What Doesn't Kill You - Eat, Tan, Read

My Year in Books

2020 was definitely not a normal year for any of us. It felt, at times, like we were living in one of the books we read, and not one we want to. But we made it through and are settling in to our new normal, whatever that may look like.
I, like so many, experienced an emotional tribulation that took a few months to overcome. In that time, I remembered that reading books was not a competition on how many I can get through in a month or a year but something that I love doing. I have a tendency to set goals and then obsess over them. I am working on breaking this unhealthy habit. I also don’t need to feel like I must write a blog post everyday. If I do, that’s awesome, if not, its not a big deal and people will not unfollow me because of it. There are so many other things that I enjoy doing as well and I don’t want to forget about those or spending time with the people that I love.

So, 2021 will be about having fun and doing what makes me happy every day.

2020 books completed:
36 Books
12,454 pages
My average rating – 3.9 🌟

5 🌟 Books:
Skipping Christmas by John Grisham
Memorial Drive: A Daughter’s Memoir by Natasha Trethewey
Strawberry Shortcake Murder by Joanne Fluke
Gilchrist by Christian Galacar
What Doesn’t Kill You by Iris Johansen
Dark Places by Gillian Flynn
Chasing Evil by Kylie Brant
Jamie Quinn Mystery Collection by Barbara Venkataraman
1st to Die by James Patterson
American Predator: The Hunt for the Most Meticulous Serial Killer of the 21st Century by Maureen Callahan

I hope everyone has a wonderful and safe New Year. Happy Reading! 😉

July Recap

4 Books
2,182 pages
Average Rating 4.25

What Doesn’t Kill You 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Bayou Myth 🌟🌟🌟🌟
Digital Fortress 🌟🌟🌟🌟
IT 🌟🌟🌟🌟

I finally got out of my 2 book slump! Whew! July was a crazy month for me so I am very proud that I completed these 4. I am so ready for life to resemble some kind of normalcy. I need a vacation so bad it’s not even funny anymore. Our planned trip this year has been cancelled and rescheduled 3x so far. Which I completely understand, and I want to be safe, but it is just torturous. You get your hopes up and then… Just kidding! Now we are looking at November.
I am 7 books behind schedule on my year goal 😫 however 2020 is not like a normal year that’s for sure. I certainly don’t want to rely on my vacation to catch up, just in case, so we might need to schedule a little weekend getaway to unplug and relax.

Book Review – What Doesn’t Kill You

What Doesn’t Kill You by Iris Johansen

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Romantic Thriller

“I merely encountered Lucifer, and he thinks I can bring him out of hell and give him back paradise.”
“I avoid Lucifer if I can. I understand his ambition and recognize it in myself. It’s just another name for power, and it can be a heady brew.”

Catherine has just returned from a job in Peru when she gets a call from Venable, the deputy director of the CIA and her boss. He needs her in Hong Kong now. There is a situation that only she can help with, Hu Chang. A mysterious Chinese medicine potion maker, he is also a master poison maker and assassin but he is the closest thing to a father that Catherine knows. He took her in when she was young, alone, and on the streets.
“Hu Chang stopped being innocent a long, long time ago. He’s capable of doing anything that he chooses. But he doesn’t usually choose anything that would get him into this kind of trouble. What’s he done?” “I think he’s concocted some potion or drug that’s fairly world-shaking.”

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Book 17: Kentucky

Book 2 in the Catherine Ling series. This is a spin off of the Eve Duncan series, which I am obsessed with! The first book which was #12 in the Eve series, Eve meets Catherine and helps her get her son back from a murderous Russian mafia head. I am looking forward to finding out if I like Catherine Ling as much as I like Eve Duncan. Only time will tell.

“It’s the deadliest poison known to man. He’s the only one who knows its true power. She’s the only one who can stop the evil.

The chase is on. . . .

Catherine Ling was abandoned on the streets of Hong Kong at age four. Schooled in the art of survival, she traded in the only commodity she had: information. As a teenager, she came under the tutelage of a mysterious man known only as Hu Chang—a skilled assassin and master poisoner. As a young woman, she was recruited by the CIA and now she is known as one of their most effective operatives. When her old friend Hu Chang creates a formula that’s not only deadly but completely untraceable, the race begins to be the first to get it. Catherine finds herself up against a group so villainous and a man so evil that she may not survive in her quest to protect those she cares about: Hu Chang and Luke—the son who was stolen from Catherine and only recently brought home safe. Using all of her formidable skills, Catherine Ling proves the age-old belief that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”