How about some low-commitment bookish content to fulfill your weekend literary requirement? We’ve got just the thing, in the form of 10 brilliant book + art pairings put together by bestselling novelist and Bay Area native Janelle Brown. Our Literary Gallery series is perfectly suited to chilly autumn Saturday afternoons spent inside where the heater is cranking—browse some amazing art matched with awesome titles, and leave yourself enough time for a nap.
Not only is this a quick fix art-meets-lit mix, but it’s basically a recommended reading list curated by one of our favorite authors. Brown burst onto the literary scene in 2008 with a debut novel, All We Ever Wanted Was Everything, that quickly became a national bestseller. The cleverly contemporary, decidedly devourable story follows three women—a mother and her two daughters—through their respective existential crises. Next came This Is Where We Live, then her most recent (and possibly our most favorite) work, Watch Me Disappear, published last year.
Watch Me Disappear touches on some recurring themes for the author—family dynamics and the drama of dysfunctionality, for instance—but unlike her two preceding novels, this one’s a thriller. It’s a gripping, unpredictable, plot-driven tale revolving around a missing person, full of richly wrought, thoroughly authentic characters. It’s also a New York Times bestseller. We’ll leave it at that and encourage you to tuck into a copy yourself. Call it some higher-commitment bookish content to compliment the Lit Gallery loveliness you can sample below—more on the blog! — Jen Bekman + Team 20x200
Not only is this a quick fix art-meets-lit mix, but it’s basically a recommended reading list curated by one of our favorite authors. Brown burst onto the literary scene in 2008 with a debut novel, All We Ever Wanted Was Everything, that quickly became a national bestseller. The cleverly contemporary, decidedly devourable story follows three women—a mother and her two daughters—through their respective existential crises. Next came This Is Where We Live, then her most recent (and possibly our most favorite) work, Watch Me Disappear, published last year.
Watch Me Disappear touches on some recurring themes for the author—family dynamics and the drama of dysfunctionality, for instance—but unlike her two preceding novels, this one’s a thriller. It’s a gripping, unpredictable, plot-driven tale revolving around a missing person, full of richly wrought, thoroughly authentic characters. It’s also a New York Times bestseller. We’ll leave it at that and encourage you to tuck into a copy yourself. Call it some higher-commitment bookish content to compliment the Lit Gallery loveliness you can sample below—more on the blog! — Jen Bekman + Team 20x200
"Books and art are two halves of a matched set: The best books build visual worlds in your mind; the best art suggests entire storylines. When I'm writing a novel, I often see it as a collection of images: Faces, places, ideas and moods." – Janelle Brown, New York Times best-selling author
Untitled #9 & Beautiful Animals
Wonder Valley & Toward Los Angeles, California
Lena Dunham Upside Down & The Female Persuasion
We Have Always Lived in the Castle & Feral House #13
Washington, D.C. (ISS046-E-25742) & American War
Give Me Your Hand & Lolie, Jumping on the Bed, 2013
Salmon Hole (Chico, California) & Do Not Become Alarmed
Catalina & Ablution, from The Barking Wall
Animal Locomotion: Plate 38 (Woman Opening Parasol) & Fingersmith
The Dud Avocado & Persea: Blakeman
The 411 on Janelle Brown
Janelle Brown is the New York Times bestselling author of 3 novels: Watch Me Disappear, All We Ever Wanted Was Everything, and This Is Where We Live. Her journalism and essays have appeared in The New York Times, Vogue, Elle, Wired, Self, RealSimple, Lenny, The Los Angeles Times, and numerous other publications.
