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paperbacksandpines's review against another edition
4.0
Wow! This book exceeded my expectations. Written along the same lines as [b:Bookworm: A Memoir of Childhood Reading|28501495|Bookworm A Memoir of Childhood Reading|Lucy Mangan|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1511977501l/28501495._SY75_.jpg|48654576], this book was more memoir and less a recounting of books that impacted Rentzenbrink's life. There were some books sprinkled in throughout the book but this book was more about Rentzenbrink's life as a reader and her journey through the book world. I enjoyed this book but I wish there were more mentions of books that impacted her life. Overall, this was a good read.
dawnlizreads's review against another edition
4.0
A thoughtful poignant memoir that explores Rentzenbrink's relationship with reading and how books have shaped and influenced her.
At first, I thought this was going to be a sweet nostalgia fest like Lucy Mangan's Bookworm. But. actually, this is more about Rentzenbrink using books to build a life for herself. I loved Rentzenbrink's honesty. Books gave her comfort and inspired her, but they didn't stop her from having disastrous relationships or from struggling.
As with her phenomenal memoir, The Last Act of Love (about the aftermath of her brother's horrific accident), Rentzenbrink never pretends to have all the answers and that's refreshing. Sometimes when an author, in a memoir, talks about a tragedy, they can imply that "everything is wonderful" now that they're "over it". Rentzenbrink doesn't do that. She fully acknowledges that her brother's death has had a lasting impact on her life and still affects her.
Having looked at the books Rentzenbrink talks about, I realised she and I have very different tastes in books. I found that quite funny - that someone could be as (if not more) passionate about reading as I am but have a completely different view about what books they find comforting! Just goes to show how diverse reading is and that people read for different reasons,
At first, I thought this was going to be a sweet nostalgia fest like Lucy Mangan's Bookworm. But. actually, this is more about Rentzenbrink using books to build a life for herself. I loved Rentzenbrink's honesty. Books gave her comfort and inspired her, but they didn't stop her from having disastrous relationships or from struggling.
As with her phenomenal memoir, The Last Act of Love (about the aftermath of her brother's horrific accident), Rentzenbrink never pretends to have all the answers and that's refreshing. Sometimes when an author, in a memoir, talks about a tragedy, they can imply that "everything is wonderful" now that they're "over it". Rentzenbrink doesn't do that. She fully acknowledges that her brother's death has had a lasting impact on her life and still affects her.
Having looked at the books Rentzenbrink talks about, I realised she and I have very different tastes in books. I found that quite funny - that someone could be as (if not more) passionate about reading as I am but have a completely different view about what books they find comforting! Just goes to show how diverse reading is and that people read for different reasons,
caz8's review against another edition
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
This is about a woman who lost and found herself in stories. And is great to learn about the many books she's read and what they entail.
keysersuze's review against another edition
5.0
I smiled and chuckled all the way through this book, which I read most of sitting in the garden so I was thankful our neighbours weren’t nearby. Or at least, if they were, they were polite enough not to mention that I was giggling to myself.
I hadn’t come across Cathy Rentzenbrink's writing before, but the description of the book as ‘Dear Reader is a moving, funny and joyous exploration of how books can change the course of your life, packed with recommendations from one reader to another’ sounded perfect. I think, as we head into our eleventy hundredth week of lockdown, I’m finding it really hard to settle on a book, or a podcast, or something – I always seem to be jumping from one thing to another. I currently have no fewer than 6 half read books, which I have vowed to go back to and finish soon. Of course.
So this book, released in September this year, is an author’s ode to reading. It had such a great balance between memoir and chatty book loving friend, Cathy Rentzenbrink is clearly a book lover as well as a great writer. Her candid-ness, her gentle wit and the way she’s so upfront about devastating parts of her life reminded me a bit of Nora Ephron’s writing.
Against the backdrop of something of an unorthodox childhood which saw her and her family live in lots of different places and go to lots of different schools, she talks through her favourite books from childhood in the first section. She explains that books were her constant, her escape – not that she is saying she had a bad childhood, of course, but books allowed her to experience different things and to travel to different places. Her list includes the Narnia books, which she references a few times and always elicited a feeling of nostalgia and a desire to read them again.
There were so many books like that – memoirs, legacy sagas, love stories, mysteries – all handily broken into phases while our author and guide grows up, marries, moves to New York and loads of other amazing things. For every book I’ve read and loved, there were two that I immediately added to my Goodreads list. It might not have solved my #FirstWorldProblem of having too many books to read, but it also resurrected my love for reading and reminded me how it feels to make new friends in far away lands.
I can think of at least a dozen friends of mine I know who would love this – it’s so accessible and engaging, and impossible to put down. I had hoped it would come with an index so I didn’t have to remember all of the books, but the digital ARC didn’t. Maybe the published version will!
Rentzenbrink has written a couple of more standard memoirs before this one, The Last Act of Love and A Manual for Heartache – I’m looking forward to reading those ones, too.
As usual, a big thank you to Netgalley and to the publisher, PanMacMillan, for the ARC.
I hadn’t come across Cathy Rentzenbrink's writing before, but the description of the book as ‘Dear Reader is a moving, funny and joyous exploration of how books can change the course of your life, packed with recommendations from one reader to another’ sounded perfect. I think, as we head into our eleventy hundredth week of lockdown, I’m finding it really hard to settle on a book, or a podcast, or something – I always seem to be jumping from one thing to another. I currently have no fewer than 6 half read books, which I have vowed to go back to and finish soon. Of course.
So this book, released in September this year, is an author’s ode to reading. It had such a great balance between memoir and chatty book loving friend, Cathy Rentzenbrink is clearly a book lover as well as a great writer. Her candid-ness, her gentle wit and the way she’s so upfront about devastating parts of her life reminded me a bit of Nora Ephron’s writing.
Against the backdrop of something of an unorthodox childhood which saw her and her family live in lots of different places and go to lots of different schools, she talks through her favourite books from childhood in the first section. She explains that books were her constant, her escape – not that she is saying she had a bad childhood, of course, but books allowed her to experience different things and to travel to different places. Her list includes the Narnia books, which she references a few times and always elicited a feeling of nostalgia and a desire to read them again.
There were so many books like that – memoirs, legacy sagas, love stories, mysteries – all handily broken into phases while our author and guide grows up, marries, moves to New York and loads of other amazing things. For every book I’ve read and loved, there were two that I immediately added to my Goodreads list. It might not have solved my #FirstWorldProblem of having too many books to read, but it also resurrected my love for reading and reminded me how it feels to make new friends in far away lands.
I can think of at least a dozen friends of mine I know who would love this – it’s so accessible and engaging, and impossible to put down. I had hoped it would come with an index so I didn’t have to remember all of the books, but the digital ARC didn’t. Maybe the published version will!
Rentzenbrink has written a couple of more standard memoirs before this one, The Last Act of Love and A Manual for Heartache – I’m looking forward to reading those ones, too.
As usual, a big thank you to Netgalley and to the publisher, PanMacMillan, for the ARC.
artbreakerbookclub's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
4.5
madisonskiles's review against another edition
4.0
A beautiful love letter to the power of stories and the calming act of reading itself. The last couple of chapters, especially, were very thoughtful!
spooky_snack_bitch's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
4.5
An emotional and cozy read. A unique and engaging way to write a memoir.
mainebookworm22's review against another edition
3.0
The title expresses this book perfectly. It is all about the comfort and joy of books--to get us through hard times, to help us deal with grief, to help us escape life for a short time, to help us to educate ourselves, to help us see the world without leaving our houses, and just for pure enjoyment. This memoir is divided into sections and at the end of each part, Cathy recommends some titles that helped to get her through that period of her life. As a bookseller, I loved the parts about her job at Waterstones and other shops. The random connections we make daily with strangers over books is what keeps most of us going in our jobs. I also loved the emphasis that she placed on rereading. A quick cozy read that is perfect for bookworms and who knows --you might just add to your neverending tbr.
kazza27's review against another edition
5.0
I very rarely read non fiction but everything about this book screamed at me to pick it up and rightly so. It is such a wonderful book, packed full of some of my favourite books from Narnia to Nora Ephron, Agatha Christie and Jilly Cooper.
Working in retail at Christmas is brutal and Cathy recalls it perfectly as she starts a bookseller in Harrods Waterstones. I particularly enjoyed her experiences with authors and the events in her bookshop roles as these really resonated with me due to my own job. Some of the experiences will make you laugh and cringe equally.
The chapter about Books about Bookshops and Booksellers was one of my favourite and has added sustainably to my huge TBR pile.
This book is also very moving, when Cathy loses her brother in a tragic accident she writes so poignantly how books like Ellis Peter’s Caedfel and Agatha helped her to survive and this was really emotional and heartbreaking. I also used Agatha Christie to get over my own losses and I have clung to them ever since.
I loved the close bond Cathy has with her family and how books shaped them all. Particularly her father who was an orphan and ran away to sea at fifteen and how he inspired her so much particularly in her work with literacy and prisons.
Like Cathy, my reading tastes changed dramatically when I was pregnant with my first child I loved horror Stephen King, James Herbert, etc but I couldn’t stomach them for many years. I have recently been able to start reading horror again. My youngest is seventeen now.
So much of this book really gripped me, from my reader tastes, my job and as a mother it felt so personal and relatable. It has also made me think alot about my own roles and reading. Cathy has had a wonderfully varied bookish life of which I am very envious!
I read this with my friend Serena as a buddy read and we have both decided this one is definitely for the forever shelf and I know it will be one that I will gift to others but also return to myself. Absolutely stunning!
5 glorious shiny stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Working in retail at Christmas is brutal and Cathy recalls it perfectly as she starts a bookseller in Harrods Waterstones. I particularly enjoyed her experiences with authors and the events in her bookshop roles as these really resonated with me due to my own job. Some of the experiences will make you laugh and cringe equally.
The chapter about Books about Bookshops and Booksellers was one of my favourite and has added sustainably to my huge TBR pile.
This book is also very moving, when Cathy loses her brother in a tragic accident she writes so poignantly how books like Ellis Peter’s Caedfel and Agatha helped her to survive and this was really emotional and heartbreaking. I also used Agatha Christie to get over my own losses and I have clung to them ever since.
I loved the close bond Cathy has with her family and how books shaped them all. Particularly her father who was an orphan and ran away to sea at fifteen and how he inspired her so much particularly in her work with literacy and prisons.
Like Cathy, my reading tastes changed dramatically when I was pregnant with my first child I loved horror Stephen King, James Herbert, etc but I couldn’t stomach them for many years. I have recently been able to start reading horror again. My youngest is seventeen now.
So much of this book really gripped me, from my reader tastes, my job and as a mother it felt so personal and relatable. It has also made me think alot about my own roles and reading. Cathy has had a wonderfully varied bookish life of which I am very envious!
I read this with my friend Serena as a buddy read and we have both decided this one is definitely for the forever shelf and I know it will be one that I will gift to others but also return to myself. Absolutely stunning!
5 glorious shiny stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
bookishbeyond's review against another edition
hopeful
informative
inspiring
3.0
A good read about how books had an impact on the author’s life.