Disability Intimacy: Essays on Love Care and Desire

♿️ The Bookish Mutant’s Books for Disability Pride Month (2025 Edition) ♿️

Posted on July 2, 2025 by madeline @ The Bookish Mutant

Happy Wednesday, bibliophiles!

Here in the U.S., July is Disability Pride Month! This July, we find ourselves in a situation that’s far from celebratory. Both the U.S. and the U.K. are on the verge of passing legislation that would make cuts to the healthcare programs and benefits that many disabled people rely on. It’s clearer than ever that the people in power see disabled people as disposable and not deserving of respect. In the years since I’ve started making these posts, visibility for disabled people (and this pride month) has seen a small increase (in my experience) yet continues to be left behind in feminism. And I’m still on the hunt for any kind of media that accurately represents my own disability (sensory processing disorder), and I know many disabled people have had similar experiences. But that’s no reason to give up. It’s no reason to stop writing, to stop reading, and to stop listening to the lived experiences of disabled people. We cannot be erased with legislation—we will always be here, and we’re sticking around no matter what.

So here is another list of some of the best books with disabled representation that I’ve read in the past year! I’ve included books from all age ranges (middle grade to adult) and genres that represent a multitude of disabilities.

NOTE: my memory (and the internet) is imperfect, so if I’ve misrepresented/mislabeled any of the specific rep in these books, don’t hesitate to let me know!

KEY FOR TERMS IN THIS POST:

MC: Main character
LI: Love interest
SC: Side character

For my previous lists, click below:

Let’s begin, shall we?

♿️THE BOOKISH MUTANT’S BOOKS FOR DISABILITY PRIDE MONTH (2024 EDITION)♿️

FANTASY:

When the Tides Held the Moon – Venessa Vida Kelley | Adult | MC with asthma, little person SC, SC with gigantism | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Sixteen Souls – Rosie Talbot | YA | MC with prosthetic limbs | ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
The Maid and the Crocodile – Jordan Ifueko | YA | MC with vitiligo and crooked foot (cane user) | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Brooms – Jasmine Walls and Teo DuVall | MG | Deaf MC | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
To a Darker Shore – Leanne Schwartz | YA | Autistic MC | ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Lightfall: The Girl & The Galdurian – Tim Probert | MG | MC with anxiety disorder | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

SCIENCE FICTION:

Goldilocks – Laura Lam | Adult | MC with PCOS | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Dust – Alison Stine | YA | Deaf MC and SCs | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Stardust Grail – Yume Kitasei | Adult | MC with chronic migraines | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Being Ace: An Anthology of Queer, Trans, Femme, and Disabled Stories of Asexual Love and Connection – edited by Madeline Dyer * | YA | various disabilities throughout (anthology) | ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Accessing the Future: A Disability-Themed Anthology of Speculative Fiction – edited by Kathryn Allan and Djibril Al-Ayad | Adult | various disabilities throughout (anthology) | ⭐️⭐️⭐️.75
Finna – Nino Cipri | Adult | MC with depression | ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Time and Time Again – Chatham Greenfield | YA | MC with IBS and anxiety, LI with oligoarthritis | ⭐️⭐️⭐️.75
The Vela – Becky Chambers, S.L. Huang, Yoon Ha Lee, and Rivers Solomon | Adult | Deaf MC | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
A People’s Future of the United States – edited by Victor LaValle and John Joseph Adams | Adult | various disabilities throughout (anthology) | ⭐️⭐️⭐️.75

*I’ve arbitrarily included Being Ace in the science fiction section, but it includes several genres, many of which fall under sci-fi/fantasy. It could theoretically go in all three fiction categories in this post.

REALISTIC FICTION:

Roll for Love – M.K. England | YA | MC with anxiety disorder | ⭐️⭐️⭐️.75
Love Letters from Joy – Melissa See | YA | MC with cerebral palsy | ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Death of the Author – Nnedi Okorafor | Adult | wheelchair-using MC/later uses prosthetic limbs | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Navigating With You – Jeremy Whitley and Cassio Ribeiro | YA | MC with cerebral palsy | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Stars in Their Eyes – Jessica Walton and Aśka | YA | MC with prosthetic leg, LI with anxiety disorder | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Joined at the Joints – Marissa Eller | YA | MC, LI, and SCs with juvenile arthritis, SC with celiac disease | ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Afrotistic – Kala Allen Omeiza | YA | Autistic MC, SCs with autism and cerebral palsy | ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Life Hacks for a Little Alien – Alice Franklin | Adult | Autistic MC | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

NONFICTION (or “Oops! All Alice Wong”):

Disability Visibility: First-Person Stories from the Twenty-First Century – edited by Alice Wong | Adult | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Year of the Tiger: An Activist’s Life – Alice Wong | Adult | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Invisible: How Women with Serious Health Issues Navigate Work, Relationships, and the Pressure to Seem Just Fine – Michele Lent Hirsch | Adult | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Strong Female Character – Fern Brady | Adult | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Mean Little Deaf Queer: A Memoir – Terry Galloway | Adult | ⭐️⭐️⭐️.75
Disability Intimacy: Essays on Love, Care, and Desire – edited by Alice Wong | Adult | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK! Have you read any of these books, and if so, did you enjoy them? What are some of your favorite books with disability rep? Let me know in the comments!

Today’s song:

That’s it for this recommendations list! Have a wonderful rest of your day, and take care of yourselves!

Books

The Bookish Mutant’s Feminist Books for Women’s History Month 🚺 (2025 Edition)

Posted on March 4, 2025March 4, 2025 by madeline @ The Bookish Mutant

Happy Tuesday, bibliophiles!

Here in the U.S., March is Women’s History Month! Every year, I find myself repeating the same horrors about the attacks on women’s rights in the past five years. This year is no different, save for the fact that with Trump’s presidency, so many men have felt emboldened to let their misogyny run rampant—and our society seems to encourage it, time after time. Every year, we fight to make sure that misogyny, sexism, and rape culture become impermissible again. Though it seems like an uphill climb with no discernible light at the end of the tunnel, there will always be a constant: we will keep fighting for all women. For women of color, for immigrant women, for queer and trans women (especially trans women, because feminism wouldn’t be possible without them), for disabled women, for survivors. They keep pushing against them, so we’ll keep fighting—and keep reading. The good news is that literature is rife with heroines fighting against the system, and as long as these stories are told and spread, someone will be inspired to fight. So as with all the other year, I’ve compiled even more books of women fighting against oppression from a variety of perspectives, age ranges, and genres.

NOTE: once again, I’ve switched these posts to books for several age ranges, too lazy to change the header, etc. etc.

For my previous lists, click below:

Let’s begin, shall we?

🚺THE BOOKISH MUTANT’S BOOKS FOR WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH🚺

SCIENCE FICTION:

Countess – Suzan Palumbo | Adult, POC, retellings | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Camp Zero – Michelle Sterling | Adult, POC, dystopia | ⭐️⭐️⭐️.75
Womb City – Tlotlo Tsamaase | Adult, POC, Afrofuturism, horror | ⭐️⭐️⭐️.75
Goldilocks – Laura Lam | Adult, dystopia, disability | ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Agnes at the End of the World – Kelly McWilliams | YA, dystopia | ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

FANTASY:

Our Crooked Hearts – Melissa Albert | YA, paranormal, urban fantasy, mystery, LGBTQ+ | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Maid and the Crocodile – Jordan Ifueko | YA, POC, high fantasy, disability | ⭐️⭐️⭐️.75
So Let Them Burn – Kamilah Cole | YA, POC, high fantasy, | ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Brooms – Jasmine Walls and Teo DuVall | YA, alternate history, LGBTQ+, POC, disability | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Unbroken – C.L. Clark | Adult, high fantasy, POC, LGBTQ+ | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Squire – Sara Alfageeh and Nadia Shammas | MG, POC, high fantasy | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

REALISTIC FICTION:

This Book Won’t Burn – Samira Ahmed | YA, contemporary, LGBTQ+ | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder – Holly Jackson | YA, mystery/thriller | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Shit Cassandra Saw – Gwen E. Kirby | Adult, short stories | ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
While You Were Dreaming – Alisha Rai | YA, romance, POC | ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Love Letters for Joy – Melissa See | YA, romance, LGBTQ+, disability | ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

NONFICTION:

Disability Intimacy: Essays on Love, Care, and Desire – edited by Alice Wong | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
You’ll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey: Crazy Stories about Racism – Amber Ruffin and Lacey Lamar | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
How Women Made Music: A Revolutionary History from NPR Music – National Public Radio | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Year of the Tiger: An Activist’s Life – Alice Wong | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
All About Love: New Visions – bell hooks | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK! Have you read any of these books, and if so, what did you think of them? What are your favorite feminist books? Let me know in the comments!

Today’s song:

How Women Made Music brought me here…

That’s it for this year’s Women’s History Month list! Have a wonderful rest of your day, and take care of yourselves!

Monthly Wrap-Ups

July 2024 Wrap-Up 🌤

Posted on July 31, 2024 by madeline @ The Bookish Mutant

Happy Wednesday, bibliophiles!

Somehow July’s already over…it felt awfully fast, yet the heat made the evenings so slow…time, huh?

Let’s begin, shall we?

GENERAL THOUGHTS:

July for sure had its ups and downs; I was getting hit with the election anxiety big time at the beginning of the month…so naturally, I was overjoyed at the prospect that Biden had dropped out of the election. Comforting that my options aren’t just “old white man with dementia” and “old white man with dementia who also happens to be a felon.” (Still. No excuse to vote for the felon, folks. Harris 2024!). So my faith has been restored on that front, and I’ve ended the month on a much more hopeful note, thankfully. America remains a dumpster fire, but least there’s some light at the end of the tunnel.

I was able to read a good amount this month, though! As is with every year, I was scrambling to find more and more books with disability rep for Disability Pride Month (there’s a solid amount out there, but it’s still fairly scarce), but I ended up reading some excellent books as a result! Summer has confined me to the house for the most part, what with the miserable heat (listen, I like summer, but not 90 degree heat, let me be clear), but it’s given me plenty of time to read—and to write! I participated in Camp NaNoWriMo this month, and as of today, I reached my goal of 50,000 words a day early! I had no idea that I’d be able to pull it off a day early—I had my ups and downs as far as motivation goes, but now, I’m a little over halfway through my first draft of this novel! I’ve also had fun with my blogging this month, and I feel like I’ve written some productive reviews.

Other than that, I’ve just been drawing, playing guitar, drinking a ton of tea, watching Succession (nearly finished with season 2!), watching and re-watching several Studio Ghibli movies (technically, I saw Ponyo when I was 5, but it felt like a fever dream back then…MUCH more beautiful now!), and doing everything I can to get out of this heat.

READING AND BLOGGING:

I read 18 books this month! As with every month, there were some hits (nearly 5 stars) and misses (an unfortunate DNF…), but I especially had fun reading books for this year’s Disability Pride Month!

1 – 1.75 stars: