Sometimes, a book comes along that feels like one that you should always have read – and ‘Bibliomaniac’ by Robin Ince is one of those for me.
I popped this on my possibility pile for ‘Non-Fiction November’, as it has been sitting on the tbr pile since my bookish trip to Bath last year, where I found a lovely signed edition in Topping and Company Booksellers of Bath (which is one of the bookshops visited in the adventures of Robin Ince – so, it seems the perfect place to have picked it up from).
Robin Ince takes us along with him as he travels the country to attend book events at a number of independent bookshops and book events. In the process, ‘Bibliomaniac’ becomes a love letter to books, bookshops and booksellers.
If you are a book lover, you will feel a real connection to this book and the words of Robin Ince – he, as the title suggests, declares himself a ‘Bibliomaniac’, and I think that so many of us reading this would probably agree that we are the same – with the same idea that it is almost impossible to walk past a bookshop without going in, and sometimes it is even harder not to leave with a book.
There is a lot of talk of fantastic charity bookshops and how they often lead you to purchase books that you did not even know you needed, on the subject of all sorts of things that you did not even know that you are interested in – but, for me, that is often the beauty of bookshops and libraries, as they lead you to worlds that you may not have even realised are out there.
Robin Ince’s writing style is a joy to read. It is like reading (or listening to) a friend just share their love of books and their adventures. The book felt like it was offering company, putting into words how books make me feel and how important they can be in people’s lives. Especially as they offer such company and comfort to us at so many different times in our lives. This book will make you smile and make you laugh; it will add to your wish list and make you wonder if you have too many books – or question if there is any such thing as too many books…?
If you are reading this, you will already love books – and, so, I would suggest that you would love this book, too. So, if you are looking for something to read that may be a little different, this will be the book for you.