Every World Book Day gives us the chance to celebrate the stories that open our minds, deepen our understanding of one another, and spark conversations. This year, our team at Attitude is Everything have chosen a mix of books to share, exploring disability justice, music, identity, culture, and the beauty of everyday life.
Disability Visibility: First-Person Stories from the Twenty-First Century – Alice Wong
Alice Wong brings together an urgent, galvanizing collection of personal essays by disabled people in the 21st century. From Harriet McBryde Johnson’s account of her famous debate with Princeton philosopher Peter Singer over her own personhood, to original pieces by up-and-coming authors like Keah Brown and Haben Girma; from blog posts, manifestos, eulogies, testimonies to Congress, and beyond: this anthology gives a glimpse of the vast richness and complexity of the disabled experience, highlighting the passions, talents, and everyday lives of this community.
YEAR OF WONDER: Classical Music for Every Day – Clemency Burton-Hill
Year of Wonder is a unique celebration of classical music by an author who wants to share its diverse wonders with others and to encourage a love for this genre in all readers, whether complete novices or lifetime enthusiasts.
The Pretty One : On Life, Pop Culture, Disability, and Other Reasons to Fall in Love with Me – Keah Brown
From the disability rights advocate and creator of the #DisabledAndCute viral campaign, The Pretty One is a thoughtful, inspiring, and charming collection of essays exploring what it means to be Black and disabled in a mostly able-bodied white America.
Autistic and Black: Our Experiences of Growth, Progress and Empowerment – Kala Allen Omeiza
In this powerful insight into the lives of Black autistic people, Kala Allen Omeiza brings together a community of voices from across the world, spanning religions, sexuality and social economic status to provide a deep and rich understanding of what it means to be autistic and Black.
Listen: On Music, Sound and Us – Michel Faber
In Listen, Michel Faber’s lifelong passion for music culminates in an intriguing exploration of two big questions: how we listen to music and why we listen to music. He muses on the notion of ‘cool’, delves into the rich lodes of commercial and aesthetic worth and interviews a panoply of people who experience music in different ways, unlocking some surprising answers.
Good Pop, Bad Pop – Jarvis Cocker
What if the things we keep hidden say more about us than those we put on display? When Jarvis Cocker starts clearing out his loft, he finds a jumble of objects that catalogue his story. From a Gold Star polycotton shirt to a pack of Wrigley’s Extra, from his teenage attempts to write songs to the Sexy Laughs Fantastic Dirty Joke Book, this is the hard evidence of Jarvis’s unique life, Pulp, 20th century pop culture, the good times and the mistakes he’d rather forget.
The Radio Phonics Laboratory – Justin Patrick Moore
The Radio Phonics Laboratory explores the intersection of technology and creativity that shaped the sonic landscape of the 20th century. Tracing the origins of synthetic speech and its applications in various fields, the book unveils the pivotal role it played in shaping the artistic vision of musicians and sound pioneers.
