sprite writes
broodings from the burrow

July 1, 2026


top ten most anticipated new releases still to come this year
posted by soe 1:09 am

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday from That Artsy Reader Girl asks us to share the books being published before the end of the year that we’re most looking forward to. Here are mine:

  1. Dark Reading Matter by Jasper Fforde
  2. Partita by Barbara Kingsolver
  3. Adversary to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer
  4. Tales from the Territory by Travis Baldree
  5. We Chase Shadows by Richard Osman
  6. Grim Tidings by B.K. Borinson
  7. Anger Is Only a Shadow by Elizabeth Acevedo
  8. Everything Was Beautiful and Nothing Hurt by Ben Reeves
  9. It’s Beginning to Look a Lot like Murder by Ally Carter
  10. Traitors’ Nest by Francis Hardinge

What’s coming out in the next six months that you’re excited to read?

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June 26, 2026


teamwork, cone, and doing the auntie thing
posted by soe 1:35 am

Mitchell Park Movie Night

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. Four of the guys and I pull off a well-played victory over the undefeated team at the top of our league. It cements our spot at number three and pumps us all up.

2. After a couple hours of playing volleyball on a hot Saturday afternoon, I drop my net off at home and continue down the street to the ice cream parlor, where they have my favorite flavor in. They warn me it will be a while until it’s next back.

3. Juliet has been at a dance camp in Maryland and we go up to watch her troupe’s performance. She’s one of the youngest kids, but holds her own in their modern performance, which reinterprets “The Pink Elephants on Parade” from Fantasia.

How about you? What’s been beautiful in your world lately?

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June 23, 2026


top ten books on my summer ’26 tbr list
posted by soe 1:25 am

Over at That Artsy Reader Girl, it’s time for that favorite quarterly Top Ten Tuesday topic, the top books I hope to read this season. While I’ve done poorly with both my winter and spring lists, hope remains bright for a higher success rate for the summer:

  1. Adversary to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer
  2. The Even-Handed Booksellers of Edinburgh by Garth Nix
  3. Most Ardently Yours by Freya Sampson
  4. Bump, Set, Sparks by Jennifer Moffatt
  5. The Parisian Heist by Jo Piazza
  6. After the Forest by Kell Woods
  7. A Letter from the Lonesome Shore by Sylvie Cathrall
  8. Unabridged: The Thrill of (and Threat to) the Modern Dictionary by Stefan Fastis
  9. The Impossible Garden of Clara Thorne by Summer N. England
  10. Tom Lake by Ann Patchett

How about you? What are you hoping to read this summer?

Category: books. There is/are 5 Comments.

June 19, 2026


beach day, baby ducks, and sit & talk
posted by soe 1:31 am

Three beautiful things from my past week:

June 2026 Beach Day

1. Our first beach day of the year

2. Ducklings at Constitution Gardens (safe from the bleaching next door)

Constitution Garden Ducklings

3. A friend and I meet at the Dupont Circle fountain for an overdue catch-up.

Sunset in Dupont

How about you? What’s been beautiful in your world lately?

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June 12, 2026


blink, cold and green, and on to high school
posted by soe 1:44 am

Purple

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. Fireflies in the park

2. Frozen Persian mint lemonade on a scorching afternoon

3. Nearly a dozen of the girls I coached graduated from 8th grade, and almost half of them took part in the ceremony, including Sadie, who sang a solo

How about you? What’s been beautiful in your world lately?

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June 5, 2026


fancy drink, pickup, and the team
posted by soe 1:39 am

Late Spring Evening in NoVa

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. A “dirty soda,” in this case Coke with cherry syrup and butterfly pea whipped cream

2. Eight hours of outdoor volleyball on a gorgeous afternoon

3. Time with friends

How about you? What’s been beautiful in your world lately?

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