Let’s Talk Bookish: Disability Representation in Books

Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly meme that was originally created and hosted by Rukky @ Eternity Books starting in August 2019, and was then cohosted with Dani @ Literary Lion from May 2020 to March 2022. Book Nook Bits has hosted since April 2022.

This is a great topic for this month – very fitting! I want to preface this by saying I am disabled – not visibly, but I have certain health conditions that mean I am classed as disabled. I definitely think we’re seeing in an increase in folks who identify as disabled, too – not always because there’s more disability (though with the impact of covid, that’s definitely a possibility!) but with more knowledge, understanding, and even acceptance of what disabled means.

Let’s Talk Bookish July 19th:
Disability Representation in Books

  Prompts: July is Disability Pride Month! Representation in books is so important, but is often challenging to find. What books have you read & recommend that have characters with disabilities? What are some on your TBR?

I agree that books with disability representation are challenging to find – you really have to dig a little deeper, and especially when it comes to invisible disabilities, these might not always be evident on the front page! For me, I definitely think I need to do better with disability representation and seek out more books featuring disabled characters – if you have any recommendations, I would love to hear them! Any genre welcome!

There are also so many different types of disability, and sometimes characters can include disabled characters without ever being explicit about it – maybe because they don’t realise themselves the character comes across that way, or because they’re writing a certain genre (such as historical fiction) where a disabled character wouldn’t explicitly say “I am disabled”. This is why marketing for these books is so important, too, as with any diverse books. If, for some reason, the language in the book isn’t or can’t be explicit, then hopefully the language around the book will be.

As for books I’ve read and would recommend – this is one of those times where I throw my hands up and admit I’m disappointed in myself for not having read more, and I really need to seek out more books that handle various disabilities. But the ones that do stick out (and I’ll include links to my reviews with the titles) are True Biz, which is set at River Valley School for the Deaf, so features a last cast of Deaf characters and explores the Deaf community, Camp Damascus (horror) and If Only You (romance) both feature autistic main characters, and the hero in A Lady for a Duke (romance) has PTSD. There’s also D. N. Bryn’s Our Bloody Pearl (fantasy), featuring a nonbinary disabled protagonist. These are all books I really, thoroughly enjoyed reading!

Another book to mention which doesn’t explicitly state the character’s disability is Half a Soul (historical fantasy) – I think quite a few readers picked up on Theodora coming across as autistic, and I particularly like the way it was dealt with in the novel itself. Lastly, although Shiori isn’t disabled in Six Crimson Cranes (fantasy), the curse placed on her means she navigates the events of the novel while being unable to speak, and she must find ways around this.

As for books on my TBR, I’m sure I have plenty more there but the two that immediately come to mind are Blind Spot: Exploring and Educating on Blindness, which is a non-fiction title, and the romance Knot My Type which has a FMC who is a sexologist and is in a wheelchair. I’m really looking forward to that one!

I would absolutely love to hear your recommendations on this one – what have you read, what’s on your TBR, anything you think needs more attention? Just let me know!