Quick Synopsis

In Bibliophile, Jane Mount brings literary people, places, and things to life through her signature vibrant illustrations in this book of all things bookish.

Publisher’s Synopsis

Searching for perfect book lovers gifts? Rejoice! Bibliophile: An Illustrated Miscellany, is a love letter to all things bookish. Author Jane Mount brings literary people, places, and things to life through her signature and vibrant illustrations. It’s a must have for every book collection, and makes a wonderful literary gift for book lovers, writers, and more.

Readers of Jane Mount’s Bibliophile will delight in:

• Touring the world’s most beautiful bookstores
• Testing their knowledge of the written word with quizzes
• Finding their next great read in lovingly curated stacks of books
• Sampling the most famous fictional meals
• Peeking inside the workspaces of their favorite authors

A source of endless inspiration, literary facts and recommendations: Bibliophile is pure bookish joy and sure to enchant book clubbers, English majors, poetry devotees, aspiring writers, and any and all who identify as book lovers.

If you have read or own: I’d Rather Be Reading: The Delights and Dilemmas of the Reading Life; The Written World: The Power of Stories to Shape People, History, and Civilization; or How to Read Literature Like a Professor: A Lively and Entertaining Guide to Reading Between the Lines; then you will want to read and own Jane Mount’s Bibliophile.

Book Review

Bibliophile: An Illustrated Miscellany is a love letter to books and their authors. It includes everything from beloved bookstores to book recommendations to writers’ rooms to book quizzes.

The entire book is illustrated as the title indicates. Jane Mount started out illustrating by drawing book spines, which she turned into a business. It is clear from the pages within the book that she has perfected drawing a bookstack.

My favorite part of Bibliophile was learning about new books and beloved bookstores. Each different genre of book is given at least a two page spread with an explanation of that genre and recommendations. I discovered so many books I had not heard of before.

My main criticism is Mount’s inclusion of problematic authors and their books. If she had included a footnote or endnote regarding the issue with author or book, I could have looked past it. Unfortunately, that was not the case. Mount also fails to capitalize Black when discussing race.

Overall, I really enjoyed Bibliophile: An Illustrated Miscellany and recommend it if you are looking for a different kind of book.

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