Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge discussion

Here is a thread to discuss books you’re considering or suggesting for Task 12: Read a genre book (SFF, horror, mystery, romance) by a disabled author.

If you like horror, consider any book by B.L. Koller for this prompt!

Nicola Griffith has written books in multiple genres:

Sci Fi - Ammonite

Mystery - The Blue Place

Thriller - So Lucky

And my favorite -- Fantasy/Historical Fiction - Spear or her two books about Hilda of Whitby - Hild and its just released sequel - Menewood.

I'm going with a mental disability so just need to figure out which one.

I'm going with The Labyrinth's Archivist by Day Al-Mohamed.

Nnedi Okorafor had written the excellent Sci-fi Binti: The Complete Trilogy and other works. She has paraplegia.

Sorrowland or The Kiss Quotient

Chris Bonnello is autistic and wrote Underdogs. It's post-apocalyptic.

I highly recommend Talia Hibbert for romance friends. She's disabled, her novels are great, and she has a number of disabled characters. I personally recommend starting with Get a Life, Chloe Brown (the protagonist has fibromyalgia, and subsequent books in the trilogy deal with mental health and autism) or A Girl Like Her (the protagonist is autistic). I very likely will read more Talia Hibbert in the coming year, so if nothing else I know this task will be completed.

Some other recommendations:
-Eight Kinky Nights by Xan West (romance, author had/characters have physical disabilities/chronic illnesses)
-Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle (horror, author and protagonist are autistic)
-Mooncakes by Suzanne Walker, art by Wendy Xu (fantasy graphic novel, writer and protagonist are deaf)
-An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon (sci-fi, author and protagonist are autistic)

That said, I'm disabled, and I want to be reading more disability stories in general. I'm considering The Princess Trap and Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute by Talia Hibbert, Nine of Swords, Reversed and Their Troublesome Crush by Xan West, One for All by Lillie Lainoff, Hell Followed With Us and The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White, Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon, Experimental Film by Gemma Files, The Labyrinth's Archivist by Day Al-Mohamed, and probably others. There's no help narrowing it down when I plan on paying close attention to the suggestions for this one. Give me all the disability fic by disabled authors.

Leigh Bardugo and Nicola Griffith both immediately spring to mind. I think I remember reading that Octavia Butler counts, too? And if you like YA Thrillers there's Tessa Sharpe

Marylyle wrote: "Nnedi Okorafor had written the excellent Sci-fi Binti: The Complete Trilogy and other works. She has paraplegia."

Just FYI, the prompt is for a disabled author, not character.

Jillypenny wrote: "Marylyle wrote: "Nnedi Okorafor had written the excellent Sci-fi Binti: The Complete Trilogy and other works. She has paraplegia."

Just FYI, the prompt is for a dis..."

It's Nnedi Okorafor that is disabled, not the character in the book. So any Nnedi Okorafor novel/novella should work here.

The book Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand would work. The author has ME CFS (chronic fatigue syndrome).

Elizabeth wrote: "I highly recommend Talia Hibbert for romance friends. She's disabled, her novels are great, and she has a number of disabled characters. I personally recommend starting with [book:Get a Life, Chloe..."

Oh do Andrew Joseph White and Gemma Files have disabilities? I've got a few of their books on my lists...

Jessica wrote: "Elizabeth wrote: "I highly recommend Talia Hibbert for romance friends. She's disabled, her novels are great, and she has a number of disabled characters. I personally recommend starting with [book..."

They're both autistic.

I recommend The Girl Who Wasn’t There by Penny Joelson. It features the main character who has ME (a chronic illness that often disables) and the author has this same condition.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5...

Uncanny Magazine did a disability issue a few years ago. Highlighting fantasy short fiction and essays by disabled authors.
https://www.uncannymagazine.com/artic...

I will probably read Spear by Nicola Griffith because I just picked up a copy. But also have Spelunking Through Hell by Seanan McGuire (who has a spinal condition) and In the Lives of Puppets by T.J. Klune (who has ADHD) on my tbr shelf. And on researching this prompt I saw that Robin McKinley has ME and would qualify as well. So lots of great options!

Marylyle wrote: "Nnedi Okorafor had written the excellent Sci-fi Binti: The Complete Trilogy and other works. She has paraplegia."

What disability does Helen Hoang have? I would love to read The Heart Principle for this task.

Audra wrote: "Marylyle wrote: "Nnedi Okorafor had written the excellent Sci-fi Binti: The Complete Trilogy and other works. She has paraplegia."

What disability does Helen Hoang ..."

Helen Hoang is autistic.

Elizabeth wrote: "Audra wrote: "Marylyle wrote: "Nnedi Okorafor had written the excellent Sci-fi Binti: The Complete Trilogy and other works. She has paraplegia."

What disability doe..."

I never think of autism as a disability...stupid me.

I just heard of this book from a podcast (This Podcast Will Kill You lol). Not sure if you can use this one specifically to double up, but the author has osteogenesis imperfecta ("brittle bone disease"). Hummingbird by Natalie Lloyd

I find this challenge pretty difficult cause if you search for disabled authors you either get all the same recommendations or you get books where there is a disabled character, not necessarily author.

I went through the Wikipedia list of writers with a disability and found some that are also on the "1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die" list:

Flannery O’connor
Salman Rushdie
James Thurber
John Irving
Arthur C Clarke

I'd much prefer to read a romance book for this prompt (but I dislike Talia Hibbert's writings) but since these classics authors count, I think I'll end up reading 2001: A Space Odyssey for this prompt since it fits both RH and the 1001 Book Challenge.

I didn't realize Paulo Coelho is disabled, and By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept is listed as a romance.

Also The Alchemist is listed as fantasy. I read it last year so I'll probably pick one of his others for this challenge.

is it just me or are the titles extremely hard to find this year. I am all for expanding the genres I read but these days I try to find lists of disabled authors, definitions of genres I have never heard before and while thepoint is to read more, I doubt it's meant like. that. I'm reading less books this way bc the challenges are so special. i only have a digital library to choose from, not everyone is located in the US and or can afford to buy a book per challenge. How do I search for disabled authors in the library catalogue?

Doing the challenge for the first time this year. I'm hoping to do the bonus task, and complete all the tasks with LGBTQ+ authors. Any recommendations for this task with such authors? Thanks, and happy reading, everyone!

Louis wrote: "Doing the challenge for the first time this year. I'm hoping to do the bonus task, and complete all the tasks with LGBTQ+ authors. Any recommendations for this task with such authors? Thanks, and h..."

Nicola Griffith would fit this prompt. She is an LBGTQ+ writer who writes fantasy. Her latest book (I think) is Spear. That's what I'm going to read for this one.

Cheers and happy reading!

Jen wrote: "Louis wrote: "Doing the challenge for the first time this year. I'm hoping to do the bonus task, and complete all the tasks with LGBTQ+ authors. Any recommendations for this task with such authors?..." Jen, thank you, thank you, thank you! I'm going to check out her book this afternoon! Meanwhile, I see that some time ago I put another book of this author's on my TBR, but it had fallen off my radar some time ago. "Hild." How was that, if you happened to read it?

Gracias again!! I'm psyched to read "Spear"!

Looked up some options with a friend and found this one that I'm going to try - a SFF Novella The Labyrinth's Archivist. If anyone has read it - let me know if it is a good one!

Natalie Piccotti wrote: "Looked up some options with a friend and found this one that I'm going to try - a SFF Novella The Labyrinth's Archivist. If anyone has read it - let me know if it is a good one!" Cool, thanks! Happy reading!!

I'm planning on reading True Love Bites by Joy Demorra for this. She has MCAS and POTS and is a disability advocate. True Love Bites is a queer romance fantasy involving a vampire and a werewolf.

Heather wrote: "I'm planning on reading True Love Bites by Joy Demorra for this. She has MCAS and POTS and is a disability advocate. True Love Bites is a queer romance fantasy involving a vampire a..." Thanks so much, Heather!! Happy reading!

Louis wrote: "Heather wrote: "I'm planning on reading True Love Bites by Joy Demorra for this. She has MCAS and POTS and is a disability advocate. True Love Bites is a queer romance fantasy invol..." P.S. True confessions: I had to look up what MCAS and POTS are. Thanks for helping me learn about that as well!

Octavia Butler - Dawn. Ms Butler was both dyslexic and neurodivergent. And a bloody brilliant writer in any genre, although she focused on sci-fi.

I've been slowly working my way through Seanan McGuire's Wayward Children series, so I used #6 Across the Green Grass Fields for this prompt. I also enjoyed the narrator for this one; I've listened to all of them and some of the narrators are hit or miss for me, but this one was great.

Some disabled authors (I tried to include their disability only in case someone is interested in that particular perspective):

Octavia E. Butler (dyslexia) - I adore everything she wrote. Sci-fi/speculative fiction.

Chris Bonnello (autism) - Underdogs is a dystopian YA story with disabled characters. At the moment this is a 4-book series.

Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha (autism, mobility disability) - I loved their book The Future Is Disabled: Prophecies, Love Notes, and Mourning Songs if you are looking for a non-fiction option, they also wrote about their life in Dirty River: A Queer Femme of Color Dreaming Her Way Home.

Naoki Higashida (autism) - Most famous book is The Reason I Jump: the Inner Voice of a Thirteen-Year-Old Boy with Autism and it is great.

Hannah Gadsby (autism) - Ten Steps to Nanette - What can I say? I love her and loved this memoir!

David Small (impaired speech) - Stitches: A Memoir is a wonderful autobiographic graphic novel.

Susanna Kaysen (mental illness) - Girl, Interrupted

Sylvia Plath (mental illness) - The Bell Jar

Some other possible authors for this prompt (that I didn't read yet):
Seanan McGuire (mobility/back disability)
Carrie Fisher (bipolar disorder)
Nnedi Okorafor (mobility disability)
Stephen Hawking (ALS)
Eli Clare (cerebral palsy)
Christy Brown - My Left Foot(cerebral palsy)
Judith Heumann (paralyzed from polio) - Being Heumann: An Unrepentant Memoir of a Disability Rights Activist
Rivers Solomon (autism, ADHD)

Since this is a particular category I seek out books from specifically I have read so many of the suggestions here already! Luckily there are new books coming out all the time and for this challenge I went with Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros, who has EDS. I happened to already have it on hold at the library from last year, haha, but the waitlist was 10 weeks+ on it, so I didn't get to read it until after I found out it would be perfect for this challenge.

I finally read Kindred and it counts for this prompt.

Amy wrote: "I just heard of this book from a podcast (This Podcast Will Kill You lol). Not sure if you can use this one specifically to double up, but the author has osteogenesis imperfecta ("brittle bone dise..."

This is the book I am reading for this prompt. I am a substitute teacher, and I read some of it with my kids. I kept trying to find it in other classrooms and couldn't, so I just went ahead and reserved it at the library. I picked it up yesterday.

I read Hild by Nicola Griffith for this task. Took me forever to finish this book. I usually like historical fiction, and love anything Irish, but this a difficult read. Maybe if I had read some background about the time and place, even the real characters, it would have been easier to understand.

Louis wrote: "Doing the challenge for the first time this year. I'm hoping to do the bonus task, and complete all the tasks with LGBTQ+ authors. Any recommendations for this task with such authors? Thanks, and h..."

Rivers Solomon is non-binary and intersex and has Autism and ADHD. They write sci-fi books.

I wound up reading a mystery: The Framed Women of Ardemore House by Brandy Schillace, who self-identifies as autistic and disabled.

I read In the Lives of Puppets. 4 stars. I enjoyed.

Madeline Miller, author of Circe and The Song of Achilles has long Covid, which I would 100% qualify as a disability-- she's said it's why she's stalled out writing.

I read El Deafo by Cece Bell, the genre being memoir