Book Review: "Dear Reader" by Cathy Rentzenbrink

When it comes to writing, I would personally love to write an autobiography like this one when I’m a little older. Writing a book about how much you appreciate books and the authors behind them is a special kind of personal autobiography in which you can really get close to the narrator and where their lives are leading them. It is also a great chance to share some really great book recommendations with the reader. For me, I have read quite a few (but not all!) of the books within this autobiography. I was more or less stunned by the fact that the novel “The Reader” by Bernard Schlink was included. I was told to read that in sixth form and I really did not get over the emotional scarring it left on me. The books are not all good though, some of them are ones that I did not wholeheartedly agree with but then again, it is not my autobiography. You should all take one lesson from this book if any: read what you feel like and do not let anyone else tell you that what you are reading is not ‘worthy’ or that it doesn’t make you ‘academic’ in reading.

I once had a friend like that. I was, and still am, a member of the Reese Witherspoon Book Club online and I enjoy reading the beach reads, rom-coms, mystery/thrillers and women’s literature of other kinds that it has to offer. Once, a few years back, I was reading a book from that book club and I had brought it to work with me. She, being a literature graduate, looked at me and scoffed in silent at the fact that I wasn’t, as another literature graduate, reading something more ‘academic’, ‘classic’ or ‘intellectual’. My response back then was to just laugh along. But when I got around to it, it made me think about all of the people who have had to deal with people like this - all of the people who have been joked about for what they have been reading. If this book is to teach us anything then it is that we should not care what other people think - as long as we are enjoying the book then we are having our own good time. Reading is not really a group activity unless you are reading as a group. It doesn’t matter what the ‘literary’ people say you should be reading, and as a literary person I would say that the only thing that matters when it comes to your book choice is you.

This book also teaches us that it is possible to like all different kinds of literature from everywhere in the world. From the very beginning, we get this really in-depth appreciation of books such as “The Chronicles of Narnia” and books by female authors. From this and onwards, we get this almost alternating narrative of story followed by chapters on the writer’s own life and how their reading has influenced that. You normally find that people who read want to share lists and lists of books and novels with you (and I am definitely one of those people). It is one of the most beautiful things on the planet - to share books and stories.

This book on the whole has been one of the greatest reading experiences I have had this year. A mix between the author’s love for fiction and the author’s own autobiography - this interesting post-modern type writer on writing book has captured my heart. From working in bookshops to books about bookshops, this novel is seriously something to be appreciated.