Bibliomaniac: An Obsessive’s Tour of the Bookshops of Britain

by Robin Ince

Audiobook duration: 8 hours 1 minute

“A unique, funny picture of Britain... A love letter to bookshops and the vagaries of public transport.” — Richard Osman

Why play to 12,000 people when you can play to 12? In Autumn 2021, Robin Ince's stadium tour with Professor Brian Cox was postponed due to the pandemic. Rather than do nothing, he decided instead to go on a tour of over a hundred bookshops in the UK, from Wigtown to Penzance; from Swansea to Margate. Packed with witty anecdotes and tall tales, Bibliomaniac takes the reader on a journey across Britain as Robin explores his lifelong love of bookshops and books - and also tries to find out just why he can never have enough of them. It is the story of an addiction and a romance, and also of an occasional points failure just outside Oxenholme.

Genres: Nonfiction, Books About Books, Travel, Audiobook, Memoir, Humor, Biography

9 pages, Audiobook

First published October 6, 2022

About the author

Robin Ince is an English comedian, actor and writer. He is best known for presenting the BBC radio show The Infinite Monkey Cage with physicist Brian Cox.

In 2005, Ince began running the Book Club night at The Albany, London, where acts are encouraged to perform turns of new and experimental material. The club gets its name from Ince's attempts to read aloud from, and humorously criticise, various second-hand books which the audience brought in for the occasion. The Book Club proved to be so successful that Ince took it on a full UK tour in 2006. In 2010, Ince published a book entitled Robin Ince's Bad Book Club about his favourite books that he has used for his shows.

~Wikipedia

Reviews

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Do you know anyone who can buy just one book? Do you know anyone who leaves a bookshop only with what they walked in to buy?”

I understand that Robin Ince is a radio personality and comedian who, though holding no formal qualifications, often delivers presentations about science. He was meant to undertake a stadium tour with Professor Brian Cox in the autumn of 2021, but a Covid resurgence put paid to that. Not one for sitting around at home – he comes across as driven, antsy; positively allergic to boredom – he formulated Plan B: 100+ events, most of them in independent bookshops (the oddest venue was a Chinese restaurant; he was speaking to the Plymouth Humanists), over the course of two months, criss-crossing Britain and hitting many favourite places such as Hay-on-Wye, Hungerford (my local indie) and Wigtown. The topic of his previous book was curiosity, which gave him free rein to feature anything that interested him, so no two talks were the same and he incorporated lots of ad hoc book recommendations.

Ince is not just a speaker at the bookshops but, invariably, a customer – as well as at just about every charity shop in a town. Even when he knows he’ll be carrying his purchases home in his luggage on the train, he can’t resist a browse. And while his shopping basket would look wildly different to mine (his go-to sections are science and philosophy, the occult, 1960s pop and alternative culture; alongside a wide but utterly unpredictable range of classic and contemporary fiction and antiquarian finds), I sensed a kindred spirit in so many lines:

“A bookshop with a proximity to an interesting graveyard is a fine combination.”

“I like charity bookshops, because I can delude myself into believing that I am committing an altruistic act by purchasing too many books. I am not satisfying my consumer lust – I am digging a well in Uganda.”

“This is one of the wonders of books: the delight of being a species that can chronicle and preserve. I pick up a book from a shelf, and someone who is no more than ash or bone can still change me.”

He’s also refreshingly open-minded, determined not to become a white male dinosaur: he once spent a wonderful year reading only women authors, and gratefully accepts the gift of a Black queer feminist work – at which he knows a younger version of himself would have scoffed. I took lots of notes on shops I hadn’t heard of, but also appreciated the witty asides on British ways and on the rigours and coincidences of the tour. If you liked White Spines, this will be right up your street, though to me this was universal where the Royle was too niche. And it didn’t matter a jot that I was previously unfamiliar with Ince as a public figure.

Originally published on my blog, Bookish Beck.

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

Those who follow me on the various social media networks out there will know that I buy a lot of books. Far more than I can realistically read, but they make me happy and as far as I see it, a home without books is just a house…

Robin Ince also buys a lot of books. Like hundreds of them a year. He will trawl charity and second-hand bookshops looking for anything that piques his interest. If he likes the look of it, he buys it. Knowing what my house looks like, I do wonder just what his house looks like…

This wonderful book is the account of his travels around the independent bookshops of the UK promoting one of his books and a record of the books that he finds and brings home on his tour. He reads far more fiction than I do, but he has a similar principle, if it looks interesting then he will buy it. I do this with non-fiction books…

I am a bibliomaniac.
There is no cure and I am not seeking one.

Whilst we have similar philosophies on books, I don’t think that I have ADHD like he does, but I do think that I have autistic traits hence why I can see the parallels that I have with him. He is a big fan of independent bookshops which will become very evident if you read this book, and I am too. They offer an alternative curated selection of books that reflects the interest of the bookseller, rather than me feeling that I on the receiving end of a corporate marketing machine. If you have read White Spines by Nicholas Royle, then this is a must-read for you.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked up Bibliomaniac off the library's new acquisitions shelf as I do enjoy a book-about-books. Ince writes candidly and very amusingly about his addiction to buying books and his 2021 tour of Britain's independent bookshops. His frequent jumps from anecdote to anecdote are somewhat explained by a mention in the introduction that he likely has ADHD. This style suits the topic, as it travels from bookshop to bookshop, as well as book to book. His frenetic tour via unreliable public transport and helpful lifts is just the sort of thing I enjoy reading about but would absolutely hate doing myself. I've only been to a couple of the bookshops on the tour, despite being fond of independent bookshops. In the introduction, Ince perceptively explains his obsession:

I think I love books more than I love reading. Their company means there is always the possibility of something to be discovered, waiting for me between the covers, which hasn't even entered my imagination yet. A small but pleasing change in my reality is waiting on every shelf.
I know that I have a tendency towards melancholy, social anxiety, and self-loathing, and books form a great part of my prescription medication. When I say that books are my drugs, I don't mean that in a throwaway manner; they really do calm me, they really do shut off some of the voices for a while.
They really do take me out of time.
Books are not merely my escape, but an opportunity to explore the world - my chance to get the voices from the page to drown the voices in my head; the place to live in other people's dreamscapes. I am too anxious for some of the hallucinogens that my confident friends experiment with, so my trips are fuelled by turning pages.

A lot of this is very familiar to me from my own experience. Books are my drugs too; I've always used reading to calm my mind and escape myself. I too read about hallucinogens with great interest but am far too anxious to take them. It seems to me that no-one would choose to read constantly if they liked the sound of their own thoughts! Yet, unlike Ince, I definitely love reading more than books. He accumulates books constantly, whereas I own fewer books than my friends and family. The majority of the books I read are borrowed from libraries or friends. My preference is to read a book, review it, then pass it on so someone else can enjoy it. The 110 books on my shelves are roughly half unread and half favourites worthy of re-reading. Much as I adore books, in excess they become clutter which I detest.

Anyway, Ince's love of books and joy in talking about them comes through strongly in Bibliomaniac. He is a compelling and very funny writer, both about travel and books. I laughed out loud at anecdotes like this:

My favourite librarian story comes from Stoke Newington. A ninety-two-year-old book-lover whose eyesight meant she relied on talking books decided she should hear Fifty Shades of Grey. The librarian warned her it was a bit racy, but she was having none of it. Two weeks later, she rang the librarian: "Disc four is filthy." "I did warn you." "No, it's filthy, it looks like it's got jam or marmalade on it. It won't play at all."

Bibliomaniac gives the reader a joyful tour of Britain's independent bookshops, which seem to be weathering the pandemic quite well, as well as a tour of his book collection. Ince's interests are delightfully miscellaneous and his enthusiasm infectious. Anyone who loves books and/or reading will enjoy Ince's adventures and discover new bookshops to visit.

[Brian Clegg · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book, but feel it has a relatively narrow audience that would have the same connection to it, hence the three star rating. Robin Ince is quite clearly addicted to buying books with an almost random enthusiasm, and this book is arguably more about that addiction than about the hundred bookstore tour he did that is the hook the book is hung on.

My personal taste in books overlaps to some degree with Ince's - we both bought copies of Alan Frank's Horror Movies early in our book buying lives (sadly I don't seem to still have my copy, though I do have some equivalent titles on science fiction films, vampire movies and more). We both are likely to find, say, the Maleus Malificorum resting alongside a book on quantum physics next to an Edwardian hardback copy of Bessie Marchant's The Girl Captives on our shelves. I very much enjoyed the selection of books Ince discovers on his travels (often in charity shops as well as proper bookshops), and added a couple to my 'look out for' list as a result. However, I was less impressed by the framing travel aspect of the book.

Rather than having the entertainment of a Bill Bryson or Stuart Maconie title, to be honest the travel side of the book was a touch tedious, lacking in interesting stories. Perhaps part of the problem was the need to hurtle round so many locations - it might have been better to have included fewer and given us more depth. I was also a bit disappointed that the two shops where I've also done talks (festivals tend to be more my thing) weren't actually the venues of his events at all - the shops themselves hardly got a mention.

Nonetheless, the book appealed to me in rather a similar way to those books like Horror Movies - it took me back to my youth when I used to really like working through titles that were probably more strictly reference books (I've even been known to read a Pevsner end to end). Like them, it was sometimes a slog getting through Bibliomaniac, but there was a satisfaction in completing it. In this, there seems to be a distinct difference with Ince himself. He loves books, but sometimes seems indifferent to reading them, preferring to dip in or even leave them on the shelf for some future, probably non-existent exploration.

It's a curiosity, then. It won't appeal to everyone, not even everyone interested in books (especially if you restrict yourself to Literature with a capital L). But it is both interesting as giving an insight into a fairly odd character in Ince himself (someone I was aware of, but hadn't really come across directly, and tend to confuse with Tim Minchin for some reason) and in the unlikely books he uncovers.

[Fred Jenkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is a lot that I like about this book, but also a fair amount of disappointment. The treatment of the actual bookshops is often pretty superficial. The book is mostly a stream of consciousness, random account of Ince's incidents of travel and book purchasing (often at bargain hunting in charity shops rather than the titular bookshops). There is a lot about books, but again much of it superficial, as Ince pulls in a wide and random range of authors and titles. A small and random selection: The 13½ Lives of Captain Bluebear, Being and Time, Bollocks to Alton Towers, The Cat Who Saved Books, The Ghost Stories of M.R. James, Hangover Square, The Lord of the Rings, On Having No Head, Picturesque Finland, The Pig That Wants to Be Eaten, The Sirens of Titan. I found some books that I want to read, some that I want to avoid. Parts are a lot of fun, parts are pretty tedious. Perhaps I should have started off: "It was the best of books, it was the worst of books." I really wanted to like this more. 3½ stars.

[Hally · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ironically for a book about bookshops...I read this on audio. No regrets, as talking is as much Robin's thing as literature is. Robin's chaotic chatty style works really well for my brain, and I appreciate the niche book references because predictability in this area depresses me. Robin is so funny and warm and lovely and I enjoyed every minute of this.

[Sophie Crane · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a delight. It is a new take on the travel book, like Notes from A Small Island, but with each location's bookshops as the main feature. Lots of very funny anecdotes and observations.
Definitely recommended for anyone thinking of travelling around Britain or doing a little road trip.
I've laughed out loud many times reading it, it's like the reading equivalent of a nice cup of tea and a biscuit.

[Shelleyrae at Book'd Out · Rating 4 out of 5]

I chose Bibliomaniac with some trepidation, having yet to find a book about books that doesn’t revere long dead white men and assorted tedious classics, so I was pleased to discover Ince’s taste tends to be rather more eclectic, if not eccentric.

“I pick up a book by Houdini about psychic mediums; something about the quest for the Holy Grail; a Jungian guide to grotesques in literature; and Yukio Mishima’s The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea”

Bibliomaniac is not a reading guide though, it’s a travelogue of sorts that tells of Robin Ince’s post-CoVid lockdown adventure as he travels the length and breadth of Britain to speak at 111 independent bookstores in 100 days to promote his book, The Importance of Being Interested: Adventures in Scientific Curiosity.

Each chapter, prefaced with a sketched map that roughly shows a particular leg of his journey, is essentially a collection of anecdotes and observations told with thoughtfulness, humour, and enthusiasm. Ince writes of his travel experience (he relies mostly on public transport), his impression of the stores he visits, their owners and their patrons, and of course, the books he finds and adds to his collection. Ince also muses on his relationship to books and reading, and occasionally wanders off on idiosyncratic tangents.

“I think I love books more than I love reading. Their company means there is always the possibility of something to be discovered, waiting for me between the covers, which hasn't even entered my imagination yet. A small but pleasing change in my reality is waiting on every shelf.”

A book for booklovers by a booklover, Bibliomaniac is an entertaining read.

[Mike Sumner · Rating 5 out of 5]

To every bibliophile (most of us surely) all I can say is buy this book! Robin Ince really likes books. Books fill his house; he cannot stop buying books. Reminds me of myself although not to the same manic extent! He responded to publishing his last book by visiting over 100 bookshops in 100 days. It's a rollercoaster journey that takes us around Britain's bookshops. He is a fine travel writer and his book is wise, witty and, at times, very funny. You find yourself wrapped up in books and meeting wonderful bookshop owners. It's a joy to read and not to be missed.

[Nailya · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this book, and I have now checked out Robin Ince's podcast, funny and informative. As Ince himself says at the outset, this book is a collection of anecdotes, it is not well organised at all. I thought he would focus on the individual bookshops a bit more, as I intended to use this as a travelogue for book shopping around Britain. However, the bookshops quickly blend into 'generic high street indie bookshop'. The focus is instead on Ince's VERY eclectic reading habits. I mean, I thought I buy a lot of books I'll never read, but this man has a PROBLEM. I think I would have enjoyed his specific comments about the books if my tastes were more similar to Ince's. The comments are also a bit on the short side, so you wouldn't discover many random and wonderful new reading ideas from this. What I did get out of the book, however, is an inspiration to buy books more impulsively, to not check 99 Goodreads reviews and 55 Book Riot/Books and Bao book blogs and 107 Bookstagram posts before I commit to buying something, which I will inevitably order second hand online to save money. I've realized that I spend as much if not more time choosing what to read as I do actually reading something, and then I stick to it because I need to tick a box off to show that I've READ it. Reading this book, I got inspired to buy (and READ) random things which grab my attention in a bookstore. My NY resolution is now to try to make that a reality - yes, buy fewer books, but be more spontaneous, read them immediately and DNF if they're not working for me/I'm not gaining much from them.

[Mady · Rating 3 out of 5]

Robin Ince tours bookshops in Britain, where he gives talks and lists all the books he bought on the way - most of the time he doesn’t give much info on the books and I’d hardly heard about any of the books he mentions. Also I’ve realised that listening to a book (or podcast!) where many books are mentioned doesn’t really work for me. However, it was enjoyable to listen to a bookish description of Robin’s life and obsession with buying books, but after a while it became boring.
Note that I’d never heard about Robin Ince before, maybe if I was a fan I’d have enjoyed this one more?

Added bonus (and extra star!) for having the author reading the book on this audio version and including extra comments to his written text!

Quote: One day ‘bookish’ will be an accepted nationality for your passport, it’s not about where you were born but which books you’re living in! <3

[Pamela Samson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was charming and funny if you like reading books about books. Even though I'm a fan of the BBC and British popular culture in general, I only got ~1/4 of the refences in the book. Despite this, I am still glad I read it. He recreates the warmth of British bookshops well and this is balanced by amusing and self-deprecating adventures as he gives a marathon session of author events across the UK. I appreciated one of his quotes at the end about how after giving talks at and browsing over 100 bookshops in the UK, "no bookshop had exactly the same books on display as another and no bookshop had the same recommendations to make". It made me realize why I like to visit independent bookstores whenever I travel - a B+N is the same anywhere you go- but an independent bookstore is almost always someone's life project and passion and the books on display and being recommended are a reflection of books that had some type of impact on the staff that live and work in that community. There were a lot of tangents and flights of ideas (which he acknowledges, and is #sorrynotsorry) but I could see how this could be a deal breaker for some readers. All in all, there were many lines that made me laugh and many sentimental comments on readers and bookish people that made me smile. It also reminded me why book browsing and book reading are two distinctly different hobbies :)

[Anton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Woah! This was something else. I picked this up as a follow-up to The Importance of Being Interested: Adventures in Scientific Curiosity. In some ways, Bibliomaniac lives up to the spirit of that title even better.

Feverishly fast and obsessively passionate confession of book-loving (with lots of book shopping all around the UK).

The most striking part is not the bibliomania (this part is mega-relatable!) but how wonderfully bizarre Robin's books tastes are. Eclectic does not even begin to cover it.

This title will appeal to those who enjoyed Shaun Bythell's books. Or Bill Bryson's travelogues (it all moves fast with odd tangents everywhere) peppered with obscure references. In sum: it is fun. Great in audiobook format. The author is a fantastic narrator.

If you like this book, you will also like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIW5j...

[Tracey Allen at Carpe Librum · Rating 3 out of 5]

Here's what I know for sure after reading this book. Robin Ince is extremely well read. Robin Ince knows a LOT about books. Robin Ince buys an extraordinary amount of books. Robin Ince is a bibliomaniac. In his aptly titled book Bibliomaniac - An Obsessive's Tour of the Bookshops of Britain, author Robin Ince sets out to visit more than 100 bookshops in 100 days. The year was 2021 and bookshops were welcoming authors back for events. Reading this travelogue of sorts about his experiences along the way was interesting.

My introduction to Robin Ince came courtesy of attending the Professor Brian Cox Universal World Tour in June 2019 and a few years later, the Professor Brian Cox Horizons - A 21st Century Space Odyssey in October 2022. Robin Ince was the award-winning comedian and warm-up act for Cox and finding out he was an obsessive book lover piqued my interest.

Ince declares early on that books define him, books are the reason he stopped drinking heavily and that he sleeps with books piled on the bed and I'll admit I began to worry a little. In the Introduction he lays his bibliomania bare:

"At one stage my house became so swamped with books that I donated more than 1,000 of them to Leicester Prison and got rid of a further 5,000 more to charities. And yet I know that my house is still overrun, always on the cusp of being justifiable grounds for divorce." Page 4

This was another dual audio and print reading experience, and the occasional mention of an interesting sounding book or anecdote motivated me to put this down and head off to find out more. Here's one in reference to Charles Darwin in Chapter 6:

"There are no new tattoos to see after the show tonight, but I have a happy conversation with a shy young person who has recently become inspired to study horticulture. This leads to yet another conversation about Charles Darwin, this time about his earthworm experiments - any excuse to bring up the bassoon." Page 160

There were many in jokes along the way like this one about the bassoon* but I didn't understand many of them because I lacked the broad depth of knowledge on a variety of subjects required to chuckle along and marvel at the author's treasure trove of interesting and engaging facts.

Ince readily confesses that he doesn't read books end to end or sequentially, and instead he dips in and out of them in a fashion that started to stress me out. I have a completely different approach to reading and acquiring books, and despite our shared love of books and reading, I couldn't relate to his reading style:

"I am sometimes asked how I read so much. I commit the cardinal sin among some bookish people: I leave books unfinished. I hop in and out of them, grabbing an anecdote, an idea or a philosophy and then putting them on the teetering 'to be continued' pile." Page 4

I don't mind leaving a book unfinished, but I don't understand how a reader can grab an anecdote or philosophy in any detail with this approach and Ince readily confesses that in his desire to know everything, he ends up knowing nothing. Here's a taste of his reading style, can you relate?

"I have half a bottle of red, a packet of pistachio cookies and solitude. I spread out my books and read five random pages from each one. Short of focus, I decide not to focus and read erratically, bouncing in and out of books until, exhausted by other people's ideas, I fall asleep with a book across my face." Page 266

While that might sound like absolute heaven to some book lovers, it sounds haphazard and chaotic to me and I found it hard to relate to his specific type of bibliomania.

Some of the conversations Ince has with customers, event attendees and booksellers sound truly fascinating and I bet meeting him in person would be a stimulating experience. I love hearing how he curates a different pile of books in each bookshop and uses them to inform the topic of his speech. This is a terrific way to ensure his presentations are always unique and never become stale, they also enable a last minute, ad hoc approach to the event that made the organiser in me feel uneasy.

Often rushing for the train or running overtime during his events - albeit with permission, but honestly, who's going to say no? - Ince relies on lifts from friends, booksellers and agents to get him to and from train stations and the more than 100 bookshops visited; often staying the night wherever he can.

The author is the kind of guy who buys his own books (Page 194) and in one chapter, he recalls taking a half full bottle of wine from his event to drink on the train trip home (Page 203) while reading a new acquisition. Barely mentioning his wife or family, Ince does tell us his wife doesn't want him bringing books back from the book tour, so he sneaks home at one point to offload a tonne of books and then stealthily leaves again. What a guy!

Despite considering myself somewhat well read and reasonably knowledgable about books, I could probably count on one hand the number of books I'd actually heard of or read myself from the hundreds mentioned throughout the 300+ pages. While I focus on non fiction and relatively recent fiction, the author's interests seem to orbit around non fiction (so many memoirs) and horror novels.

Aspects of my reaction to Bibliomaniac reminded me of my experience reading Back Story by David Mitchell, in so far as I think I'd have been better off admiring the work of both authors and comedians from afar, rather than delving deeper and reading their memoir.

Bibliomaniac by Robin Ince wasn't the TBR expanding experience I hoped it would be. I didn't add a single book mentioned to my TBR although I did do some serious Googling. I never found myself looking forward to the next chapter, wondering, "oooh, I wonder what he’ll find in Leeds" or "I wonder what obscure title he'll discover in the 37th Oxfam charity shop of the tour."

I've concluded Bibliomaniac by Robin Ince has a somewhat limited reading appeal, so readers familiar with the bookshops on the tour and who are extraordinarily well read, love collecting rare and valuable books, enjoy horror and find almost any topic fascinating will love this. I find many topics interesting too, but I don't buy books with a plan to never read more than a few pages.

* Apparently Darwin tested the hearing of earthworms by having his son play his bassoon really loudly to prove they don't have ears or a sense of hearing.

[Owen Townend · Rating 4 out of 5]

The thoroughly entertaining diary of an English book addict on the road.

Bibliomaniac charts Robin Ince's journey to 100 UK bookshops with plenty of bibliophilic tangents along the way. In this audiobook, you can hear the excitement in Ince's voice as he talks about bagging eccentric volumes ranging from Pan sci-fi novels to bon vivre diaries to the latest literary darlings. Also he gives insights into the improvisational nature of his shows, brilliantly bizarre questions from the audience, his uncanny ability to be mistaken for a bookseller and the real booksellers who never fail to support him after British Rail does just that without delay.

Though he also discusses topics like succulent cake, controversial cinema and claustrophobic water closets, it's never long before Ince shares another curiosity from his teetering 'to be read' book pile at home and how it somehow impacted on his life. Hearing all this directly from the man is particularly pleasing, especially the incidental footnotes he slips into the recording. It all goes to show just how busy a mind this comic personality has and how endearing his passion for reading is.

I recommend Bibliomaniac to anyone else who cannot leave a bookshop without making some kind of purchase and who can live with the fact that they own more tomes than they'll ever likely finish.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Robin Ince has an incredible mind and an insatiable desire to collect obscure books. This was incredibly fun to listen to. He's a great comedic communicator. He collaborates a lot with Brian Cox, which was an interesting aside since I've listened to a lot of Brian Cox works on audiobook this year.
This is one that I'd like to listen to again because there is a lot to take in and it's a fun process too.

[Martin Brabazon · Rating 4 out of 5]

A delightful 8000-mile journey through the towns, cities, and independent bookshops of Britain with comedian and bibliomaniac Robin Ince as he goes on tour as lockdown lifts. Along the way,
picking up stories, information, and hundreds of weird and wonderful books.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

A 3.5. And mostly for the effort of the journey. Very different to his other books, which isn’t a bad thing & it’s nice to see him write for the other side of his audience. But he doesn’t paint his poor wife in a very flattering light.

[Angharad Elin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would do anything to go on this adventure and buy this many books. Wonderful.

[Donna Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very rich one-year memoir of Robin Ince accepting the challenge to do a tour of 100 independent bookshops, but being a bit of an obsessive, he actually visits many more than that. Most travelling gets done by train, and the vehicular cardiganned Robin crams his bags with treasures from almost each shop, subsisting on biscuits, or possibly cake. What a life!

I am extremely jealous of Robin's year. Can you imagine anything better than this being your job, to read books, visit lovely bookshops in lovely towns, accumulating wonderful books, and then talking to people about science, books and art? And being fed cake? I get to do a tiny bit of all this, but no, not to this level of perfection.

What can I say. Here I am, working on books and smashing my non-work- related reading target... And a few times a year I get to talk to people about books in a similar way. But Robin is making me feel like I could be doing this more; better! I am simultaneously jealous and inspired.

I absolutely zipped through this. It's just a delicious read. Now, to tackle my tsundoku and sort my life out.

[Ruth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Biblioaniac has already become a family favourite. It's a brilliant dippy-in-and-out-book with many theraputic qualities. If you are putting off writing that moany letter to the council, simply flick through and read a town installment at random, you'll feel bouyed enough to get your shit together. Has your teenager flopped on the sofa moaning, fed up of school related reading, bored, flailing endless limbs about? Thrust Bibliomaniac at him and force him to read until he's smiling and interested in the world again. Stuck for conversation with that random aunt? Gen up before hand on Robin's thoughts inspired by their town/nearish town, so you'll have something to break the endless weather/prices these days/achey knee conversation cycle.

Really, it cures many domestic ills and doesn't nag at you to read from start to finish in a one-er. Thanks, Robin.

[Mark Allinson · Rating 1 out of 5]

A self-indulgent, irritating book. Bought for me as a gift, both giver and recipient anticipated a tour around Britain’s independent bookshops, as the cover seemed to indicate. Instead, this was a tour around Robin Ince, concentrating on how clever he is, how knowledgeable he is, how witty he is and how many people he knows. Much of the book is a list of the many titles he acquired going around the country, some of which he may have speed read a few pages from along the way. The bookshops themselves usually get very short shrift, though the book may be worth retaining briefly for the list of them at the back. Otherwise, it’s very unclear to me who this book was written for. Showing off is rarely an attractive trait, less still when extended over 300 pages.

[Rebecca B - What Rebecca Read Next · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is something familiar, that coming home feeling when someone writes of their love of something that you equally love. Robin Ince loves books, bookshops and buying books. A kindred spirit indeed. He’s also slightly awkward, never quite what he feels people expect and just wonderfully open about it all. If all that wasn’t enough, he has the good sense to appreciate the word ‘mither’, therefore, he has made the upper echelons of ‘my favourite book’ so far, this year. As a Yorkshire lass, a mere mention of a Northern word, I’m on your side.
Loved the book and my dream to own a bookshop still beats within me.

[Richard Pierce · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a splendid book. On the surface it's just the travelogue of a stand-up comic who does book gigs in bookshops around the UK. Beneath that (and really well-written) it's much more; it's about anxiety (so glad to have this proof that someone else suffers like I do), about the compulsion for browsing and buying books, about the healing quality of books and their reading, about having to have books around you constantly, about the kindness and commitment of those brave enough to run indie bookshops, about tolerance, Arts and the Humanities, and about the question of how we actually fit into this universe. Uplifting, funny, sad, and a must-read.

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't recommend this book highly enough. It's just wonderful. Very funny, it reminded me of Notes from a Small Island.
It's a travelogue of Britain but via independent bookshops. And lots of asides about books, if you want book recommendations well there are more than you could imagine. Anecdotes, interesting characters and mostly just a sense of warmth and goodwill.
I laughed out loud quite a bit reading this and related to Robin's anxieties, love of cake and eccentricities.

[Gaynor · Rating 5 out of 5]

What can I say I absolutely loved this book and yes I did read it end to end over a single day. A bookshop tour across the UK would be my ultimate dream, but I know I couldn’t carry all the books I would buy. To quote “I go into a bookshop with one fascination and come out with five more” An added bonus this book has fantastic hand drawn maps following the journey. This book is a must read for anyone whose ambition is to live in a home overrun by a teetering TBR book pile!

[Sebastian]

A book for book lovers, by a book lover. Robin Ince is the bibliomaniac I both aspire to and fear becoming. (Anyway, I'm going to proactively order some new bookshelves now. You want to be prepared when bibliomania hits in full force, after all).

[L · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this. It's funny and interesting and made me feel better about all my unread books as Robin Ince clearly has way more than I do.

[Ellen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of this was quite funny. Some of it was tedious. I loved the book recommendations and that it featured my favourite bookshop but the book got a wee bit repetitive.

[Mrs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Warm and eloquent, and very funny.
A tour of 104 bookshops in the UK, a few of which I have visited.
Ince is fascinated by everything it seems. His love of books is very relatable, partly as an escape from anxiety - “My chance to get the voices on the page to drown the voices in my head “, but also for many other reasons.
And his love of obscure titles is infectious- “because I just don’t have enough books about children brought up by wolves, even after this, the tally is only four…”

And he just pops in random thoughts-
“The older I get, the bigger the sky has become”
So true.
Rambling and relatable.
Loved it.