One book read and an ice storm - sigh!

Hello to all my book friends!  How are you this Monday?  I'm doing well and so, so happy that the ice event that Central Texas 'enjoyed' last week is over and done with.  OK, we've had ice events each of the last three years and I am ready for them to go away and not come back.  Maybe once every 10 years or so.  That's about how often Central Texas sees snow that is actually pretty and sort of deep, etc.  Ice is not fun at all.  Power outages and all those things are not fun.

I really shouldn't complain because our area fared much better than the Austin area.  We had friends and family sending us picture after picture of the damaged trees with limbs all over the ground and fallen on cars and power lines.  Power outages in Austin are still continuing and hopefully will be solved in a day or so.  Our daughter had to stay at her hospital for 'only' 3 days this time.  The big 2021 winter storm had her there for 5 or 6 days as I remember - until my husband could get his big pick-up through the snow and ice to get her home.  It also wasn't as cold this time, just below freezing, but the moisture made lots of ice and tree limbs just could not take it.  The picture above is one that my brother-in-law sent us from his neighborhood in Austin.  We will hope spring is coming soon - March, please!

Our house renovations are almost finished.  Yay!  So, so happy.  Just a few little things to finish up.

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In the reading area, I have finished one book and enjoyed it.  It is The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb and the Austin Mystery Book Group will be discussing it tomorrow evening.  I just sent my thoughts to Gayle so she could share them with the group.  This book is about a Black classical violinist, Ray, who grows up in North Carolina and is incredibly gifted.  His mother wants him to stop wasting his time and go to work so he can help out with the bills.  His grandmother loves the fact that he plays the violin and tells him the story of her father who also played a 'fiddle'.  As Ray gets older, his grandmother gives him her father's 'fiddle' and amazingly changes Ray's life completely.  There's lots of story here - the violin is stolen and held for ransom - Ray discovers a lot about his family and their history - there are crimes of all kinds depicted.  The author, Brendan Slocumb, is a music educator and violinist himself and this debut was a good one.  His next book is out in April, Symphony of Secrets, and I hope to read it as well.  Have you read this one?  I think it ought to come with a soundtrack - lots of wonderful classical pieces mentioned.

Currently, I'm reading C.J. Tudor's new book, The Drift, and liking it, but Deborah Crombie's new book, A Killing of Innocents, comes out tomorrow and I have it ordered.  May have to read two books at once!!  What have you been reading lately???