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. This is the story of an addict! Robin Ince is addicted to books - seriously! I thought I love books - and I do - but this man cannot say no to any book! I love a book that introduces me to new words, in this case ‘mither’ (make a fuss) and ‘ginnel’ (a narrow passage between buildings). Now I just have to introduce them into my vocabulary!

Live Dates | Robin Ince Live Dates | Robin Ince

See issue one of the new Mensa magazine in March for an extended interview with Robin in which he reveals the key components of his perfect bookshop. 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! 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:

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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.

The exciting thing about books – Mensa

In this erudite and witty book, Robin reveals why scientific wonder isn’t just for the professionals. Filled with interviews featuring astronauts, comedians, teachers, quantum physicists, neuroscientists and more – as well as charting Robin’s own journey with science – The Importance of Being Interested explores why many wrongly think of the discipline as distant and difficult. From the glorious appeal of the stars above to why scientific curiosity can encourage much needed intellectual humility, this optimistic and profound book will leave you filled with a thirst for intellectual adventure. One day Bookish will be an acceptable nationality for your passport. It is not about where you are born; it’s about which books you are living in. Someone asked me the other day why I don’t have any hobbies,” says Robin. “I replied that hobbies are a requirement if the work you do isn’t something you truly love. I don’t need a hobby because I absolutely love hanging around with book people, hanging around with scientists, wandering around and creating silly ideas. That is my hobby and that is my life.” For sociologist Kahn-Harris, the warning message inside Kinder Surprise eggs – that tiny slip of paper covered in 37 languages and eight different scripts – is nothing short of revelatory. “The Manuscript”, as he’s soon dubbing it, inspires a quest to repurpose the myth of Babel as a metaphor not for conflict and division but unity. A true languages buff, he delights in his own incomprehension, finding individuality and invention in geeky translations of the Kinder egg message into Cornish, Klingon and ancient Sumerian, and musing on topics from linguistic evolution to endangered tongues. It’s gloriously eccentric – enlightening, funny and full of the human yearning to connect with others. I’m not going to pretend that I know even a quarter of the references Ince makes to books, writers and general literary miscellany. I just soldiered on, hoping that some of the anecdotes will find a home in my memory via osmosis.So what is the bibliomaniac currently reading? “The first one is Invisible Painting ,” says Robin. “It’s about the great British-Mexican surrealist painter and author Leonora Carrington, and was written by her son, Gabriel Weisz Carrington. I’m also reading Myths of Gender: Gender Politics and the Construction of Sexuality by Anne Fausto Sterling, who’s a very interesting biologist and kind of activist. And I’ve just started re-reading Good Morning Midnight by Jean Rhys, because I think I might choose it for the book club. Plus, I’m reading Anna Minton’s Ground Control: Fear and Happiness in the 21 st Century .” The people who are drawn to the shows cover all ages from teenagers to people in their 80s and 90s, but I can see this beautiful line of curiosity running through them all,” he says. “It’s a celebratory, optimistic environment where people feel free to express what’s on their mind.” Something that we’re terrible at in Britain, and particularly in England, is excitement,” he says. “We have a fear of genuine delight. Everyone’s very good at laughing loudly in a scary way late at night drunk on a train, but that vulnerability of exposing yourself in the cold light of day by saying ‘I love this!’ is something we often fear. I love exploring ideas that stay with people and encourage us all to investigate the world more. I find that very exciting.” 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 by Robin Ince | Waterstones

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. 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. From Wigtown to Penzance, the comedian, author and broadcaster Robin Ince has been popping into bookshops across Britain and quite possibly having the time of his life. Yet while his Bibliomaniac bookshop tour has been one of the best things to happen to him, it developed entirely by chance.Robin’s first solo show was a disaster, but a disaster that ended with him punching a melon with Vernon Kay’s face drawn on it before singing Mustang Sally (still no cruise ship bookings). Despite this, actually, because of this, Robin ended up playing to arenas with Professor Brian Cox. This is the story of how he fell in love with comedy thanks to The Goodies and Rik Mayall and how after 30 years he started to find his voice. Winner: Rose D’Or, Sony Gold and The Arthur C Clarke Award.