12 Months of Reading February 2025

Welcome to February’s 12 Months of Reading! Each month in 2025, I will host a different reading challenge category. These categories are broad to fit a variety of reading preferences. 

The February 2025 12 Months of Reading Challenge category is: A Book About Love. 

I encourage you think outside the cover with this category. You are not limited to stories about romantic love. How about sibling love? Love for animals? Love for self by reading a self-help book to ease your anxiety?

Seriously … I’ve said it before; I’ll say it again: 

The Category Is a Guide, Not a Rule 

 I am big on readers reading what they love. For that reason, my book club has no set book! And that is why when I set reading categories for 12 MOR and my other challenges, I make them as broad as possible. 

If a reader prefers nonfiction to fiction, they should still be able to participate. If they prefer short form writing or poetry or anything else, again, they should be able to mold the category to their preferences. 

I am also quite flexible on what fits each category. If a reader is uncertain of a category, they need only ask. At the end of the day, my top priority is encouraging readers to read more. 

My Recommendations 

Again, these four books are simply my suggestions to fit the category. Readers may choose any book they’d like that the category can mold to. 

The Burning Sands by Carole Lehr Johnson 

Last fall, I had the great privilege of meeting Carole Lehr Johnson at the Louisiana Book Festival. She attended the panel I was on with her friends Morgan Tarpley Smith and Lenora Worth.

I learned that she wrote historical fiction set in England and Scotland and knew I would be adding her books to my wish list. The Burning Sands is one of five full-length books Carole has published, and its description snagged my attention.

While I decided to read this book for my February 12 MOR choice, I started it in January and simply couldn’t put it down, so you get to read my review now!

The characters definitely came alive for me, which is the mark of great writing and development on the author’s part. I look forward to learning from her about writing dual timeline/split time historical fiction—another aspect she did really well.

I also appreciated the “second-chance-at-romance” focus because I think it’s been an under-written one. Finding love later in life is another one that resonates more with me as I’ve gotten older.

The Burning Sands is a book I would recommend to anglophiles, fans of dual timeline or split time and historical fiction, readers fascinated with genealogy and returning to ancestral roots and anyone who appreciates a love story—or ten.

To read along with me, get a copy from Bookshop .org and support independent bookstores and my author friend: https://bookshop.org/a/95576/9781952928277.

Winter Garden by Kristen Hannah 

This is one of those books that had a profound impact on my life when I was a young mother. I think it’s a fantastic example of a book about love that’s outside of the romantic type.

Here’s a snip-it from my Goodreads review:

“The depth and historical detail in this … novel cut me to the heart. I won’t reveal any spoilers, but I will say that any mother, daughter or sister should read this book. Winter Garden presents a touching look at two sisters and the mother who never radiated love toward them.”

For more on the book, read my full review on Goodreads and get a copy here: https://bookshop.org/a/95576/9780312663155. 

The Beauty Thief by Rachael Ritchey 

I’m thrilled to suggest another book by a dear friend of mine. Rachael is as beautiful a person as she is a storyteller. I’ve read The Beauty Thief a couple of times now, plus once in its gorgeous picture book version, and it’s one I would definitely include on my re-read list.

The characters, the world, the underlying magic and the biblical foundations of this sweeping tale captivated me the first time I read it and linger in my heart.

Here is a one-sentence summary of the book’s style from my Goodreads review: “The Beauty Thief seamlessly merges elements of allegory with adventure and fantasy to produce a story worth rereading many times over.” 

Here is a link for readers ready to add The Beauty Thief to their shelves: https://bookshop.org/a/95576/9780692374986. While the book is perfect for adults and older teens, younger readers can be included with the reading through the stunningly illustrated story book: https://bookshop.org/a/95576/9780997203349.

This Good Thing by Joy E. Rancatore

This is my smallest book, but possibly the most emotionally packed one. It is definitely a book about love: between a husband and wife, a parent and child, best friends and God and His children. 

Every emotional word was felt multiple times by me as I wrote, and I continue to feel them each time I return to the pages as a reader.  

I have probably marketed this book the least of all my books and feel it often gets passed over. I released it right before the world shut down in 2020, and for a long time I would almost apologize any time I recommended it to readers. Why? Because I know how gut-wrenching some parts are.

The truth, though, is that this book is equally packed with hope and light and beauty. And so, I have learned not to apologize when recommending This Good Thing to readers who love stories of love and heart and soul, written with truth and bolstered with hope. 

A personal copy can be purchased here: https://bookshop.org/a/95576/9781733138758. Reviews and further details may be found on the Goodreads page.

12 Months of Reading Challenge Reminders 

My heart’s desire for 12 Months of Reading is that it encourages timid readers, stokes the embers of readers’ passions that have grown cold in the busyness of society, brings readers and authors together to share the joy of stories and spreads a splash of fun throughout the year. 

For competitive readers who choose to read a book in each month’s category, they may download and print out a 12 Months of Reading Challenge Tracker PDF. Once they complete their twelfth book in December, they can scan or snap a picture of the filled-in PDF and email it to me for a prize: a stylish calendar with next year’s 12 Months of Reading categories. 

To purchase a current version of the calendar (supplies are limited) and to participate in 12 Months of Reading, download free graphics and the PDF tracker, find links to each month’s book recommendation post and more in one spot, visit www.joyerancatore.com/12-months-of-reading.  

Comment below with what you plan to read and then return to share a review. If the comment section is not working, feel free to email me. Let’s #ShareTheRead!

(If you use the bookshop.org links above to order, I receive a small affiliate commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting me and independent bookstores by using them for your online bookstore purchases!) 

Remember to #ShareTheRead! Tap the graphic below to download each month’s graphic to share on your social media. How many reader friends can you bring to the party?

Tap the graphic above to join LAM Book Club for an extra way to #ShareTheRead with fellow readers! No set book. Meet virtually once a month. Share what you’re reading or ask for recommendations.