Welcome to Litsy!

Scored this from a little free library! 🤓

Thanks for the tag @dabbe 💕

- Sitting Pretty by Rebekah Taussig - an incredible piece of writing on disability activism

- Black and British by David Olusoga - a scholarly, tightly-researched work on the history of Black people in Britain

- The Body is Not an Apology by Sonya Renee Taylor - a book about how we as a society rank bodies and how to blast this attitude with self-love

Wanna play? @The_Penniless_Author @julesG @Yuki_Onna

“I was like a woman trying to make spaghetti in the dark, destroying the kitchen as I grabbed every ingredient in the cupboard just in case it happened to be the one I needed. In the midst of my verbal wandering, I inevitably reached for the word “shame”—the box where I had lived for so very long, the box I still find myself tumbling back into with less provocation than I‘d like to admit.“

Wonderful, I loved it!!!

Friendly, no bullshit look at one disabled woman's experiences, how parts of her life lead into discussions about the many sides to and consequences of ableism, with thoughtful discussion of what needs to change, and how centering disabled folks is the best path forward to meaningful change that will improve society as a whole. 1/?

Welcome to today's edition of Capitalism Sucks!

Giftie! The library gods have blessed me. Usually I find a receipt used as an impromptu bookmark, not a metal heart-hot air balloon. 🎈🩶
Of course I basically never use bookmarks ...chances are I'll also forget it's there and pass it onto the next borrower. 🤷🏼‍♂️

Grad school flashbacks! 📚📑📒🎒🙃

Social model of disability. First read about in Disfigured; wish I'd encountered it earlier in life.

😉

😑🙄
We're all clear on the fact that audiobooks = books, RIGHT?!
No heirarchy does or should exist in the way one consumes a book, RIGHT?!
Good.

Finishing up my March reviews & #bookpsin books. Taussing discusses what it‘s like living in a world that is not fully designed for disabled people, particularly people with physical disabilities. She highlights the difficulties involved in higher education, job security, housing, medicine, & navigating the world of things like social security & Medicaid. Our society, unfortunately, still blames people for their disability & that it is a

This book was incredible, and I'd recommend it to anyone and everyone.

Taussig covers so much material here: accessibility, representation, the limitations of "kindness", what it means for everybody who has a body to navigate an ableist society.

What surprised me the most was just how much common ground I found with the author. She really makes these complex topics universal.

Essential reading.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Non-fiction additions to my library!

So glad I read this!

#12booksof2022 - November @Andrew65

Very good!

“He‘s working so hard to pretend that disabled people aren‘t a part of his world—could never be a part of his world—when he literally has a disabled woman for a teacher making direct eye contact with him at this very moment. I‘ve never seen someone work so hard to not care.”

I thought this book was great. It gives readers a lot to think about, especially in her chapter about acts of “kindness” toward people with disabilities that may or may not be actually helpful, as well as the parts about affording medical care and how hard it is to find accessible and affordable housing. I follow her on Instagram and hope she writes more.

Collection of essays describing the authors experience of being disabled in an abled world, and advocating for representation, inclusion, and accessibility. It‘s not perfect, but I‘m glad I‘ve read this. I think our book group will have lots to discuss.

Sooooo good! I can def say this expanded my world view. I actively try to be a pretty aware person, but omg do I have a wayyyyy to go. The chapter where she describes her experiences with teaching high school… honestly!!… so many feels. Stack this one!

“How do you invite another person into a lifetime of moments—a million tiny stings? How do you translate the sharp pain that comes from seeing your secret fears confirmed—that your life really is a tragedy? What words do you choose to communicate the weight of believing—through your spine and into your digits—that you don‘t belong?”

“A world built on speed, productivity, more, more, more! and far too few bathrooms (and bathroom breaks) does not consider or care for the actual bodies we live in. In other words, ableism affects all of us, whether we consider ourselves disabled or not.”

I enjoyed this. Highly recommended.

This book was phenomenal. Taussig is an excellent storyteller who writes about her lived experiences as a member of the disability community. Everything is presented with such nuance. This would be valuable to read on its own or as a complement to other Disability Studies books, for either disabled or nondisabled people. I read the library‘s copy but will buy one because it was that good.

Teacher, disability advocate, and Instagrammer Rebekah Taussig delivers a moving & unflinching memoir in this collection of essays. Her writing is personable & thoughtful.

The essays examine aspects of living with disabilities, talk about society‘s attitudes, & reflection the portrayal of disabilities in media.

Listening to her narration gave me the same feelings of rage & camaraderie that I got from listening to Lindy West‘s Shrill. 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌗

Putting these little stickers in books makes me inexplicably happy. I keep them only for the books I know I want to keep forever and read again and again. The tagged book, is absolutely one of those. I‘m also mildly obsessed with her Instagram account/brutally honest blog.

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

I bumped into a new essay collection at my library and am delighted by it! This quote spoke to my experience as a disabled person.

First Taussig opens her heart to share her difficult memories, then, more vulnerably, she begins tackling her difficult feelings. From deriving self-esteem from finally being catcalled to feeling resentful of some strangers‘ kindness, it‘s honest stuff presented in a thoughtful and eye-opening (or validating!) way.