Hello, everyone! Today I’m participating in Let’s Talk Bookish. Let’s Talk Bookish is a bookish meme that was created by Rukky @ Eternity Books where each Friday, bloggers write posts discussing the topic of the week. Since April 2022, Aria @ Book Nook Bits has been the host of LTB. She posts each month’s topics on her blog! This week’s topic is about disability representation in books.

What books have you read & recommend that have characters with disabilities?

July is Disability Pride Month, and I am so thankful for this topic because it made me take the time to sit down and think about the representation in the books I’m reading. I do try to read diversely, with a focus on queer stories. Unsurprisingly, I will often note if a character has a mental illness because my professional background is in psychology. I feel like I come across neurodivergent characters quite regularly, which is great, but that could just be selection bias on my part. However, I don’t frequently come across, or notice at least, a lot of representation for physical disabilities. So, I focused on those for my recommendations here, which was harder than I expected:

The Ivory Tomb by Melissa Caruso, Everything for You by Chloe Liese, Temptation of the Force by Tessa Gratton, Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert, Shards of Earth by Adrian Tchaikovsky

I’m actually currently reading The Ivory Tomb by Melissa Caruso. I was pleasantly surprised to see some representation for people with lung damage. The damage doesn’t happen until the end of book two in this series, but as someone with this particular disability, I think the author has done a great job of illustrating how far-reaching and frustrating lung damage can be while also not letting it keep the protagonist down.

Everything for You by Chloe Liese is a MM sports romance that explored the physical toll of professional sports on the body. Temptation of the Force by Tessa Gratton is the latest installment of the High Republic Star Wars series. One of the main side characters uses a prosthetic arm, which is pretty on brand for Star Wars. lol.

Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert is a contemporary romance that includes a character experiencing fibromyalgia. I particularly liked this story because it contained a couple who loved each other through their difficulties rather than despite them, if that makes sense. Finally, Shards of Earth by Adrian Tchaikovsky is a space opera set in the future with species-ending stakes. It also has a bad ass pilot who uses her cybernetic appendages/wheelchair to cause chaos and carnage.

What are some books with disability representation on your TBR?

I struggled so much with figuring out what books on my TBR have disability representation in them. I haven’t read these, obviously. So, I can’t confirm the appearance of representation or the quality. According to Goodreads shelves/lists, here are some books with disability representation of some sort that I hope to read soonish…

The Whispering Dark by Kelly Andrew, The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee, Godkiller by Hannah Kaner, Sixteen Souls by Rosie Talbot

Another great place to find information about books with disability representation is the blog Just Geeking By. It has a page of book reviews sorted by the type of disability depicted in the story. Be sure to check it out to find more books to add to your TBR!

Overall, I’d like to see more books with disabled characters. I also realize that I need to pay closer attention to the rep that does exist. What about you? Do you have any favorite books with disability representation? Let me know down in the comments!