Read while you can

Finally, after waiting for longer than forever, 98 of us are going to begin Cathy (Kate) Johnson's class on art journaling. Over 800 messages have flown through the group like bird chatter, constant, incessant and sometimes downright lyrical and amusing.

But tomorrow is the real start-up day and I saw it coming so I did some free reading ahead of time.

Harriet Doerr's STONES FOR IBARRA was a re-read, the third time through. When I find a good book, I'm loyal, I stick to it through the decades and pick it up and read it again. STONES is one of those books that appreciates my aging. Details that meant nothing to me earlier have significance now. It's a lovely read.

FOUR SEASONS IN ROME, by Anthony Doerr, has similarities but is very, very different.

By the way, I do not know if Harriet Doerr and Anthony Doerr are related. (If you do, clue me in!) They are generations apart but could well be relatives, I just don't know. It was such an oddity to read two books back-to-back by authors with the same surname!

At any rate, FOUR SEASONS is about a young couple who venture from the United States with their six-month-old twins and live for an entire year in Italy. The twins don't sleep, the pope dies and yet they live and thrive. I loved the detailed descriptions of this narrative. This was my first time through, but I can imagine choosing to read it again a few years hence.

And now, bring on the art!