Now a week in bed may sound nice at first glace. Trust me, it isn't. Not only is there constant pain, but when I say "flat" I really mean "flat". For the first several days I couldn't even sit up enough to watch a movie or crochet and, since sitting is the most painful position, it meant no computer which meant no e-mail, facebook or blog. Not to mention missing a week at work and having to delegate care of the house and kids to my husband (ask any wife, this is never good). Thankfully however I could read and, not for the first time in my life, reading is all that kept me sane.
2 of the books that I read were Spencer novels by Robert B. Parker. The Spencer series has been going strong since sometime in the 1970's and I have enjoyed all of them that I have read.
Spenser is a private eye who used to be a cop and also used to be a boxer. He is a tough guy and good with a gun, but also reads poetry and is an excellent cook. The fact that he is a smart ass is a happy bonus.
"Potshot" was a solid book in series with Spenser rounding up Hawk and several other tough guys to find out who killed Steve Buckman and also clear out the Dell, home to the Preacher and his criminal element.
Interestingly even though I enjoyed the book and give it 4*'s I didn't have any quotes marked that I wanted to save, although sometimes the scraps of paper I use fall out so that may be what happened.
Anyway, the other Spenser novel I read at this time was "Early Autumn" also a solid entry in the Spenser series and another 4 *'s.
In "Early Autumn" Spenser gets involved in a custody dispute when the father kidnaps the son from the mother even though neither of them really wants the kid who is a teenage boy.
I should explain that while I have read many books in the series I haven't read them in order (which is incredibly unusual for me) so there was this recurring character, Paul, whose origin I didn't know, happily "Early Autumn" explains it.
Couple of quotes to remember, the first on page 12.
"At 120,000 miles my 1968 Chevy convertible had bought the farm. There's
just so much you can do with duct tape."
I don't know if the fact that I currently have duct tape on the exterior of my mini-van (which I hate with un-holy passion) makes this quote more or less funny...
Next one page 13 speaking of jogging.
"I'd done the same thing along the Charles three hours earlier and the wind
off the river had been hard as the Puritan God."
Page 139 answering a question from Paul.
I let some air out of my lungs. "Because they don't know any
better," I said " Because they don't knowlwhat they are, or how to find
out, or what a good person is, or how to find out. So they rely on
categories."
