Bibliophile, An Illustrated Miscellany: Jane Mount
The back of this book has the phrase "BOOKLOVERS, REJOICE!" embossed in gold into it, and honestly, I did when I purchased it and I am while I write this review. What an absolute gem of a book. It is a prime example of why I don't own a Kindle, the reassuring weight of the volume and thickness of each page is just bewitching.
Jane Mount, the creator of 'Bibliophile' caught my attention through her Instagram account. Everything on there contributes to you feeling as if you're in a sort of bookish heaven or, at the very least, a parallel universe in which teenagers read and fewer leaders come from a dystopian nightmare.
An illustration of the ten books she is most frequently asked to draw, including: To Kill a Mockingbird, The Great Gatsby and Little Women
These are the books she has been asked to draw most frequently out of the 15,000 book spines she has reproduced since 2008.
Mount is an illustrator and is basically living her best life by drawing books, turning her drawings into prints, and producing a side-helping of pins I lust after, while also being commissioned to draw piles of peoples' favourite books.
Bibliophile is almost a love letter to books, libraries, genres, writers and readers. It's a celebration. I revelled in her revelry while pouring through the pages of this homage to the impact of literature on our lives. There are gorgeous depictions of 'beloved bookstores' and 'striking libraries' gently making us aware of how us book lovers are part of a and thriving community. There's a sentimentality to it.
Illustration of Mexico University Library, with a note explaining that 150 different tyes of Mexican stones were used to get the range of colour in the building.
When we lived in Mexico City, we used to sit in the grounds of the uni and colour in postcards to send home. This building is sublime.
There's lots to entertain too, I got very competitive about the 'Five Word Synopsis Quiz' and started shouting my answers out. A lovely little example for you to think about, which book does, 'girl fixes roses, boy, self' describe? (Answer at the bottom, I don't want you to go mad! ).
The frivolous page of 'Bookstore Cats' even drops some hardcore historical facts into the equation by explaining that "the ancient Egyptians trained cats to attack papyrus-loving pests, thereby establishing the world's first book-attending felines".
Novel Food quiz, pictures of types of food you have to guess which book they are famous from. In this picture there is Turkish Delight, Gruel, Key Lime Pie, Madeline Biscuits and Pasta.
What books do these signature foods come from?
The double-page that tests your knowledge of fictional planets and universes made me far too happy, for a 34 year-old! Could you distinguish between the books that spawned Tralfamadore, Kern's World and Barsoom? Or is that whole new level of geek for you?
I think every household should own this book, ultimately there's something in it for everyone because it's got quirky facts in it, a definitive guide to popular texts within a very broad range of genres, quizzes and trivia. It is quite beautiful too and easy to use. Mount says her aim was simply "to triple your 'To Read' pile. There's no way anyone who gives this book more than 5 minutes of their time could fail to want to read more and more and more. She's a hero!
Final thought, this book is so beautiful that the shop assistant in Cardiff's Waterstones actually took a note of the name of it when I went to pay. I kid you not, her pupils dilated, an involuntary physical reaction to pleasure.
Can you get higher praise than that?
Illustration of the impressively shaped Surrey City Centre Library, in Canada. It comes to a point like the prow of a ship.
Yes, I am now figuring out how to visit every single one of the libraries featured in this book!
