Gosh April is slow to start. Still snow on the ground. Lots of early month rain, though, so it won’t last. Haven’t seen any spring blooms yet but maybe by the end of this ramble. First up, a nice surprise – I found a book for my Kobo by a favourite author that somehow I … More 2026 April-May Read and Ramble
Still cold out, but the daylight starts a few minutes earlier every morning. The universe is still dependable that way. At least in the tiny slice of time that I am experiencing it. It’s light out now when I leave my afternoon curling games. Ah February! It used to be my second-least-favourite month (after November, … More 2026 Feb-March Read and Ramble
It’s a new year, hallejulah! 2025 was, for this retired 67-year old, a trying time. Sure, interspersed with periods of calm aboard cruise ships, grandson fun times, and still lucky with spousal and personal good-enough health, but… Loss of my father, and all the executor duties that entailed, topped the stress meter for the year. … More 2026 January Read and Ramble
I’m 67 years old and am now an orphan. I guess. My father recently joined my mother this year in their family plot, in the small prairie town where they both grew up, married, then left for their lifetimes as a military family. In retirement, after four children cast off along the way, they circled … More Grief. Again. Always.
November is such a dreary month. A quote from my book, “Lost Year. A Pandemic Diary 2020” : “There’s a greyness to the month that I dread.” Yes, back in 2020, for sure extra-awful. Nowadays, I plan for the ordinary doldrums. Cruise to the Caribbean! (Hurricane season should be over?) And read. Here’s the books … More 2025 November Read and Review
2025_October October started like summer, but it will end like winter. No snow yet, but the leaves were glorious going through the month. Also a glorious month for reading! Let’s start with a local author purchase while on my Iceland excursion last July. So how about a nice easy read with a guaranteed (predictable, somewhat … More 2025 October Read and Review
The rough summer is over, my executor duties aren’t done, but they’re under control, my father laid to final rest in his Manitoba hometown cemetery with my mother. At 67, I’m an orphan! Time for me? We’ll see. Life goes on. The weather is holding, summer-like but better, crisper. Curling started. My husband is itching … More 2025 September Read and Review
July and August Stevie’s Book reviews of her summer, Enjoy! Heading away at the start of the month for a trip to Europe then cruise home. I need to prepare the e-reader; taking Kobo this time, my new one is smaller and therefore more travel-friendly than my Kindle, which I usually take to try to … More 2025_Summer
First half of 2025 over already! Reading is still part of everyday, but now done dozing down in the courtyard. Bees buzzing by, birds and squirrels hanging out. It’s easy to drift away. I keep thinking I need a light, summer read. This one sort of is? June is ending with a heat wave. I … More 2025 June Read and Review
Finally May. Still cool, and rainy, but the buds are visible now and although a bit later than usual, some dandelions are popping their brightness after the slushy gloom of early spring. As I start my reading this month, I pick something at random from the pile (come on, fellow readers, you know what ‘the … More 2025 May Read and Review
Stevie Szabad, Author 