About Us
At Ideal Bookshelf we make things for bibliophiles, so you can show off your book love in all kinds of ways.
My name is Jane Mount, and I started Ideal Bookshelf in 2008. I believe books make us better, allowing us to visit other people's lives and understand them. And books connect us, to characters, to authors, and, most importantly, to each other.
I started painting my books, and then my friends’ books just as they lay on their shelves, but I soon realized it was much more interesting to ask them what books they loved, which books made them who they are today. That’s when I started Ideal Bookshelf, and began doing custom pieces for people, painting portraits of them from the inside instead of the outside. I find it endlessly fascinating to see what books people pick, and while painting or making a print I think all about what that person might be like, based on their choices.
I will make a custom print for you, of your favorites! And since then I've also created and designed many other kinds of bookish products, some featuring book spines on totes and mugs and stationery, and others featuring original interpretations of classic book covers, on enamel pins and stickers. We also make t-shirts, hats, aprons, and more, all to help you connect to other booklovers.
Also, I wrote and illustrated a book about books called Bibliophile: An Illustrated Miscellany, published by Chronicle Books in 2018 (and we've made a bunch of related products as well, you can see them all here), and co-authored (with Jamise Harper!) and illustrated Bibliophile: Diverse Spines, published by Chronicle Books in 2021 (also with some awesome related products!). In 2012 (with writer Thessaly La Force) I made a book called My Ideal Bookshelf, published by Little, Brown, and full of the favorite books of 100+ famous creative thinkers. My first picture book for kids is Books Make Good Friends, and it comes out on November 7, 2023 from Chronicle Books!
Ideal Bookshelf is now a tiny team of folks, working to create beautiful things and send them out to you as quickly as possible. Please don't hesitate to email us if you have any questions, and I love to hear suggestions on pins to make next, or genres of books to paint, or how you think this shop could be improved.
About Jane
Jane Mount is an illustrator/designer/writer/thingmaker, and particularly makes many things for people who love books. She is the founder of Ideal Bookshelf, and the author and illustrator of Bibliophile: An Illustrated Miscellany (Chronicle Books, 2018) and Books Make Good Friends (Chronicle Books, 2023), and the illustrator and co-author (with Jamise Harper) of Bibliophile: Diverse Spines (Chronicle Books, 2021) and My Ideal Bookshelf (Little, Brown, 2012). In previous lives she studied anthropology and cofounded a couple internet companies. She now lives in a log cabin on Maui with her husband, three weird cats, and two dogs. You can see more at janemount.com, or follow her on Instagram at @jane_mount .