August 2025 Welcome to August, Reader. I hope that these warm (and in some cases very hot!!) months have found you keeping as cool as you can and making sure you are hydrated. There is always so much available in our fair city during the Summer months, from music festivals to tasty markets, that it's not always easy to find time for either of those things. Sure, I read a fair bit. Okay... I read a lot. I love to have a few books on the go, from fiction to non-, and from light to challenging....
about 2 months ago • 5 min read
Readers at Absinthe Cafe in HintonburgJune 2025 We recently told you about all of the new meetups that have started this Summer, and here we are to let you know the dates for each of them during the next month. We still have some simmering changes (venue relocation, schedule shift, and more new meetups!) But don't worry: we'll keep you posted on all of that through social media and here in our trusty newsletter. For now, meetup locations and timing are no mystery: scroll down to see the list...
3 months ago • 4 min read
NEW MEETUPS' EDITION!June 2025 We're so excited to tell you about the new meetups this month!Trainyards' has had its first meetup already, and its second meetup next month. The other new meetups, Outdoor Downtown and Stittsville, are starting at the end of the month. Scroll down... · · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · · JUNE 2025 EVENTS 📆 Rather than a list of meetups, perhaps you'd prefer a calendar page. You can view the calendar here and scrolling to the bottom. Maybe you'd like to add our events to...
3 months ago • 2 min read
June 2025 “Of course, fresh flowers are the answerto any June gloom you may be feeling.Flowers really do solve all problems.” ― Mia Moretti cr: Natalie Kinnear Happy June, dear Reader! The warmth and sunshine of June is here, bringing with it cozy Spring reads! In May, we had the opportunity to share about SBC at the Next Chapter Expo out at Stanley's Olde Maple Lane Farm, where we chatted with people about the joys of reading and about what their current reads were. It was a wonderful event!...
4 months ago • 5 min read
May 2025 “To read is to fly:it is to soar to a point of vantagewhich gives a view over wide terrains of history,human variety, ideas, shared experienceand the fruits of many inquiries.” ― A.C. Grayling Dear Reader, I hope that the warmer weather is bringing you warmth of spirit and lots an'lots of time to read. My life ebbs and flows with busyness and in the between times is when much of my reading happens. Where someone else might say, oh see, today's sun is shining bright let's go run in...
5 months ago • 7 min read
April 2025 ~ Special Edition We are so excited to announce! Barrhaven Meetup first meetup: Tuesday, April 22, 2025 at 7pm Cafe Cristal, 240 Kennevale Dr.on the fourth Tuesday of each month SIGN UP HERE After months of so many of you asking, we will finally be coming to your corner of the 613, Barrhaven! Serving areas like Fallowfield, Manotick and Riverside South, and meeting at Cafe Cristal, this will be a welcome addition to SBC613's growing list of meetups. All this, thanks to Ashley...
5 months ago • 4 min read
April 2025 SBC613 is pleased to announce its first-ever Book Swap! Book swaps are great opportunities to shed some of your old reads and welcome in some new ones: a wonderful, free exchange of recycle, re-use, and RE-READ. Join us at Anina’s Café in Vanieron Wednesday, May 21st from 6-8pmto refresh your seasonal book list & commune with your fellow reading enthusiasts. Tasty snacks, treats, and beverages will be available to purchase as you browse! How it works: Register on TicketLeap...
6 months ago • 9 min read
March 2025 “For most of history,Anonymous was a woman.” ― Virginia Woolf Welcome to March. In this part of the world, it came in like a lion, indeed. As I sit here with my hands paused, fingertips poised and ready to write to you, my mind swirls with the maelstrom happening outside of my safe little office walls. Inside here, I can convince myself that the world can be safe and calm... just not right now. Because even inside here, there are too many things, impossible to deny; impossible to...
7 months ago • 5 min read
February 14, 2025 “What a blessing it is to love books.” ― Elizabeth von Arnim, The Solitary Summer We're about halfway through February and we've just had the heaviest snowfall of the Winter. No surprise, really. But it does mean that many folks spent the better part of the last 24 hours digging themselves out of over a foot of snow... 32 cm to be precise, according to some reports. AND... there's more coming this weekend. But you know... this is a good thing. It's supposed to snow, in this...
7 months ago • 3 min read