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.
A Waterstones Best Books of 2022 pick
'A unique, funny picture of Britain... A love letter to bookshops and the vagaries of public transport.' Richard Osman
'We often can't find the right words to express the unique depth and complicated beauty of what friendship really is because we've spent so much time heroising romantic love. This book is an attempt to fill that gap.' Growing up, Elizabeth wanted to make everyone like her. Lacking friends at school, she grew up to believe that quantity equalled quality. Having lots of friends meant you were loved, popular and safe. She was determined to become a Good Friend. And, in many ways, she did.
But in adulthood she slowly realised that it was often to the detriment of her own boundaries and mental health.Then, when a global pandemic hit in 2020, she was one of thousands of people forced to reassess what friendship really meant to them - with the crisis came a dawning realisation: her truest friends were not the ones she had been spending most time with. Why was this? Could she rebalance it? Was there such thing as...too many friends? And was she the friend she thought she was? In Friendaholic, Elizabeth unpacks the significance and evolution of friendship.
From exploring her own personal friendships and the distinct importance of each of them in her life, to the unique and powerful insights of others across the globe, Elizabeth asks why there isn't a language that can express its crucial influence on our world.From ghosting to frenemies, to social media and communication styles, to the impact of seismic life events, Elizabeth leaves no stone unturned. Friendaholic is the book you buy for the people you love but it's also the book you read to become a better friend to yourself.