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An Illustrated Miscellany
I am a long time fan of Jane Mount’s art and often spend time drooling over her website, the Ideal Bookshelf. If you are not a complete book wonk like me, Mount offers paintings/prints similar to the cover of this book. She has hundreds of collections and books to choose from and you can create your own “ideal bookshelf”. This is my dream gift!
This book is a really fun read for any book lover. Fully illustrated, there are pages for almost every genre, like historical fiction and romance, but also super creative ones like “Book Club Darlings,” “Novels of the Millennium: Optimists Confusion,” “Books Made into Great TV,” and collections of titles with various covers, like Pride & Prejudice and 1984.
Also included are many illustrations of “Beloved Bookstores” and “Striking Libraries” from around the world. Mount offers her unique illustrations of the Strand (NYC), Librairie D&Q (Quebec), San Librario (Bogota) bookstores and the Library of Parliament (Ottowa), Seattle Central Library, the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building of The New York Public Library (the one with the lions) and lots more.
There are fun quizzes, like “Fictional Planet Universe” where there are illustrations of 20 or so planets and you have to name the book or comic where the planet appears. She offers insight into how books are made (“The Physical Book,”) “Designers’ Picks” and “Writing Rooms.” There are “Writers Pets,” “Read Around the World” maps, “Every Day Food Inspiration” and many more.
I could go on for days and tell you about every page in this book, but it is so much better to see it for yourself. Amazon has some of the illustrations available:
Did I mention I love this book? With the holidays right around the corner (have you seen the Christmas decorations at Costco?!) this book would make a beautiful gift for the book lover in your life.
You’re welcome.
9/18 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™
BIBLIOPHILE by Jane Mount. Chronicle Books; Illustrated edition (September 11, 2018). ISBN 978-1452167237. 224p.
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