Welcome to June’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 June 2025 12 Months of Reading Challenge category is: a LAM Summer Reading Challenge book.
Introduction
Summer means READING! 2025 marks the eighth year I’ve hosted my LAM Summer Reading Challenge. My goal has always been to bring authors and readers together to #ShareTheRead! We have virtual events, interactive book-related posts and bookish prizes for eight glorious weeks. All the information about the Challenge, how to participate and which authors will be hanging around can be found on the hub.
Each year’s challenge kicks off with eight primary reading categories. Some of our participants are voracious readers, though, so I have learned eight isn’t always enough. After our intro week, I’ll reveal 58 more categories readers can choose from once they complete the primary ones. Those will be available on that hub page, too.
The Categories
For our purposes, let’s get started with these eight.
Category 1 – Book by a Featured Author: This year’s Featured Authors are Julie Mayerson Brown, Carole Lehr Johnson and Joy E. Rancatore (that’s me!). Any book by any of us will satisfy this category. You can find lists on our websites, and I’ll have a bookshop .org list up soon with direct buy links.
Category 2 – Book by an Author of the Round Table: Each summer I invite previous Featured Authors to join me for another chat. These lovely authors become my Authors of the Round Table. You can find their information on the hub page.
Category 3 – Book Cover That Is Your Favorite Color: I always try to coordinate my summer reading themes and categories with the library’s summer reading theme. This year is Color Your World, so you’ll notice several color- and art-related categories. This one is pretty self-explanatory.
Category 4 – Book Club Recommendation: I always include this category because I want to encourage you to check out a book club if you don’t already have one. This can come from a club you’re part of or a club near you. You’re also invited to one of my two summer book clubs. We meet the first Thursday of each month at 8:00 p.m. (CDT) on Zoom, so you can join from wherever you are. Find more info about my book club on its hub page.
Category 5 – Book with a Kaleidoscope or Rainbow Cover: This category came from a newsletter subscriber, and I love it! I added the rainbow part, because I thought kaleidoscope might be an extra challenge. Honestly, though, I really hope to see some beautiful covers!
Category 6 – Book that Features a Creative Pursuit: This category (another subscriber recommendation) lend itself perfectly for either fiction or nonfiction. Plus, how many different creative pursuits can we read about!
Category 7 – Book by an Author in Your State: I’ve always thought this is a fun category because it takes a little digging. Who knows? Maybe one of your neighbors is an author!
Category 8 – Book Where the Title Is in Two or More Colors: My final newsletter subscriber category latched on to the color theme, and I’m here for it! This is another one where I’ll really look forward to seeing pictures in our “Book Selfie Saturday” posts in our summer reading Facebook group.
Make the Challenge Your Own
As usual, these categories are fairly broad. 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.
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 image above to download each month’s graphic. Share graphics on social media with #ShareTheRead and #12MonthsOfReading and tag @joyerancatore!
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.