Happy November 2025, everyone!
I have so many things to be grateful for this month and always. I love this quote:
G.K. Chesterton’s, “Gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.”
Here’s what you will find for this month’s blog post:
*Grateful For My New Book at Our Library – Woodneath Library Author Event
*Thankful For Family and Fun
*Thankful For My Goodreads Challenge 2025
*Grateful For The Project I’m Working On
Let’s get started.
Grateful For My New Book at Our Library – Woodneath Library Author Event
Last summer, I applied for my new book, “Magical Fashion Show Contest” to not only be in our local library, but to attend our annual author event. They accepted both and I will have a booth on Saturday, November 15, 2025 from 1 pm – 4pm. I’m so excited to meet the other local authors and local readers at this event. Once I know my table number, I’ll let you know.
Click on the link below to read more.
It would be fun to have some crafts from my books to hand out, as well. If you’ve read my books, which ones would you like to see there? Boxes, fold out cards, Galaxy Rocks, pop-up books?
Thankful For Family and Fun
I’m ready to start planning the games and food we’ll have for Thanksgiving.
If you have followed my past Thanksgiving blogs, we don’t always have a traditional meal, but this year, it has been requested.
So, we will have:
Turkey, Mash Potatoes, Sweet Potatoes, Dressing, Gravy, Deviled Eggs, Salad Bar, two kinds of vegetables. If I can find fresh corn on the cob, that will be one, or I’ll resort to canned corn. I’ll make Green Beans with bacon and seasonings. Mac and Cheese, (for the kids…the adults end up liking this, too,) and of course, Rolls. I always make enough everyone can have leftovers. (I save many take-out containers throughout the year just for our holiday meals.)
One thing I don’t do is, I never make a dessert and ask our guest to bring something. They never fail and bring the best pies and treats. It’s expected for my brother-in-law to bring what we call, “The Cookies.” They are homemade from a neighborhood market we have here. They are so good and the Littles look forward to them every year. 🙂
I’m still working on a game and I think we have it boiled down to one. When planning these games, we have to think fast on how to get the game set up and ready to go. The anticipation builds through dinner since we save it for last. (I’m thinking it will involve, “Red Solo Cups” filled with water, a ping pong ball, and prizes to win.) I hope I can catch a video of this, but we’ll see. Things get busy and I get so excited, I forget to take pictures and videos.
(Note: Adding water helps the cups not tip over. Or, better yet, a handful of coins and the winner gets to keep them.) 🙂
Thankful For My Goodreads Challenge 2025
I’m at 42 books read out of my goal for 50 this year. I have 8 more to finish by the end of December.
I managed to get a lot of books read this past month, but it was a struggle. Lately, the books I got at our library were not for me, so I really had to work on finding the rights ones. These made the list.
PS. I’m going to change my reading challenge content for next year. I’ll talk about that in December.
All 5 Stars From Me
“Tuck Everlasting,” by Natalie Babbitt
With 10 million copies sold, “Tuck Everlasting,” by Natalie Babbitt‘ is a Newbery Honoree and winner of the E. B. White Award! This classic tale is a story about immortality, friendship, and the ups and downs of growing up. It’s one of those timeless reads that’ll stick with you no matter your age!
What if you could live forever?
Meet young Winnie Foster, who stumbles upon a secret spring in the woods and runs into the Tuck family. They share their amazing discovery about how the spring can change lives. Now, Winnie faces a big choice with this new info, while the Tucks have to figure out what to do about her knowing their secret. They’re not the only ones interested in what’s going on. A shady stranger is also on the hunt for the Tucks and won’t stop until he uncovers their big secret.
I spent a short afternoon listening to this audiobook while doing some art and enjoyed this book and it’s narrator.
“Killing The Kansas City Shuffle,” by Deborah Dilks
Step back in time. It’s Columbus Day in 1931, and Deloris Markham, our not-so-average amateur “Killing The Kansas City Shuffle” detective, stumbles upon the body of Slick Sam Sloan. This guy was a total hustler—a grifter, a con artist, and definitely a ladies’ man. He loved playing the Kansas City Shuffle, but it looks like he might’ve played it one too many times.
Dive into the gritty, flavorful scene of 1930s Kansas City, packed with crime, delicious food, and real hotspots!
Miss Markham Mystery books mix a little bit of fact with a whole lot of fiction, creating a cozy historical whodunit. Think you can guess what’s real and who’s the culprit before Deloris does? Give it a shot, you’ll be glad you did.
If you are from the KCMO area, you will enjoy her mystery series that much more.
“TED Talks: The Official TED Guide to Public Speaking,” by Chris J. Anderson
I don’t plan to do public speaking anytime soon, but this is the book to read if you are entertaining that thought. This book is packed full with information. It will help with other things, such as writing and how to present your projects.
Chris Anderson took over duties at TED in the early 2000s, he’s proved that well crafted short talks, can really connect people and shared knowledge. In this book, he reminds us, a great talk can pack more punch than anything written down!
When giving a talk, there’s no one-size-fits-all formula; every talk is unique. The idea is to help you deliver a talk that only you can give. So, don’t stress! You might find it comes more naturally than you expect.
Chris Anderson has teamed up with some of the most inspiring TED speakers out there: Sir Ken Robinson, Amy Cuddy, Bill Gates, Elizabeth Gilbert, Salman Khan, Dan Gilbert, Mary Roach, Matt Ridley, and so many more! From crafting the perfect talk to owning the stage, this is the go-to guide for communicating effectively in the 21st century. If you’re looking to make an impact with your
ideas, you won’t want to miss this!
“Sideways Stories from Wayside School,” Louis Sachar, Adam McCauley, Illustrator (Middle Grade)
Although, the builder of Wayside School said he was very sorry he built the school, one classroom on top of another, thirty stories high, that didn’t help things at all.
Funny things start happening in each classroom, especially on the thirteenth floor.
These series of stories from 1978 are a bit dated, but readers will still find the humor in them. Think about the “Mad Magazines” from the 60s and 70s when reading. Some of the chapters may not be accepted in today’s world. Keep an humorous, open mind.
“Playing with Books: The Art of Upcycling, Deconstructing, and Reimagining the Book,” by Jason Thompson. (More for Adults, but Middle Grade Readers may enjoy some of these projects.)
Jason Thompson has created an extensive and artistic range of both achievable upcycled crafts made from books and book pages to a gallery transformed books into art. The step-by-step projects that deconstruct and rebuild books and their parts into unique, upcycled items. Bookbinding, woodworking, paper crafting, origami, and textile and decorative arts techniques are just a few. This beautiful book would satisfy any artist or art loving book collector and make a great coffee table addition to browse through.
“Anyone Can Papercraft,” By Elizabeth Moad (Middle Grade and up.)
A practical guide, “Anyone Can Papercraft” includes a nice range of techniques to introduce the beginner to the craft and inspire the more advanced crafter with fresh ideas and inspiration. There are 40 original projects with simple instructions such as, cards and tags, keepsakes gifts and decorations for holidays and occasions. A fun book to have on hand for any occasion.
“Draw Out the Story: Ten Secrets to Creating Your Own Comics,” by Brian McLachlan (Middle Grade and up.)
A fun book to learn from when making single-panel comics to full-blown graphic novels and ways to use comics to tell a story. Whether makers want to write or draw something funny, scary, made-up or true-to-life, cartoonist, author Brian McLachlan shows there are ten crucial things they need to know to get started.
This book is a keeper for those who wants to learn how to make any comics, and, or, graphic novels.
“Made in America: A Modern Collection of Classic Recipes,” by Colby and Megan Garrelts (Adult Cookbook)
I enjoyed reading about, Kansas City chef and James Beard Award winner Colby Garrelts and his wife, Megan, a James Beard semifinalist for Best Pastry Chef. This book presents a library of American culinary classics from their Midwestern roots. Made in America features fifty handcrafted recipes sorted by the cooking methods from breakfast to the bakeshop. Many begin with a childhood memory from Colby or Megan that describes the roots and the journey of the recipe. This was my favorite part.
You will read about how to make, “Biscuits and Gravy, “Quick Pickles,” “Pan Fried BBQ Pork Chops with Tomato Horseradish Sauce,” “Grilled Garlic-Thyme Kansas City Strips,” “Garrelts’s Fried Chicken,” “Chocolate Butterscotch Cookies,” and so much more.
Grateful For The Project I’m Working On
Many times, writers use what are called, “Storyboards,” to plan their books. If you have ever seen one, it’s a plain piece of paper with squares which holds the title page, ISBN page, and many times a dedication page. What follows after that is the story. (This is a common set up for children’s picture books that holds 32 pages.)
I wanted to do something different this time around and create an “artful storyboard.” This book has been so much fun and it will make a great little book for one of my young readers. No, it did not have 32 pages. I doubled up the sentences and wrote them on eight pages.
It’s A Pop-Up Book!
I drew many of the illustrations and used many other images from old books and magazines to complete the pages. I won’t show you all of them, but here are a few.
We recently updated our computer which has all new apps for drawing and writing. I plan to figure these out in the coming months and hope to have an actual book of this for you all to read some time in 2026. I’ll keep you posted.
(If you would like to be a Beta Reader for my next book, let me know and I’ll send you the words. Again, I’m still working on how to make the illustrations for now.)
That’s all I have for this month.
I wish you all a very happy Thanksgiving to those who celebrate here in the USA!
Happy November 2025!
Let’s us know what plans you have for this month and your holiday.
As always,
Happy Reading!
Rosie
Rosie
