Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. Wednesday evening brought more rain and two more rainbows. I didn’t have great angles, so this fragment of the second one, seen from near my garden, is my best shot.

2. We spend the late afternoon and early evening at the pool to combat the last day of the heat wave before the upcoming respite of cooler weather. Our outdoor pools close on Labor Day, so our time there grows more precious by the day.

3. Sarah, Anne, and I have been mulling a get-together for months and we finally booked a silver sliver of time not already claimed by work or vacation or other activities. We spend hours at the restaurant talking about life and travels and books and agree at the end that we should not let the period between gatherings grow so long next time.

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

It wasn’t until earlier this week, when Rudi and I were sitting on the patio of our local coffeehouse, that I realized my shawl matches our summer sunsets. I wanted to try to capture that, so I apologize for the wrongly focused image, but it does catch the glint of the sparkles in the purple yarn better than other shots I’ve taken.

This week’s reading has included portions of a mystery set in wintry 1920s Vermont; a contemporary mystery set in India; a detective novel set in New Jersey in 1914; a feminist guide to linguistics; a graphic novel about Black Panther‘s kick-ass hero, Shuri; and a feminist y.a. novel set in the early 18th century. So mysteries, history, and feminism, basically.

Check out what other folks are reading and working on at As Kat Knits’ Unraveled Wednesday roundup.

A large, violent rain storm was tapering down as Rudi and I left the movie theater this evening. I needed to get across town and biking seemed the best option to do that, since Georgetown is not on a metro line, but does abut the river trail. I’d get a little wet (Honestly, it was more than a little, since I was dripping from the humidity as well by the time I arrived to meet my friends for dinner on Barracks Row.), but it was efficient.

Soon after setting forth, I watched the sun break through the clouds to the west and the dark clouds moving to the northeast, thinking that this was a prime period to catch a rainbow emerging. And, sure enough, one did.

It was never especially bright and it was very low in the sky, but it was quite wide, as you can see here looking up at the back of the Lincoln Memorial.

By the time the bike trail left the Mall by the Jefferson Memorial, the rainbow was receding. But it had been there, and I got a chance to see it because I was looking for it.

Life lessons. A rainbow is a rainbow is a rainbow, after all.

Today’s Top Ten Tuesday topic from That Artsy Reader Girl is favorite tropes in our reading material.

Mine include:

1. Found families (if you’re surprised to find this at the top, you haven’t been paying attention)
2. Heists
3. Cozies (People who are not professional law officers solve crimes that stump aforementioned pros!)
4. Bequests that let you change your life
5. Nerdy girl/guy saves the day (Hermione forever)
6. Bad guy isn’t really a bad guy
7. Booklovers love books
8. Sisters are doin’ it for themselves (be they literal sisters or BFFs, they’ve got each other’s back)
9. Definitely not love at first sight (or even like, really)
10. Crossovers (I feel like this is getting more common as ways for authors to write sequels without writing sequels. Or when they have enough series where a character from one can show up in another.)

What are some of your favorite tropes/themes to discover in books?

Monday marks the start of the weeklong reading event called Bout of Books. I’m signing up once again.

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda Shofner and Kelly Rubidoux Apple. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01 am Monday, August 19th, and runs through Sunday, August 25th, in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, Twitter chats, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 26 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. – From the Bout of Books team

My goals for the event are simple:

1. Read at least 5 of the 7 days.
2. Take part in at least three of the non-reading events, such as Twitter chats, challenges, or commenting on someone else’s progress.
3. Blog here at least once more about my progress.

I was on the wrong side of Nationals Park to truly capture the beauty of tonight’s sunset, so this was the best I could do.