December 2025 News, Recipes and More at Books by Rose

Happy December 2025 everyone!

I have a lot to update you on this in this month’s post.

You will find:

*Author Fair Visit Update

*Reading Goal Changes For 2026

*November 2025 Meal and Game Update

*December News and Recipe

*What’s To Come?

Now, let’s dive into this month’s news…

What a busy last few months this has been. It always busy around here with one thing or another, but this time of year, it’s in a different kind of way.

Author Fair Visit Update

I had an awesome day meeting authors from all genres! I met some wonderful readers from all ages, too.

Woodneath Library is also called the “Story Center” and host many events and classes. If you are in the KCMO area, I hope you will check them out.

I don’t have a photo to share at this time. 🙁 A photographer came around and took pictures, but I have not seen them yet.

Reading Goal Changes For 2026

I’m not going to change my reading, but will change the content of my lists and on what I will report here on my blogs.

Why the change?

I have decided to just report lists of children’s and middle grade books on my monthly news. An author friend is doing this. Sonja McGiboney, (Jazzy) and her goal is to read 300 children’s books in 2025. My aim may not be that big of a list for now. I would like to do something the same. I made a form to add these to. We’ll see how it goes. Children’s and middle grade books are much shorter. Hopefully, I’ll have a long list by the end of 2026. 🙂

I’ll still visit with my friends on adult books I’ve read. I will just do that in a different way.

Meanwhile, I have these adult books to report. All 5 stars.

Currently Reading...

Oh my, I went through a spell for a few weeks trying to find a book I enjoyed. I found just what I was looking for.

“The Good Boy,” by Stella Hayward is funny, heartfelt, and is playing out like a movie in my head. I can’t wait to finish it! Now, that’s a great book! I’m looking forward to more of her stories.

Listened to:

“The Atlas of Untold Stories,” by author Sara Brunsvold and Narrator: Libby McKnight

Chloe Vance, the main character, needs to break the news to her mom, Edie, that she has accepted an ew job as an art instructor role at a Christian international school in Prague. Along with her sister, Lauren, she talks them all in taking a trip. This is any adventure, though, The three women go on a road trip, seeking out literary sites throughout the Midwest. What will they find out about themselves and each other?

If you love traveling and behind the scenes about some of the classic stories out there, you will enjoy this one.

Not only does Sara Brunsvold take readers on a trip through the states, but the difficult, but rewarding role seeing the relationships with her mother and sister.

November 2025 Meal and Game Update

Our meal turned out great! Every inch of our counters were covered with the food I mentioned in ► November. Oh, and our game? It was so much fun, too! Each winner received a bag with prizes filled with treats and small items. 🙂

We had a nice surprise with another addition to the entertainment of the evening. Our oldest came equipped with an array of magic tricks that wowed our crowd.

That lead us into watching a bunch of our old movies of him doing his magic tricks when he was 6 years old. We loved laughing and reminiscing about the 80s and 90s! I was a big duck/geese collector back in those days, and my, they were everywhere! 🤣 (Now you know where I got some of my “time-travel” ideas.)

December News and Recipe

Fun gatherings are planned and it will start to looking like Christmas around our home. We always get a real tree so we wait until the middle of December to put it up. That way, it doesn’t get too dry and brittle. I hope to share a picture or video of it soon.

Meanwhile, I took a few days to do some art for cards. It’s going much slower than I expected. Yes, I should have started in October, or even early November, but it wasn’t in my art spirit to do that quite yet. (I love how people can do that! I need to make a goal to do better and make art sooner.) 😉

Here’s an rough example I played around with. I have some different ones I’m working on. I hope to get those done soon. (Basically, when one opens this card, these little homes pop out. It was so fun to make.)

Recently, I shared this image on Facebook. It’s from my first book, ► Avi and Jackson Best Friends. It’s based on our sons growing up and the fun things they did through their seasons.

Something fun for you or your kiddos to copy and color. Enjoy!

Now, more about Christmas…

We will have our “Christmas Eve Meal.” (See below.)

Christmas morning I’ll bake our traditional “Cinnamon Rolls and Orange Rolls,” yes, they are the can kind. I usually burn the bottoms of them most years which has been a joke in our family. Let’s hope I don’t this year?

Our family will arrive sometime in the last morning hours and we’ll spend our time opening gifts and visiting. (My favorite part.) We try and take turns, but things pile up quickly and we always have to catch up at the end.

I don’t make a meal for Christmas dinner because we always have lots of leftovers from the night before. We usually end up having that for lunch.

Let’s just say, it’s a full wonderful day. 🙂

Our Traditional Christmas Eve Meal Recipe

Velveeta Chicken (Sorry for those who have followed me for years, you have seen this one before and will probably see it again. It’s a family favorite!)

1 whole cooked chicken, cubed

I can of Cream of Chicken Soup

Start off with a 1/2 can of milk. Add more if needed. (See below.)

4-5 slices of Velveeta Cheese

1 box of Stuffing – prepared.

Directions:

Cube chicken and place in a spray 9×11 pan

Heat soup, milk, and cheese until smooth and creamy. (Once it looks like pancake batter, it’s ready.)

Pour over chicken. Take a fork and move around to fill in between the chicken pieces.

Top with prepared stuffing

Bake at 350 degrees for 25- 30 minutes until heated through.

What’s To Come?

I plan to release another children’s book in 2026. As most of you know, I’m going to immerse myself into learning some of my new drawing and writing programs.

A big shout out to all my fans, friend, and family members with their great suggestions on programs. You all are the best and I couldn’t do this without you!

See a sample of what I made and read about my new title from ► November News at Books by Rose. No, it will not be a “pop-up” book, it was just a fun way to make a fun version of it.

Tell Us About YOU!

Plans for the holidays? Projects you are working on? Please leave us a comment in the section below. We can’t wait to hear from you.

As always,

Happy Reading!

Rosie

PS. Don’t forget to come back on Friday, January 09, 2026. I heard a little rumor there is a “Blog Hop” in the mix to start off the New Year!