Yeah, mead is like "sweet beer," perhaps somewhere between cider and beer.
The other book I read was Road out of Winter by Alison Stine, which wasn't bad. You can see it here, kinda, next to my chair and coffee mug at the same campsite.
![](https://i.imgur.com/6OGRp5a.jpeg)
The author probably should've been encouraged to pick a different title, because the plot already invites comparisons to Cormac McCarthy's "The Road." I enjoyed it for what it was, although I had a few quibbles: the transition from panic buying at Walmart to full-on societal collapse is perhaps too abrupt; and if a new Ice Age is beginning to lay claim to North America once again, then a greenhouse and some pumpkin seeds are going to do little good against mile-high glaciers. The plot is harrowing though and kept me hooked for the short amount of time it took me to read it.
I've been on a reading streak in 2020, beginning even before COVID. Anticipating a winter-long shutdown to begin any moment, I already have a stack of 20 books or so (and I should probably hit up Barnes & Noble again while everything is still open for the time being). Half of the books in that stack are about science and natural history, the rest are novels.