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Chad Zunker ~ All He Has Left

Amazon First Read. I started this book on 4/29/23. I’m about 7 chapters into the book. Chapters are short and characters well defined. I finished on 5/6/23. Great read. Chapters are short (ish). Characters were well defined and I felt like you could picture each one in your head.

Main character loses his wife in a car crash. Then a year later his daughter gets kidnapped. He has a hitman chasing him as he goes on the run from the FBI and local Austin police in search of getting his daughter back. Lot’s of people die and the truth finally comes out!

I give this an 8/10. I really liked it.

Earl’s Brown Sugar and Cinnamon Cider

3/21/23

2 96 oz jugs of Great Value apple juice
2 cups brown sugar
8 cinnamon sticks
Red Star Monte-Blanc (.99 from Do It Best)

Added all ingredients to a 3 gallon Kilwin’s jug except for the yeast. I have to let it come to room temp first.
SG = 1.070 Potentially 9.51 if going to 1.000

3/22/23

Pitched yeast at 5:08 p.m.

4/7/23
SG = 1.000 (it’s dry)
Racked off of yeast and cinnamon sticks into another bucket.
1 tsp Potassium Sorbate
1 tsp Potassium Metabisulphite
.75 oz Oak Chips
My goal is to let the oak chips set for a few weeks then back sweeten with brown sugar. Flavor of cinnamon and brown sugar should pop. I’ve got just under 2 gallons so bottling may be a challenge.

4/21/23
SG = .008 (still dry)
Added 1 tsp tannin. I bought carbonation tablets that I will be using when bottling but I want to add brown sugar too. Gonna try the brown sugar for back sweetening. Hopefully the tannin will help with mouth feel. It’s been 31 days since yeast pitch.

4/28/23

I added 1/2 cup brown sugar for priming and 1 1/2 cups eurithrotol for sweetening. Bottled in sanitized bottles. I got 10 500ml bottles.
6 weeks from fermentation to bottling. Looking at my notes though I stabilized this so it won’t bottle carbonate.

John Sandford – Secret Prey (book 9)

Ah, back like an old friend. Book 9. I started on 4/9/23. Let’s see if Lucas can get his man this time…..

I finished the book on 4/28/23. 20 Days to read this one. The rich are not unlikely to get away with murder when Lucas is on the case. Him and Weather are still broken up. A shooting in a deer stand killing the person who would become the bank president leads to the investigation that reveals many, many more killings in order to advance a career. Except it isn’t a man this time and she goes after Lucas’s friends. She firebombs Weathers house and beats up and nearly kills Sister Mary. Lucas takes this very personally but in the end…..

The Neon Lawyer ~ Victor Methos

Book 1 of the series. I bought this book from Amazon for 1.99. I started on 4/2/23. It’s short. Only 178 pages. I’ve read 3 chapters already. Short chapters…

I really liked this book. Finished on 4/9/23. 7 days to finish. It was well written. Characters were memorable and it leads right into another book in the series. The newly sworn in lawyer loses his first minor case. It’s a DUI but his boss gives him the case of a lifetime. A murder case where the murderer in question is seen by at least 5 witnesses pulling the trigger. She (yes it’s a woman on trial) goes on trial. When we find out why she did what she did, it’s understandable and the jury agrees. I give this book a 9/10 for enjoyment. I will read the rest of the books in this series!

Tarryn Fisher ~ The Wrong Family

I started this book on 3/20/23. This is an Amazon First Read.
I finished the book on 4/2/23. It wasn’t my favorite. Chapters are written in characters so I liked that. Some chapters were long (up to 30 minutes reading). Story line although very easy to follow the book started out like you should know what’s going on. Introduction of one of the main characters and why she was behaving like she was didn’t come until about 50% of the book. We knew “what” she was doing but not why. Juno, a homeless psychiatrist is squatting in a crawl space. Winnie and Nigel have secrets. Juno exposes them.
I give this book a 6/10. 13 days to finish.

Rachel Caine ~ Heartbreak Bay (Book 5)

I finished book 4 last night. Starting this book on 3/7/23. Haven’t read a page yet but know it’s gonna be a good one.
3/20/23 I finished the book. Sam and the kids had to set most of this one out. Kez and Gwen had to take down Malvus Navus all by themselves. I think this is probably going to be the last book in the series. I liked it ok. Character style chapters still. Still long chapters though. Giving this book a 8/10.
13 days to finish.

Earl’s Cranny Hooch

3/4/23
Saw a recipe from Man Made Mead for fermenting store bought juices. Here is the recipe.

2 2 liter jugs of Ocean Spray Cran-Pineapple juice
1oz yeast

That’s it. Mixed it and added an airlock. SG = 1.048 (possible 6.3% ABV)

I will take a final reading on 3/18/23 and bottle (or drink it) it.

3/6/23

There was no activity at all in the airlock. Stalled maybe cause I didn’t add very much yeast to begin with so I added a whole packet of Lalvin EC-1118 yeast. This yeast will go to 15% ABV but of course we should only get to about 6%

3/21/23

Gravity = 1.006. I’m going to give it another week. First taste was very dry. Good flavor but may need some back sweetening.

4/7/23

FG = 1.004 6.09% ABV
1/2 tsp Potassium Sorbate
1/2 tsp Potassium Metabisulphite
1/2 Cup Splenda for back sweetening
Racked into Keg and set pressure to 12 lbs

5/20/23
It’s kegged and fizzy. Not much flavor. I back sweetened it with Splenda and you can really tell. It’s almost got a bitter flavor.
It’s almost gone though…….

Rachel Caine – Bitter Falls Book 4

2/24/23. Started this one right after book 3. Prologue seems interesting. 3/6/23 I finished the book. In true R.C. fashion it was a page turner for sure. Connor and Sam get nabbed by the cult. Lanny, Vee and Gwen (along with Javi, Kez, J.B. and the FBI) raid the compound. Do they get the boys back???

Chapters are still to long but still written in characters. I’m giving this book an 8/10. Glad I read it in 10 days so now I can start the 5th book.

Rachel Caine – Wolfhunter River – Book 3

2/16/23 8:54a.m. I just finished book 2. Killman Creek. I’m starting this one today and I hope it’s as good as the last 2.
2/24/23. 8 days. I just finished Wolfhunter River. It was good but not as good as book 2.
Gwen, Sam and the kids have to skirt over to Wolfhunter to help out Vee. A 15 year old girl who’s mother was killed. When things take a wrong turn everyone ends up getting beat up / bloodied and bruised. Lanny helps Vee talk about the incident and the lawyer ends up getting his due in the end. Gwen takes a Private Eye job at the end of the book. Ready for book 4.

I give this book a 7/10. The characters (although we know them already) are well written, the chapters are JUST SO LONG! They are written in character chapters though. I like that.

Earl’s Old Lady

2/24/23

Earl’s old lady:

3 lbs honey (from Glenns)
15 Twinings Lady Grey black tea
1 gallon purified water
Lalvin D47 (half packet)

SG = 1.090

I started by steeping the 15 bags of tea in 4 quarts of the purified water. I added the honey to the carboy and added the warm tea. Pitched yeast and put on the airlock. She’s pretty!
3/21/23
Gravity = 1.040. She’s still working though. This is going to need a couple of more weeks. Still very cloudy. First taste was good honey taste. Can taste the tea and the orange. The D47 is still going. I swirled it after I did the reading and moved inside to ferment at a little warmer temp.

4/7/23
This wasn’t clearing at all. I added 2 tsp to 1/2 cup warm water of Bentonite clay. I racked it into a clean gallon and added the Bentonite. It’s clearing now.
SG = 1.014. Still a little sweet which is what I like. It’s gonna mellow with time.

4/21/23

Racked off the Bentonite clay. Added 1/2 tsp tannin. SG = 1.006. Will need back sweetened. Good flavor, bad mouthfeel. It’s been 57 days since pitching yeast.

5/12/23
Bottling day! I used the peel off an orange (a small peel in each bottle) and of course sanitized everything. Got 5 full bottles.
I will create and print the labels today and get labels on them. Then to sit for a while….. It’s been 77 days since started.

6/26/23 ~ 1 month tasting
This did not turn out well at all. It needed back sweetened like I said. It was bitter and dry. I think the orange peel didn’t work like I thought it would. I will try and add some honey to the next cup that I have to sweeten it a little and see if that changes the flavor.