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Ian, from the north-east of England, spoke with heartbreaking candour about finding himself in a state of complete social isolation after the death of his mother.
"I used to sit with my head on the kitchen table, crying. It was such a difficult period of loneliness, of nothingness," he said.
Reading and becoming part of a book group proved a lifesaver for him, coaxing him back to his own happy ending.
There's a powerful testimony from Peter, a Merseyside truck driver, who had to admit that he wasn't able to read and needed help, after the shame of having to keep inventing excuses to his children who wanted a bedtime story.
He was taught to read by an adult education project - and he proudly shows the copy of JK Rowling's Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone that has become his own stepping stone to literacy.
Perhaps the most sobering statistic in this documentary is that there are eight million adults in the UK who struggle with even basic levels of literacy.
Speaking after the screening, Big Issue founder John Bird blamed the scourge of adult illiteracy on a long-term political failure in tackling the "inheritance of poverty".
"We did not educate the people who found education difficult - and I was one of them," he said, having learned to read as a youngster in prison.
"People were written off, now we're paying for that," he added.
On the Queen's literacy campaign, he said she provided an important symbolic focus. He likened it to how sales of the Big Issue increase when Prince William helps to sell the magazine for the homeless.
"You don't have to be a monarchist to buy into this idea - I wouldn't say that I was a monarchist, but I do believe in the power of certain personalities to enable a lot of people to say I'm going to get stuck into this," said Lord Bird.
"I think it's wonderful books change people's lives," said the Queen, having revealed some clues about how books have turned the pages of her own story.
The Book That Changed My Life, BBC2, 14 October, 21.00 and iPlayer.
