Book Review: "Bibliophiles: Diverse Spines" by Jamise Harper and Jane Mount

 

 

5/5 stars  

*Spoiler alert!*

“In creating this miscellany, our goal is for you to find at least ten new-to-you and irresistible books by authors of backgrounds different from your own...that you'll read in the next year...The idea is to keep seeking out and reading diverse stories.” 

Challenge accepted! (I ended up adding 23 books from Bibliophiles, if anyone was curious, although I may come back and add more during a re-read.) 

 

“It is our small offering to the world, sparked by social injustices and racial reckonings, and inspired by many years of reading diversely and realizing what magic can happen when people leave their comfort zones.” 

Pretty much all of the books recommended in this gorgeously illustrated volume center the stories of marginalized groups, like women, BIPOC, and those in the LGBTQAI community. A fair number of them I had read, which had me pointing to the book covers in miniature like I was in a bookstore each time and saying, “I read that” out loud—an impulse that may or may not be unique to bibliophiles who love books in all their forms and think they smell very good.

  

While book recommendations are the primary goal of this handy reference, beloved bookstores and little free libraries are discussed, as well as the varied writing spaces of authors. I enjoyed all these little asides, but especially the ones where authors discussed their writing spaces, and I found myself comparing my own writing space to see how it measured up. (Nothing fancy really, a living room table with books and notebooks everywhere. And pencils. Lots of pencils. And a laptop.)

  

“Often it can be easier to see or understand our society’s problems clearly if they are put into a fresh context, or a whole other world.” 

Of course, I added quite a few books from various genres, but I was most drawn to the speculative fiction section of the volume. (Surprise, I know.) I found the above quote expressing something I found hard to articulate about why I love this genre so much. (I guess I should say it expressed my love of speculative fiction in a much more concise way than, I, a writer with tendencies towards wordiness. Can you tell?) 

“Don’t be afraid to write badly! You can work with clunky words, you can’t work with a blank page.” --Jordan Ifueko, author of Raybearer, quoted in Bibliophiles: Diverse Spines 

Overall, Bibliophiles is a must-have for anyone who loves to read. You may just find another title in here that may be life changing. Or just what you need in the moment. And maybe even find creative inspiration of your own! (I know I did!) 

Happy reading! 

--BookOwl