
For 2023, I plan on reading more disability literature, whether they focus on the disability experience, written by a disabled author, or in another form.
In the last several years, I've noticed an improvement in diversity in publishing, but these are largely gender, sexual/romantic orientation, and racial diversity. Furthermore, I've noticed most of the disability representation I've read are solely mental illnesses/disorders, which does not always align with my disabled experiences. While mental illnesses/disorders are indeed disabilities, I find it concerning that physically disabled people are still ignored and marginalized, undesirable even in fiction. Furthermore, many physically disabled people suffer depression, anxiety, and other various mental illnesses, due to their physical disability. Disability is diversity!
Since I'm not a voracious reader (I read roughly 15 books in 2022), I plan for at least half of my books featuring prominent disability representation. I've found a few interesting fiction and nonfiction books that I'll be adding in my to-be-read list.
I also joined some disability-centric reading challenges on Storygraph, and started a disability focused book club on Literal, so hopefully that's enough motivation for me to stay on track for this year.
Anyway, here's to hoping for a better year!