This week’s Top Ten Tuesday from That Artsy Reader Girl invites us to share the debuts we enjoyed — those first published works by authors that completely wowed us. Here are ten of mine:

1. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
2. The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde
3. The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver
4. Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild
5. The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
6. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
7. Me: Moth by Amber McBride
8. Homecoming by Cynthia Voigt
9. The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros
10. Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery

How about you? What debut novels have you loved?

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. The heat broke and today’s 90 degrees felt like being kissed by the gods. Playing volleyball was lovely and then I stayed outside to read in the park until late.

2. Rudi and I have been snacking on the chocolate he brought back from Europe.

3. Salsa made with a jalapeño from our garden.

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

Whoops. Lost track of days. Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. Rudi returned home from his bike trip through the mountains of France.

2. My friend Sergio and I went out for supper after our volleyball game and got a chance to catch up on each other’s lives and what’s been on our minds lately.

3. Monday was the first concert of the summer at Fort Reno. It was hot and humid everywhere in the city, but that’s our point of highest elevation, so there’s often a breeze there when one can’t be found elsewhere. I bought ice cream and read my book while listening to a trio of bands, the last of which I would pay to hear again.

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

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. I painted my nails red, white, and blue with sparkles.

2. One of the girls I play volleyball with on Saturdays invited some of us to a cookout in Rock Creek Park. It rains, but we’re under a pavilion, and it’s nice to catch up in street clothes.

3. Three friends and I head to the ballgame on an unseasonably gorgeous July night. We all have fun and, as a bonus, the Mets score five runs in the top of the tenth to win the game.

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

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. My friend Katie is a reporter and, for the third year, shortstop for the Bad News Babes in the Congressional Women’s Softball Game, which pits members of Congress against members of the press in a breast cancer fundraiser. This year, in addition to being a powerhouse on offense and defense, she also co-captained her team and served on the event organizing committee. Last night, her parents came from New Jersey to join us in celebration of her on-field prowess and her team’s decisive victory.

2. The team I play on in a competitive league won our championship. I ended up missing the last game because it conflicted with my oft-mentioned, long-time team’s match, and if I have to pick one group to play with, that team always wins. (They had six without me, and that captain gave me his blessing.)

3. The heat dome lifted, the temperature dropped, and it finally rained.

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

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday from That Artsy Reader Girl asks us to share the books we’re most looking forward to that come out between July and December. Other than Rainbow’s and Maehrer’s books, I’ve not included any I listed last week, but I did have to cheat and expand the list to 11:

1. Rainbow Rowell’s Slow Dance
2. Apprentice to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer
3. Somewhere Beyond the Sea by T.J. Klune
4. The Frindle Files by Andrew Clements
5. S.J. Bennett’s A Death in Diamonds
6. A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping by Sanju Mandanna
7. The Witching Wind by Natalie Lloyd
8. Naomi Novik’s Buried Deep and Other Stories
9. The Message by Ta-Nehisi Coates
10. The Bletchley Riddle by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin
11. Erin Sterling’s The Wedding Witch

How about you? What’s coming out during the second half of 2024 that you can’t wait to get your hands on?