In 2023, I read 11 books by disabled or chronically ill people. Given that I read 48 books in that same time, that means about 23 percent of the books I read were by this demographic. One note to keep in mind when it comes to these stats is that they are based on public information. It’s quite possible that there are other authors that fall under these categories who don’t state so publicly (or that I missed that information). That is completely fair. Disabled and chronically ill people have a right to keep their personal health information private, whether or not they have chosen to write about the subject. 

I noticed myself becoming a lot more opinionated when it came to topics around disability representation and the terms used when discussing disability in the last year or so. I’ve been reading on this topic and hanging around disability justice spaces (virtually) long enough now that I’m starting to feel more comfortable in stating my own point of view. I have started to notice which language is hurtful and which language is helpful. And I have noticed which stories are missing and are deeply desired within the disabled community. All of this has helped me be able to process which books are most meaningful or which ones include hurtful language or tropes.

I read a variety of genres and topics in 2023, and I look forward to doing more of that in 2024 as well when it comes to disabled authors and disability representation. I very much value disability representation, and I will continue to highlight it on my page. To keep up with what I’m currently reading, be sure to check out my bookstagram. That’s where I post most often.

Anyway, here all the books by disabled authors I read in 2023 (and a reminder I always have a list of all the books I’ve read in that year on my Bookshop*):

Fiction:

One for All by Lillie Lainoff:

This is a gender-bent Musketeers story, in which the main character has POTS. Her dad is a retired Musketeer and recommends her for a finishing school that serves as a cover for a group of undercover Musketeers made up of women. I wrote my full thoughts on this book here, if you’d like to read them.

Cassandra in Reverse by Holly Smale (ARC from Harlequin Trade Publishing)

The main character is an autistic woman that finds out that she can time travel (to an extent) on the same day her boyfriend breaks up with her and she is fired from her job. So she makes it her mission to go back in time to keep both of these things from happening. I wrote and published my full thoughts in this Instagram post.

All’s Well by Mona Awad

The protagonist in this story deals with chronic pain after a bad fall and struggles with being disbelieved and dismissed, which is inspired by the author’s own experience with chronic pain. There are elements of magical realism in this story, and it does start to get a little bit trippy at times. It left me with a lot of complicated feelings, honestly, because of the way it depicted chronic pain, and the way characters reacted to chronic pain throughout. It’s such a good depiction of how people in chronic pain are often abandoned, ignored, or dismissed. I processed through the emotional roller coaster that was this book in this Instagram post.

The Fantastic Freewheeler, Sixth-grade Superhero! by Molly Felder (eARC from Capstone Publishing through Netgalley)

This is a middle grade graphic novel about a kid with cerebral palsy who is given superpowers by aliens in exchange for a piece from their spacecraft. I appreciated the way disability was described and explained without being the total focus of who he was, and I think this series will be a great one for middle schoolers.

Give Me a Sign by Anna Sortino (eARC from Penguin Random House through Netgalley)

A YA summer romance that takes place at a summer camp for the D/deaf and blind, this book includes so much diversity within the D/deaf community and portrays a lot of the struggles that come from being deaf in this society. You can find my full review for this book here.

Unseelie by Ivelisse Housman (ARC from Harlequin Trade Publishing)

This book follows two sisters who are on the run because one of them is a changeling and has to hide her magic. The book was inspired by the theory that changelings were an early depiction of autistic children, which definitely intrigued me. I shared my thoughts in video format on Instagram.

Nonfiction

My Body Is Not a Prayer Request: Disability Justice in the Church by Amy Kenny (gift from Brazos Press)

I read this book in March, and I thought about it throughout the rest of the year. It looks at Bible stories and church teachings through a disability justice lens, and I absolutely needed that. I very much appreciated this book and think it’s a must-read for anyone in Christian Church leadership. Full thoughts here.

Disfigured: On Fairy Tales, Disability, and Making Space by Amanda Leduc

I read this and the next book for an episode of Tales from a Bibliophile in which I was a guest for Disability Pride Month. Part memoir, but mostly an analysis of disability portrayal in fairy tales, this book asks us to question why disabled people are often portrayed in certain ways in the stories we hear and how that affects the way we view the disabled people we come across in real life. Full review.

Crip Kinship: The Disability Justice & Art Activism of Sins Invalid by Shayda Kafai

I very much appreciated that this book is a record of the history of Sins Invalid and the work that they have done for disability justice advocacy, both by teaching workshops and providing a space for disabled people to perform. More of my thoughts can be found here.

Disability and the Church: A Vision for Diversity and Inclusion by Lamar Hardwick: This book was written by an autistic pastor for a Christian audience about how the Christian Church can be a more welcoming space for disabled people. One note that he uses the term “special needs,” which I’m not a fan of. But I overall, appreciate his intention and the way he speaks to this audience about the way disabled people have often been overlooked or mistreated in church spaces. My review.

*Some of the links listed above are affiliate links, meaning that if you make a purchase using that link, I receive a small percentage of the sale’s profit. This helps me keep doing these posts and recommending incredible books.