Despite all the hard times throughout this past year, one thing that I'm grateful for in 2020 is that it helped fuel my love for reading. While in lockdown and starting to finish up schoolwork for the semester, I was in desperate need of a new hobby. I am the kind of person who hates being lazy and needs something to do all the time, so watching TV for 24 hours a day was just not an option. I had been reading books periodically throughout the last year, but not at the rate that I have been now.

One day in April my mom saw that there was an Amazon deal for a bunch of FREE Colleen Hoover books and suggested that I take a look and consider buying one. At the time, I didn't know much about her writing (and boy was I missing out all these years), but I figured hey, they were free, so I might as well get one. Soon enough, I was pacing around my living room, flipping through the pages because I wanted to know what would happen. I couldn't remember the last time I genuinely couldn't put a book down, but it was such a good feeling. I loved how it was such a relaxing activity yet it also worked my brain at the same time. So from then on, a new passion project was born.

Then, my grandparents surprised me with an early birthday present, a Kindle Paperwhite, and my life truly has not been the same since. I thought I was one of those people who loved the "feeling" of holding a book, but I'm telling you that nothing compares to the feeling of holding that Kindle. Eventually, I was basically reading a book a day and I continued that pattern all quarantine long. Reading has become a part of my daily routine--it is something I look forward to doing every single day. I began joining a bunch of virtual book clubs as well as starting them with my family and friends. My GoodReads account has truly become my favorite social media platform and I have been posting reviews on almost every book I've read this year to a highlight on my health/lifestyle/wellness Instagram @laurynslifestyle. I even joined a virtual book club called Bad Bitch Book Club, which has not only expanded my eyes to so many amazing books, but has also introduced me to some pretty amazing people as well! It is such a welcoming community and I am so glad that I have found it in this past year.

Reading has truly been one of the highlights of this past year, so I thought it would be the perfect way to end the year by sharing some of my favorite books I read in 2020. I would say that I can be a pretty tough critic at times, but these five-star reads were books I could genuinely not put down and would HIGHLY recommend to anyone. I will be linking the synopsis to each book in the title for you to access it easily and a brief description as to why I liked the book so much. Happy reading!