12 Months of Reading March 2025

Welcome to March’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 March 2025 12 Months of Reading Challenge category is: A Book With More Than One Main Character. 

In recent years, books that alternate main characters from chapter to chapter have become popular. For this month’s category, you may choose a book like that. Or, you may think outside the book.

Perhaps you consider a “smaller” character more of a main character. Maybe you’re reading a nonfiction book about relationships, and the “main characters” you’re reading into the topic include you, a significant other and a child or in-law.

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. 

Stars of Alabama by Sean Dietrich (AKA “Sean of the South”) 

I have run in adjacent literary circles to Sean Dietrich since I began this author journey, and I’ve been a subscriber to his daily column almost as long. If you love or are intrigued by the Southern United States, I encourage you to check out his column as well as his nonfiction. You can find the daily posts on his website, where you can learn more about him, his books and more.

If you prefer fiction, he’s got that, too. Stars of Alabama is my first glimpse into his fictional side, and I can tell you I had to set the book aside for a while toward the end … because I didn’t want it to end! I truly miss spending time with the characters he developed so well.

I have had a complicated relationship with Southern fiction for a while. You can read my earlier thoughts on the genre in this post. Of course, I clearly have a love for the genre since I wrote a four-book collection set primarily in the South!

While I have read a great deal of Southern fiction over the years, some of what I have read has left me less than thrilled. This book, though, revived my fondness for Southern fiction. As I wrote in my review, “Sean Dietrich proves stories don’t have to be shocking to be spectacular.” Check out the full review to find out more of what I loved about this book and its cast of characters as well as how I feel Sean’s book stands out as an ideal in the genre.

My reaction to Stars of Alabama inspired me to write a blog post that I hope to share soon.

Use this link to get your copy from Bookshop .org and support independent bookstores: https://bookshop.org/a/95576/9780785231325.

The Escape Game by Marilyn Turk 

This is the book I’m currently reading as we begin our March challenge. Marilyn Turk is another author I had the privilege of meeting at the Louisiana Book Festival last fall. She was one of a lovely group of kind and lively women who love to write and travel and who, most importantly, love Jesus. 

While I haven’t read far yet, I can already tell you I am enjoying this book. Set during WWII, the story follows a young woman on the homefront of England and a young man from Louisiana who joined the Royal Air Force to fight the Germans before the U.S. had officially entered.

To join me in reading The Escape Game this month, get your copy here: https://bookshop.org/a/95576/9781636095080.

Mission Hollywood by Michelle Keener 

I’m thrilled to suggest another book by a dear friend of mine. I have read almost everything Michelle Keener has written—she just released a new nonfiction book I haven’t gotten my hands on yet—and have enjoyed them all.

Check out my chat with Michelle during the 2021 LAM Summer Reading Challenge for more about her and her books.

I love imperfect characters, and Michelle writes them well! You can see more about this in my Goodreads review: “Mission Hollywood by Michelle Keener is a must-read. This love story comes with real-life complications and no simple answers. Each main character faces a variety of struggles and neither handles them perfectly.” 

Here is a link for readers ready to add Mission Hollywood to their shelves: https://bookshop.org/a/95576/9781620209301.

Every Good Thing by Joy E. Rancatore

This was an incredibly challenging book to write, but I had a great deal of fun in the process. Every Good Thing is a collection of twelve short stories. Each story follows a different character from the Carolina’s Legacy Collection world.

The characters take us on journeys from WWII to post-9/11, from the Pacific Theater to POW camps to several Southern states to the Big Apple.

You’ll meet lonely outcasts. Found wanderers. Recovering addicts. War-weary heroes. Homeless families. Grieving loved ones. Good men—gone too soon.

Check out this page for more details on the book and to watch me read the first lines of each story. Let me know in the comments below which story you’re most excited to read? 

A personal copy can be purchased here: https://bookshop.org/a/95576/9781733138772. 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.