To start off this week's Lit Wish List, we asked Jeannette Montgomery from M Gallery|Book in Penticton BC to recommend 5 great books with images as their focus. But of course, her selections are only just the beginning. Please add your own suggestions in the comments below.

Wind River Variations by Brian Brett, Illustrated Poetry, and Photography by Fritz Mueller

The collaboration between Brett and Mueller, in this book, is based on a decade-long friendship and their exploration together of the Wind River. Prose and images combine to tell a story greater than their individual parts.

Jacques Hurtubise, edited by Sarah Fillmore

Through his five-decade career, Jacques Hurtubise has been an artist redefining for Canadians that which is continually evolving: the definition of Canadian art. The book is bilingual, making it an interesting storytelling (or storyreading) experience; the same thing can rarely be said in two languages.

Stan Douglas: Abbott & Cordova, 7 August 1971 by Stan Douglas

Good art generates lively conversation, often controversially, sometimes with melancholy, and occasionally as a springboard for larger dialogue. The Gastown Riot of 1971 is retold through the eyes of one of Canada’s most internationally renowned artists—with five essays to accompany the larger conversation of the legacy left in urban centres witness to social dissent.

Full Frontal T.O.: Exploring Toronto’s Architectural Vernacular. Photos by Patrick Cummins. Text by Shawn Micallef.

Oh, Toronto. Those who love you wax poetic about your grit and authenticity; those who loathe you are quick to shine a harsh light on your flaws. The structure beneath the surface of Canada’s largest city is stronger, and frailer, than we might realize.

Bitter Medicine: A Graphic Memoir Of Mental Illness. By Clem Martini and Olivier Martini

The graphic novel is part literature and part art, merging in a way that can be jarring and harmonious—depending on the tale being told. As we define what “art” is in our Canadian culture, we continue to push boundaries. To me, that’s an artist’s main job.

About the shop: At M gallery | book, it's all about emerging Canadian talent—on caves and in print. In the art gallery we sell works from 12 Canadian artists; our book shop has more than 20 indie Canadian publishers. Fun fact: our main digs in Penticton, BC, are on the 2nd floor of a 1940s building that's kinda funky, slightly dodgy, and possibly haunted. The online shop will be launched December 2012 (likely not haunted, but you never know).

Of course, this list is just the start. And "art books" is so loosely defined, so no doubt you will have suggestions of your own. Please add them in the comments below, and help us grow this Lit Wish List.