For as long as she can remember, Cathy Rentzenbrink has lost and found herself in stories. Growing up, she was rarely seen without her nose in a book and read in secret long after lights out. When tragedy struck, books kept her afloat. Eventually they lit the way to a new path, first as a bookseller and then as a writer. No matter what the future holds, reading will always help.
This 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.
Dear Reader is a love letter to stories and reading from one of our very best memoirists. Joyful, poignant and essential reading for people who love books, this is a charming memoir told from to us from Cathy’s bookshelf. Charming and utterly delightful, it is a book to cherish.
Nina Stibbe, author of Love, Nina
I loved this book . . . I’m so desperate for you all to share in its wonder.
Elizabeth Day
I will never, ever forget the way Dear Reader made me feel: it is profoundly tender, generous, joy-filled, love-filled and compassionate. I have read so many wonderful books this year but this is the one I would buy and give away to everyone in the world if I could.
Daisy Buchanan, author of How to Be a Grown-Up
Beautifully written and a joy to read, Dear Reader is a best friend of a book. Comforting and wise, and with lists of books to read, or read again, I highly recommend buying it as a present for someone you love.
AJ Pearce, Sunday Times bestselling author of Dear Mrs Bird
Dear Reader restored my soul.
Sara Collins, author of The Confessions of Frannie Langton
A companion for readers everywhere . . . intimate, kind and self-effacing, it feels like someone is sitting right next to you, holding your hand and sharing their secrets. I loved it.
Kit de Waal, author of My Name is Leon
Dear Reader is the best thing I’ve read for ages and it will stay with me forever. It is more than a book about books, it is a book about life . . . reading Dear Reader feels like going to a terrific party, reconnecting with old friends and making new ones too.
Philippa Perry, author of The Book You Wish Your Parents Had Read (and Your Children Will be Glad That You Did)
A wonderful warm bath of a book. Perfect for all bookworms to sink into.
Jenny Colgan, author of Meet Me At The Cupcake Café
Dear Reader celebrates reading as a means of connection and a vehicle for escapism. It’s a heartfelt reminder that, for all the wholesome effects that reading arguably has, the first reason to do it is for pleasure. Fittingly, Dear Reader is a pleasure to read.
Times
Comfort reading has been to the fore lately, and you’ll find it in abundance in this joyous memoir of a life immersed in the pleasures and consolations of books.
Caroline Sanderson, The Bookseller
Cathy Rentzenbrink 