Ideal Bookshelf 42, JMM by Jane Mount

Sunny and summery greetings collectors! It's Sara at the helm—bringing you the ninth edition from the ever-industrious and inimitable Jane Mount. It's been a long time since Jen first introduced Jane and her charming bookshelves to 20x200-land. Now we're on the brink of amassing an entire library of picture-perfect tomes. The number of editions we've released with Jane is diminished only by the exponentially larger number of books Jane accumulated and painted in preparation for Ideal Bookshelves, an exhibition now open at The Curiosity Shoppe in San Francisco and on view 'till June 15th. If you're in the Bay Area, go see it!

As Youngna wrote, in anticipation of the opening, Jane called out to friends far and wide to send their own favored volumes to be documented—as a result, a few of team 20x200's tomes appear among the hundreds of painted spines. Jane's inquiry informs the idea behind the project—the books we cherish have somehow formed us and our favorites reveal a little bit about ourselves—giving Jane and the viewers of her works the chance to see an intimate portrait of sorts. For many of us, the books we'd select might not include those we read when we were much younger, whether forgotten or overshadowed by more recent reads.

Jane, on the other hand, readily admits, "I've been more influenced by books I read as a kid than books from any other time in my life." She goes on to explain that Ideal Bookshelf 42, JMM "includes all the ones I read multiple times between the ages of 8 and 12, and a few newer ones I've read more recently, since there's still a 'young adult' in me." And whether the rest of us readily remember, or not, many of these books surely shaped our ideas about the world around us.

Today's edition is the natural and chronological follow-up to the collections for the youngest at heart featured in Ideal Bookshelf 5, TRE and Ideal Bookshelf 1, JMM—the books that helped us accomplish insurmountable odds with a simple chant, nod off to sleep while counting blessings instead of sheep, and to follow our hearts instead of the nagging voices in our heads. The lessons learned in the books that Jane selected for Ideal Bookshelf 42, JMM are likewise influential but more complicated and complex. Combining fantasy and fact, they allude to the challenges we face as adults: in Charlotte's Web, life and death are moderated only by the voices of the animals and young Charlotte, Frankenstein warns about the limits of modern man and industry and The Secret Garden illuminates the healing power of all living things. Not all of these books are quite so serious: From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler indulges the adolescent urge to run away (to The Met, no less!) and The Swiss Family Robinson is abundant with sheer adventure... in addition to some natural history lessons.

If nothing else, reading keeps us learning—I have one more opportunity to offer for expanding your horizons. This Thursday, Jen and a few other women who have successfully raised venture capital will be speaking on a panel at The GIT NYC Entrepreneurship and Venture Series Kick-Off with ASTIA, addressing the challenges faced in this pursuit.

The GIT NYC Entrepreneurship and Venture Series Kick-Off with ASTIA
Thursday, May 27th, 2010
6:30 - 9:30 p.m.
$5 (to benefit Girls in Tech)
DogPatch Labs, 36 E. 12th Street (between Broadway + University)
Purchase tickets in advance here.