11 February 2022

Review: Bibliophile - An Illustrated Miscellany by Jane Mount

Bibliophile - An Illustrated Miscellany by Jane Mount book cover

Bibliophile: An Illustrated Miscellany
by Jane Mount is exactly what it sounds like, a collection of miscellaneous book related information illustrated in Jane Mount's distinctive style. I was expecting this to be a coffee table book to flip through and enjoy and was pleasantly surprised to find so much more.

Containing artwork of Beloved Bookstores and some great Recommendations from Bookish People, there were genre related chapters that included a stack of books in the author's iconic style alongside an illustrated explanation of the genre and some noteworthy inclusions. There's also an additional list of titles but don't make the mistake I did when I assumed this was the list of the titles featured in the artwork. It's not! It's a separate and additional list of books to study and explore.

You're bound to be adding books to your TBR when you're reading this and I can't help but wonder how the author put the book together. Is each book spine a separate artwork, enabling the author to arrange her images in order to build her book stacks? Or is each pile of books one singular and complete artwork? If anyone knows or wants to speculate, leave me a message in the comments below. Back to the book!

The aptly titled Bibliophile (a person who has a great love of books), also includes some one off chapters celebrating groups of books with topic lists like the following:
  • Famous Writing Rooms
  • Iconic Covers
  • Beautiful Contemporary Covers
  • Songs about Books
  • Books Made into Great Movies
  • World-Changing Book People
  • Little Free Libraries
  • Picture Books for Grown-Ups
Intrigued to know what's in the lists? You'll have to read the book to find out. I was surprised to have read so many books from the Cult Classics mentioned (what does that say about me?) and enjoyed the variety of bookish miscellany on offer here.

Bibliophile: An Illustrated Miscellany by Jane Mount is a light and easy read and would make a great gift for book lovers with a variety of reading tastes and interests. I borrowed mine from the library, so my copy is going to be enjoyed by another book lover very soon. Should I slip them a note?
 
My Rating:


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  1. So pretty, I’m still waiting for my library to get it.

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    Replies
    1. You'll be in for a treat when it arrives Shelleyrae!

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