Bibliophile: Diverse Spines

This is such a lovely book! Bibliophile: Diverse Spines is an ode to authors of color and full of beautiful illustrations and insightful book recommendations. The book is split up by genre and there are author interviews and recommendations for black owned bookstores mixed in between. The recommendations were a great mix of classics, new releases, books I’ve read and loved, and books I was excited to add to my “to buy” list. This is a must have for all readers and would be a perfect gift for any bookworm in your life!

Thanks so much to NetGalley and Chronicle Books for the ARC!

Like many self-identifying 'bibliophiles' (aren't we just book simps in this day and age?), I have a soft spot for books about books. I dove deep into Bibliophile last December and adored it, and Diverse Spines basically does the same thing - but better, because of its drive towards documenting and recommending the deviations and the distinctively different (if you track trending hashtags, you'll know the top-notch tag that is #diversespines). Assembled in book form, Diverse Spines is a rivetingly fact-filled reference that'll bring you to old faves and fresh finds, recent releases and more retro reads, and all the rich many-sidedness in between. Filled to the brim with background and biography on authors both famously renowned or flying under-the-radar, beloved bookshops, and bookish history, Diverse Spines fills in the blanks with added bonuses on illustrators, book influencers and bite-sized industry insights - with just as many superb drawings in that stunningly scrawly, scratchy style. A fun, breezy must-read whether you're on the market to buff up your bookshelves or just browsing to mix things up a bit 📚

Thank you to NetGalley and Chronicle Books for kindly passing on this ARC! 💫

I own the first blue edition of the Bibliophile and it is one of my favorite coffee table books or display books on my bookshelf. A perfect gift for any booklover and I love picking it up looking for new or classic reads or if I want to dive into a particular genre. The only little thing that I didn't like was that there were some duplicate mentions that were already in the first book. I get that there are only so many top classics or whatever but maybe if there's going to be a third version of it, there could be new lists (e.g. top 10 Roman and Greek history books, or the top 10 new art books or something similar).
I can highly recommend this to any booklover and art lover, it's stunning.

Thank you Netgalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Are you one of those readers whose reading list is dominated either by white authors or by your country’s authors? (Really? In 2021? What world do you live in?) If yes, it’s high time you take corrective action. If no, kudos to you. And here’s a book to ensure that your horizons expand even further.

One brilliant bookish line that this book takes inspiration from (and even mentions in the introduction) is an upgraded version of Grace Lin’s famous Ted talk moral: make sure your bookshelf is both a window and a mirror. We must read to see two kinds of worlds: our own, and the ones we can’t imagine. We must read to see ourselves reflected, and to get an insight into other people’s lives. That’s why we must stop “whitewashing” our bookshelves and fill it with vibrant colour. And if you don’t know where to begin on this quest, this brilliant book will provide you ample inspiration. (And a great deal of perspiration too, because your TBR is going to go haywire after reading this!)

As the title suggests, the book is like a one-stop list of books by BIPOC authors from across the world. As the cover suggests, these book suggestions come to you in the form of illustrated spine stacks, organised by book genres, with each stack containing about 25-30 book titles! But this isn’t all. In addition to these awesome spine stacks, you will also get interesting book-related content such as writing rooms, libraries, book stores, literary influencer recommendations, cover art, and so on. A lot of this secondary content is America-centric, but the rest of us still get enough meat to chew upon. It was an insightful experience to hear from BIPOC authors, influencers, bookstore owners, cover designers, and so on. The suggestions cover all possible genres from fiction to nonfiction, prose and poetry. I never expected it to include even cookbooks and essay collections! The range of genres included is mind-blowing and enough to satiate the most stringent of bibliophiles.

I had assumed that this will be a very quick read, but I never expected the book spine stacks to motivate me to such an extent. I felt like taking an in-depth look at each cover/spine illustration and check out the book on Goodreads. Thankfully, more than half of the featured book spines were already present in my TBR, thank God for small mercies. So the only main negative point of this book is that your TBR is in grave danger. But I won’t be docking any stars for this. :D

This will be a great coffee table book in any bibliophile’s house, and a wonderful gift for every woke bibliophile who wants to ensure that his/her reading is diverse in the true sense of the word.

Thank you, NetGalley and Chronicle Books, for the ARC of the book in exchange for an honest review.

As soon as I saw this book, I WANTED IT! For various reasons:
1) Diverse = I'm in
2) Jane Mount = of course!
3) a book about books = yeaaaaaaaah!

So I started it quickly after I received an ARC!

I first love Jane Mount's art: just seeing stacks of books makes me happy! I love that it's colorful, realistic and fun!

Then, my wish-list exploded under the amount of books recommended here! I knew some of them, but there were still loads of them that I didn't know and added to my lists! I loved that the authors didn't recommend only "literary" adult novels but also non-fiction, SFFF, cookbooks, thrillers, children's and YA books, and so on!! It made me want to broaden my reading zone, even if it is quite broad already!

I, of course, loved that it was diverse, but on multiple levels!
1) diverse because the books are all written by BIPOC authors of different origins;
2) diverse in its format: there are different sections, like "Authors recommend", "Booklovers recommend", but also "Beloved Bookstores" or sections about a certain genre!


So, to conclude, a great book to discover tons of works by diverse authors! I can only recommend it to everyone!

Beautifully illustrated Collection of Books. There is a wide variety of recommendations in here, ranging from classics to young adult novels. There’s bestsellers as well as lesser known novels. Personally I found it very inspiring and my reading list grow exponentially. This would be a wonderful gift for book lovers.

One of my favorite things about browsing in bookstores is the thoughtful book recommendations from the staff with blurbs about what they liked about the book. Flipping through this book felt kind of like that, except I could do it from the comfort of my own home, and had the added bonus of the fun and colorful illustrations not just of book covers, but also of storefronts, workspaces and authors. And true to the title, I felt this book represented a diverse group of authors as well as a wide variety of genres and reading levels.

Overall, I really enjoyed the art style and it felt like a reference that I could go back to and look at over and over again. I would recommend this book for anyone who is looking for thoughtful suggestions to add to their reading list.

I received an eARC from the publisher via NetGalley and am leaving this review voluntarily.

An absolutely beautiful book that will increase your TBR. There is so much color in this book that it's a pleasure to just flip through it. Then, add in the suggestions of books you might enjoy and it's a perfect companion when you're not ready to read a novel but want something to entertain you.

A handy short illustrated book compiled of book recommendations and book related resources based on multiculturalism both on fiction and nonfiction books..

This is my first bibliophile book I have read, so I didn't have much to compare it to or have an idea what contents I would find in such a book.

I found the book interesting and I was rather surprised with how many books there are, that are about the diversity of the world.
I love that the book was categorised into genres, making it easy to find exactly what books/helpful information you as a reader are interested in reading. I rather liked the book suggests and book related information, it made me keen to read more about black, indigenous and people of colour whether it be because of the author or what the book is about.

I would highly recommend this bibliophile book to anyone who wants to read about diversity. This book will make you want to expand and explore books with cultural.

Thank you to Netgalley and Chronicle Books for the gifting of this ARC.

I am a huge fan of Jane Mount’s artwork and I was so excited to see she partnered with Jamise Harper to create a collection of diverse book recommendations. Early in this book, the author’s mention one of their goals is for readers to walk away with a list of at least ten new books to pick up, and I can tell you, my list has way more than that.

This book is filled with beautiful illustrations to go along with their recommendations. No matter what you enjoy, you will find books for you. They have recommendations by genre (my personal favorites are the romance and YA lists), author spotlights, recommendations from authors and influencers, and even BIPOC owned bookstore recommendations.

This book is not only a fantastic resource, but a beautiful addition to any book lover’s collection!

This book is beautiful! It will add so many books to your TBR but it will also add value to your reading by letting you get to know authors, social media book lovers and bookstores that support and amplify diverse authors and artists. This is a beautiful book to own in print and I can not wait to buy a physical copy when it comes out in October. This will make a perfect Christmas gift for your reading friends!!

I am a sucker for books about books and this second book is a gem. I gave the first one away as gifts and this one does not disappoint. I loved seeing local bookstores that I know being featured. Very exciting! Already have our copies on order with the publisher

This book was absolutely lovely. I enjoyed the art work and the writing of book descriptions. In a time where everyone should read more diversely, I find this to be a great reference tool for me to do so!

I received an e-copy for this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Huge thanks to NetGalley and Chronicle Books.
What a charming little book! This book is a guide to everything bookish but diverse. It covers books by diverse authors from classics, graphic novels, new releases, poetry, history and so much more. I had a great time learning about great books and authors with beautiful illustrations. This also covers a bit about independent bookstores.
My favourite part was the world map with the authors from their corresponding countries. How unique!

To love this book, you have to know the story from beginning, otherwise it is just another coffee table book. To me is one of my favorites series (Bibliophile) and I love to read them over and over again.

Per amare questo libro bisogna saperne la storia dall'inizio, altrimenti é soltanto un altro di quei libri da regalare quando non si conoscono le persone che ci hanno invitato a cena. Peró siccome la serie Bibliophile é una delle mie preferite, anche questo sará un volume che continuerò a sfogliare e a consigliare.

I RECEIVED THIS ADVANCED DIGITAL REVIEW COPY IN EXCHANGE FOR A HONEST REVIEW:

So many options to choose from. You get a few different genres and bookstores to look at and a brief look at the author. Very nice.

One year I purchased the Bibliophile desk calendar and absolutely adored it. I also own Bibliophile. Both are truly designed for people who love books. This title is too. The illustrations are so engaging and the book titles just call out to readers to investigate. As the title suggests, this time Jane Mount hopes to encourage readers to broaden their literary experiences.

There is so much within these pages. There are sections on classics and several on legends including, for example, James Baldwin, Toni Morrison, Isabel Allende and others. There are also sections one everything from contemporary fiction to family sagas to speculative fiction to mysteries and horror. There are also mentions of influential book people, little free diverse libraries, writing rooms and more. In addition, there are titles for children and middle grade readers and just way too much else to list here.

A note about the illustrations. I love the piles of books whose spines I can easily read in the pictures. They are just full of titles to add to TBR lists.

I love this book. I hope that you will too.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions are my own.

Bibliophile: Diverse Spines is a visual feast for book lovers! This covers a huge variety of genres by authors of color and from around the world. In addition to classic, contemporary, and award winning books, it also features writers and their writing spaces, influential book people, independent bookstores, and Little Free Libraries. This would make a perfect gift for the bibliophile in your life!

Thank you Chronicle Books and NetGalley for providing this ARC.

This is a book for book lovers. It is beautifully illustrated and has lots of yummy stacks of books in various categories. It also gives an inside view into some bookstores.

A wonderful book filled with fantastic book recommendation, information about authors, bookshops and more.
Its very much USA focused, but the book titles and other information outside the addresses are still very interesting and worth to read and go back to over and over again. ANd if you aren't in the USA right now -like myself- its always nice to know where to look for some great bookshop addresses when you might be visiting.

It has all genres covoered and no matter what type of book your looking for, his book will give you at least two options to choose from!

Highly recommend this book! .

Thank you for the opportunity to review this new novel.

Unfortunately I did have time to read the book because the license expired very quickly but from what I saw this is a beautiful, most important book. I love her books and I I'm sure I would live this one too if I could the whole book :)

This book is for all my bookworms and booklovers out there always looking for new books to add to your already never ending tbr. I know I've already added a lot of books on there and discovered new authors and socials to check out.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. This was such a beautiful highlight of the bevy of brilliant books written by authors of color. It covers the classics, and then gives you so many more new and lesser-known works to pick up as well. There are gorgeous illustrations, thoughtful recommendations from authors and bookish personalities, and even spotlights on POC-owned bookstores. I will definitely be picking up a hard copy for my bookshelf.

Excellent bibliophile of diverse books! I have already pre ordered the physical copy . So many great books that I didn’t know existed. Thanks for the advanced copy.

From the first page to the last page of Bibliophile: Diverse Spines by Jamise Harper and Jane Mount you could tell the immersed themselves in this book and it shows beautifully. I love the book recommendations, the inclusion of bookstagrammers, and everything black included in this book. Bibliophile: Diverse Spines is a MUST HAVE! Jamise is definitely going to change the world with this one and I hope everyone one of the book recommendations mentioned in this book is on everyone’s TBR (To Be Read) list and everyone is following every bookstagrammer mentioned in this book.