Welcome to Litsy!

I‘m back from outer space just in time for April and the #DisabilityReadathon! The only requirement to join is to pick up an #OwnVoices book inclusive of disability during the next month.

Here‘s what I‘ve got checked out in anticipation:
About Us: Essays from the Disability Series of the NYT, Being Heumann, a memoir from Judith Heumann (who you may have seen in Netflix‘s Crip Camp), The Pretty One, and My Dyslexia, from a Pulitzer-winning poet.

I‘m delighted by this #OwnVoices book list. I plan for a large portion of my reading this year to be by/inclusive of disabled people, so I need all the lists I can get!

The 3 books I‘ve read - Care Work, Disability Visibility, and Sitting Pretty - were top picks for me last year. That makes me very excited for the ones I‘ve yet to try. #tdr

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/margaretkingsbury/ownvoices-books-disabilit...

Rebekah Taussig, paralyzed after childhood cancer, is a PhD, teacher, mom, advocate, & minor Instagram star. Yet she once believed there was no place for her in the workforce or in romantic relationships because she‘d never seen anyone like herself in those settings. Piece by piece she imagined a life from scratch, and in 8 personal essays she makes a strong case that disabled people are an untapped wealth of creative thinking. #tdr

A collection of essays on the author‘s experiences in Disability Justice networks & movements, centering LGBTQ+ people of color. Out of a repetition of specifics blossoms a vision of how we may truly not leave anyone behind.

Contemplates how society demands a triumph narrative from both abuse survivors & disabled people, and dreams of liberating care from dependence on the state, family, wealth, & individual likability. #DisabilityReadathon #tdr

My first John Green. It‘s pretentious and wordy, as expected, and I liked it! I‘ve always been a bit pretentious and wordy myself.

With its realistic depiction of mental illness, I connected to this teen drama more than most contemporary YA. I don‘t have OCD like the author & protagonist, but my flavor of mental illness has overlapping symptoms, and I have never before seen them put to paper this honestly & accurately. #DisabilityReadathon #tdr

I‘ve read great #OwnVoices disability lit this year, and I wanted to share 3 reads for the upcoming #DisabilityReadathon or for any time!

•Get a Life, Chloe Brown - sexy, funny romance about a 30-year-old‘s bucket list
•Disability Visibility - essays, an excellent companion to personal antiracism works like I‘m Still Here or How To Be An Antiracist
•The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating - gorgeous (indoor!) nature memoir of a post-viral illness #tdr

A sexy, bubbly contemporary romance between a renter & her superintendent - not my usual taste! I picked it up for its disability rep, which is stellar. Chloe‘s fixation on plans & lists and her reluctance to let outsiders see her vulnerabilities build a realistic picture of a young person coping with chronic illness. Her internal monologue was relatable! Combined with a romance readers seem to be enjoying, I give this book a lot of credit. #tdr

This collection of ‘first-person stories‘ blew me away! Each is unique; all are vulnerable, powerful, insightful.

This is a fantastic addition to any anti-racism reading list. The essays are of widely diverse authorship; many speak on how race & disability intersect. A piece by the Harriet Tubman Collective is in direct response to the #BlackLivesMatter platform, including eye-opening police violence statistics. Black disabled lives matter. #tdr