11
Followers
23
Following
Reading Slothfully
I was told in elementary school that I only could read at half the speed for success in college. Oh well, one benefit of slow reading is you get to live with the characters a longer period of time. I read in a vain attempt to better understand people. At my other homes, I'm known as a spouse, pop, guy in the choir, physical chemist, computer/web dilettante and child-care provider. In theory, I'm a published author, if you consider stuff like Quenching Cross Sections for Electronic Energy Transfer Reactions Between Metastable Argon Atoms and Noble Gases and Small Molecules to count as publications. I've strewn dozens of such fascinating things to the winds.
Currently reading
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas
The Spirit of the Border
Ramona the Brave (Ramona, #3)
The Underground Man (Vintage Crime/Black Lizard)
Delilah of the Snows
Mrs. Miniver
Betsy-Tacy Treasury (P.S.)
A Christmas Carol
The Way Some People Die
Envy of Angels
Black Betty
This was the second of the Easy Rawlins' books I'd put on hold back in August, but only got access in May. The third book I sent back because a bunch of other long-term holds also became available suddenly. This tale was somewhat convoluted, and was a bit difficult to follow. Easy's wife, Regina has left him, taking their daughter, Edna with her. Easy is living with Jesus (Juice) whom he picked up a while ago and a young daughter, Feather, whom he acquired at the end of the previous book. He is approached by a white detective, who is working for a rich family who would like Easy to track down their "servant", "Elizabeth" or Betty, who left them at the same time that the head of the household died. It seems that "Elizabeth" was essentially a member of the family. Easy well remembers Betty from another time. He had a massive crush on her when she was a rather alluring young woman who "liked" men, while he was a young, adolescent waif. He would follow her around.
Next thing you know, some rogue cop is beating the crap out of Easy. The rogue cop seems to have some connection with the family lawyer, who initially hired the private eye who then hired Easy. Then bodies start piling up, and the cops keep trying to implicate Easy. He has to untangle some rather strange family relationships along the way.
Well, sorry for the pathetic description, but this was a GoodRead. Oh, and by the way, Easy was much less of an asshole in this book that he was in the previous one. Much closer to my memories from the books I'd read a few years back.
