On my bookshelf

Four Seasons in Rome: On Twins, Insomnia, and the Biggest Funeral in the History of the World :: Anthony Doerr

Anthony Doerr won the Rome Prize from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. It came with a stipend and a writing studio in Rome for a year. Lucky chap. He learned of it when he and his wife returned from the hospital with new-born twin. Doubly lucky.

So off they went to the Eternal City where for one magical year, they embraced life in Italy and their new roles as parents. The book is both an insight into the sleepless lives of young parents, as well as a guide to the butchers, bakers, grocers and their neighbourhood on the Janiculum.
We are taken on tours of the Vatican (now I know to get into the Sistine Chapel queue very early then run like a mad thing to lie under the famous ceiling and enjoy it in solitude for nearly 15 minutes), meet Romans (who all love babies), discover parts of the city that are not in tourist brochures and attend the vigil of a dying pope. There are funny anecdotes of his family and musings on the writer's life with healthy observations from Pliny and Dante.

An easy book to read and and get lost in. And wish, wish, WISH you were there too.

Now reading: I, Lucifer by Glen Duncan. A thoroughly wicked look at the possible salvation of the devil.