Back home with Blip books

After a tender weekend with Sue, worrying with her and distracting ourselves by building a photo book for some of her siblings, I returned home on a cold sunny day and settled in for some delicious reading. Everything I'm reading these days was recommended by someone on Blip.

I recently finished Hamnet, recommended by PaulaJ and others. It is superb.

I'm almost finished with The Five, thanks to Ceridwen. It's a powerful document of the truth of poor women's lives in the Victorian era. I'm recommending it to everyone I know. I find it affirming, validating. It takes creativity, intellect, determination and a high pain tolerance for any poor woman to survive and care for her children, and even then, she may be defeated at any point. (Not mentioned, but also important: intersectionality adds to that.)

In the stack to be read, on top of the now-unused toy box (the children haven't been able to visit me since early March), are the following:

Girl, Woman, Other, mailed to me by Amando Alentejo.
In the Dream House, by Carmen Maria Machado, recommended by Sara Evans.
And two by Shaun Tan, recommended by DigitalDaze: The Singing Bones and Tales From the Inner City.

What would I do without you lot? Thank you.

*Note: star shadow on carpet courtesy of Blast, who gave me the stained glass star when I met her in London in 2015.