My last book club pick was a 900 page thing I'd already read in college, and I showed up ready to just nod along and eat the snacks. Then about 200 pages in, someone pointed out that the mom character keeps touching her left ear whenever she lies, and I had missed that on two full reads. I sat there feeling like the dumbest person in the room who had technically read the book more than anyone. The thing is, that moment made me love the book way more, not less, because now I had a new layer to look for. So yeah, book clubs can actually make re-reads better instead of killing them, since other people catch stuff your brain just skips over. My hot take is that reading alone the first time is for the story and reading with a group the second time is for the secrets.

Wondering what your air setup looks like, because that is the real difference maker on hitting those temps. Are you running a hand crank blower or a hair dryer rig, and how deep is your fire pot? I ask because a deep pot with a good clinker breaker lets you pile coal up high and get that welding heat, but a shallow one will just blow ash everywhere if you crank too hard. Also curious what coal you are burning, since that Central Texas crowd might be getting better stuff than whatever you can find local.