I discovered the bookclub we will talk about today purely by accident. I was looking at the website of my local art museum, the Speed Art Museum, because I was buying tickets for the Toni Morrison documentary that aired this summer, The Pieces I Am, at the Speed’s attached cinema. While on the website I saw a listing for the Speed Reading Club, a funny play on words title for their bookclub sponsored by the museum. My interest was piqued. What kind of bookclub would it be. I contacted today’s guest, Shannon Karol, Director of Education and she was so eager to tell me about the club and invited me to sit in on a session. There I also met Cheryl Sweeney, a dedicated regular member of the group. Shannon and Cheryl talk to carrie and I about how the club integrates books and art at the museum, why reading a novel can make viewing art less intimidating, which book/art pairing involves a former president solving mysteries, and which gallery in the museum makes all the schoolchildren imagine Harry Potter. Our discussion today just reminds me that visual art and the art of words on the page are just two sides of the same coin. Its a day at the museum on Perks.

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Perks airs on Forward Radio 106.5 FM and forwardradio.org every Wednesday at 6 pm, Thursdays at 6 am and 12 pm. We have purchased the rights to the theme music used.