My Ideal Bookshelf

Jane Mount is an artist and illustrator. Her paintings of bookshelves have caught the eye of media outlets like The New Yorker, The Paris Review, Daily Candy, and InStyle, among others. She lives in northern California with her husband and two cats. Thessaly La Force is a writer and editor who has worked at The Paris Review, The New Yorker, and the New York Public Library. She is currently attending the Iowa Writer's Workshop and is working on a collection of short stories about objects and aesthetics. Thessaly divides her time between Iowa City and New York City; she also has two cats and shares a birthday with Jane.

A collection of the ideal bookshelves of 100 well-known writers, artists, designers, musicians and chefs, with images by artist Jane Mount. Interviewees include Michael Chabon, Junot Diaz, Jonathan Safran Foer, David Sedaris, Alice Waters, Thomas Keller, Mark Bittman, Gwyneth Paltrow, Lorin Stein and Roseanne Cash.The books that we choose to own -- let alone read -- can say a lot about our personalities and inner selves. In THE IDEAL BOOKSHELF, 100 well-known writers, artists, designers, curators, editors, musicians, chefs and other creative types will share their ideal bookshelves, featuring painted representations of these bookshelves by artist Jane Mount and interviews with the subjects where they explain their book choices.Interviewees include Michael Chabon, Junot Diaz, Jonathan Safran Foer, David Sedaris, Alice Waters, Thomas Keller, Mark Bittman, Gwyneth Paltrow, Lorin Stein and Roseanne Cash.