark on a similar journey.

Thank you to Berkeley for giving me an early copy to read, this book comes out Jan 4!

While I think the premise of committing to yourself and loving yourself is a good one, unfortunately this book kind of started to drag in the middle and lasted about 200 pages longer than I felt it should've. I also realize that the main chunk of this book is about our main characters, Nina, growing and having a major character development arc over the course of the story, but man she was just so unlikable and kept making so many naive decisions.

I think this is a fast read for someone who is looking for a buffer book between two reads, but I can't say it would be the first one I'd recommend off the top of my head to someone.

I did really like how it tackled racism in Indian culture and how it dealt with mental health issues such as depression and suicidal thoughts, however theres a major TW for a suicie attempt about 80% through this book and our main character is the one to find the person if that's something you're sensitive to reading about, plus her father died by suicide before the events of the book take place but it is mentioned multiple times.

all in all, a solid 3 star book for me

I went into this one completely blind and I was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed it!

Nina unexpectedly spends the night of her 30th birthday in jail. A night where she is all alone and starts to reflect on her job has a journalist and her crappy love life. The guard throws the book “How to Fix Your Shitty Life by Loving Yourself” into her cell. The book changes her life. She is determined to practice self-love and she’s going to find 30 things she loves about herself before her next birthday.

This is the perfect book for the new year. A book that reminds you that you should love yourself and do things for yourself that you want and enjoy. I loved following Nina throughout her journey and she had some hilarious/laugh out loud moments. She’s an Indian woman living in England and the book also touched on subjects of race and mental health. It’s was a book about family, friendships and learning to love yourself. I highly recommend.

A huge thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

This is a multicultural interest book about an Indian woman who has had some bad breaks. After a breakup with her boyfriend and a trip to jail on her birthday she finds herself frustrated.
Asking for a book to ease her boredom while in jail she's given a book on self love. This sets her on a twelve month self-discovery of thirty things she loves about herself. The book is a humorous at times and pretty unrealistic at times as well.

Pub Date 04 Jan 2022
I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

I enjoyed this book a lot. I wasn’t sure what to expect when I started it, it’s the story of one woman’s journey to learn to love herself. Sounds possibly boring, I know, but it’s funny and is an entertaining read, it makes you ask questions about yourself.

It’s Nina’s 30th birthday, and she’s spending the night in jail after an accidental protest. She’s all cried out and there’s nothing to do, when a book called “How to Fix Your Shitty Life by Loving Yourself” is thrown into her cell. Nina has an epiphany, she going to follow the book and learn to love herself.

First she has to get home to her demanding mother and clinically depressed brother, then she can read the rest of the book and make a plan. It starts out by asking you to make a list of 30 things you love about yourself. As Nina makes her list, she realizes she doesn’t have 30 things to write, so she decides to take chances and have new experiences that will help her identify the things she loves about herself by her next birthday.

I enjoyed reading about Nina’s self-realization journey, especially when she realizes how important her family is to her. It’s a thought-provoking book that I recommend, 4 stars.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

30 Things I Love About Myself was a light and quick read. For me, I had trouble connecting with the characters. I think a younger person will relate to this book much better than I did.

I really wanted to like this book, and it did have some good points for sure. Overall though this was not the book for me and I am a little disappointed it’s how I’m ending my 2021 reading. I had a hard time forcing myself to pick this one up and read it. It was a little much for me about its points. I did like that it was a light book that tried to tackle some serious issues like racism, depression, and suicide. Nina spends her 30th birthday in jail after being arrested by mistake. When she asks for some books she is given a self help book about achieving self-love which starts a whirlwind of a year she spends trying to figure out 30 things she loves about herself.

3 Stars

Nina, a British Indian woman, ends up in jail on her 30th birthday. When her mom picks her up the next morning, Nina smuggles out the only book in the facility. A self-love book. The story follows Nina the next year with her many ups and downs, eventually loving herself for who she is completely.

What I liked:
Strong female characters
Diverse characters and views
Deep family/friend bonds

Read if you like:
Yoga
Astrology
Coming-to-age

Triggers:
Depression
Suicide/suicide attempt
Death of a parent/grief
Racism
Cyber bullying

Overall, this was just ok for me. Thank you Berkley publishing for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

As someone who recently turned 30, the story sounded promising and full of humor and reminders of self love. Unfortunately I really didn’t like Nina as a main character. She was constantly selfish and took no ownership for her life and decisions. The story felt like a repetitive loop of mistakes and eventually finding the reasons to love herself. I didn’t like the relationship with her mother Rupa. The astrology bits added some fun but overall not one I’d widely recommend.

I read a book that really touched me. 30 Things I Love About Myself is the story of Nina, a British Indian woman who hits rock bottom on her 30th birthday and slowly climbs back out of her downward spiral by following the advice of a self help book telling her to find thirty things she loves about herself. This book absolutely stole my heart. It dealt with mental health, family drama, childhood trauma and racism with a raw honest realness mixed in with humor, all while reiterating the theme that everyone has flaws but you need to embrace those shortcomings and love yourself. With many laugh out loud moments, I found myself cringing, smiling, guffawing and cheering for Nina during all of her messy moments. I loved her family dynamics. It was a heartwarming to follow Nina on her journey to repair her family relationships, friendships and herself. Thank you so much to @berkleypub for my gifted copy. Pub day is January 4

After breaking up with her long-term boyfriend, Nina Mistry starts her 30th birthday in a jail cell. Then she embarks on a yearlong journey to find thirty things that she loves about herself.

Nina's story is incredibly relatable. The journey she takes is messy, humorous, and equivalent to a roller coaster ride. She realizes that life is all about your perspective as she searches for her place in the world.

Parallel to Nina's journey of self-discovery is the emotional evolution of her family. This close-knit family experiences some of its best and worst moments during this year. I would enjoy reading more about Nina's loving but judgemental mother, Rupa, and her kind, older brother, Kal.

This funny, uplifting, and thought-provoking story, with its message of self-love and the importance of mental health, is a great way to start the new year.

Thank you to Berkley Publishing Group for a digital copy of this book.

I tried but just couldn't get into this one. It just didn't satisfy me. Sorry! I'm sure it will appeal to other readers though.