Shan's Reading

July is Disability Pride Month, and these are some books for disability pride year-round. These books are by disabled authors and activists — some are specifically around disability activism while others feature stories of disabled characters. The blog includes a few more recs than I did on my social media channels, so thank you for reading!

Remember, representation matters and disability rights can often be marginalized or left out of the conversation — so make it your mission to read a book by a disabled author this month, whenever you’re reading this.

Informative Non-Fiction

Demystifying Disability by Emily Ladau is a great primer and guide to learn more about disability, disability rights, and disability activism. If you’re asking yourself, well I don’t know what the right thing is to say, what term to use, and I don’t want to offend a disabled person, pick up this book! 

Disability Visibility, edited by Alice Wong, is one of the best books I’ve ever read. It’s a collection of essays from dozens of disabled activists, many with intersecting identities. This book breaks down the stereotype that a disabled person is a cis-het white man who uses a wheelchair, and instead showcases stories and narratives that are from diverse disabled activists. A must read.

Moving Memoirs

Ten Steps to Nanette by Hannah Gadsby is a great and intense memoir, in true Nanette fashion. In her memoir, she tells readers about her ADHD and ASD diagnoses, and how autism is often under-diagnosed for women. Growing up in rural Tasmania, Gadsby tells us about her upbringing amidst a rural and homophobic culture and how she grappled with internalized homophobia.

Mean Little Deaf Queer by Terry Galloway is a memoir about her growing up in the 1960s while she loses her ability to hear. As the title suggests, it’s a funny, biting memoir about her coming into her sexual identity as well as understanding her disability. 

Sci-Fi / Fantasy

Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros is all over Booktok, so I’ll be brief. It’s a fantasy novel about a dragon rider academy, where the main character has a disability. Her disability is an integral part of the story, and I like how this story is a fun fantasy book and avoids the “inspirational” or “tragic” disability tropes. 

Binti: The Complete Trilogy by Nnedi Okorafor is an incredible sci-fi trilogy, that’s won the esteemed Hugo and Nebula awards. In a futuristic, sci-fi world, Binti, a young Himba girl, survives an attack as she goes to pursue her education on another planet. As she encounter an alien species, she is forever changed, physically and spiritually. Okorafor is a Nigerian-American, disabled author who uses sci-fi to re-imagine the world.

Rom-Coms

Get a Life, Chloe Brown (The Brown Sisters, #1) by Talia Hibbert is one of my all-time-favorite rom-coms. I think Hibbert’s rom-coms are the best of the genre: they are deeply moving, laugh-out-loud funny, spicy, and have characters with complex lives and intersecting identities. The first in the series, Chloe Brown is a type A personality with little chill, and she has chronic pain. She makes a list of things to do, like ride a motorcycle, so she can “Get a Life” – and along comes heartthrob Redford “Red.” What a fun read!

The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang is a fun and spicy rom-com featuring an Asian American woman who is on the spectrum. I loved this book for its representation of women with ASD, who get and deserve love stories and happy endings.

You can find more of my recs under my bookcase “Disability Visibility” on Goodreads, and be sure to follow disabled content creators and authors on social media. Happy Reading!