This video makes me so happy, as a long time booktube watcher I love the representation in this community and the discussion around chronic illness! I have ME(/cfs) myself have never encountered anyone with that illness in fiction. It would be wonderful if I ever found something like that. It is so good to be able to identify with or recognize parts of yourself in others and even in characters like in fiction. It works both ways: not only do you feel like your experience is suddenly a shared experience (because what makes a person more comfortable than sharing, both their love of something (like harry potter hahah) and their suffering?) but it also has the chance to broaden the knowledge of people who are not in your circumstances. Last week the first TED talk about ME came out, and it made me tear up. I understand what life is like for the speaker. The speaker understands what life is like for me. I am not alone in this and people like me can make a difference! And suddenly, ten thousands of viewers will understand my living situation a tiny bit better. The internet is indeed a blessing for people whose life might be more tied to specific locations, like with many illnesses. My life can have many restrictions, but the internet is a way for me to lift, avoid or overcome many of these barriers. Anyway, I'm looking forward to more videos of both of you! :)

Thank you for this video, my life has completely changed since I became ill 2 years ago. I have severe M.E. , Fibromyalgia and P.O.T.S so your discussion is very interesting. I m bed bound and reading is the only thing I can do. Booktube has also become very important to me. Thank you both for highlighting this. I am very grateful.

Such a fabulous video! As someone who suffers from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome I really think this is a video that should be watched by everyone!! I love the discussion you guys have brought to the table regarding how a chronic condition can effect our reading and booktube-new subscriber! :) x

Sitting watching this video while in hospital at the moment, really encouraging to know I'm the only one seeking for morse diversity in different abilities in books, TV and art. Thank you both for making my crappy day, better! Xx

Hi again Vix! I have been working through your videos to catch up before watching this video, which I have been looking forward to listening to since you and Amy mentioned it on her channel (and I have now watched it twice in the one sitting!). I have POTS too, and chronic fatigue, epilepsy, hashimoto's thryoiditis, migraines, malabsorption, and multiple food intolerances, so I really can relate to a lot of what you were both saying. I really liked your thoughts about reading goals. I have been trying to read more, which as you both said, can be very hard with fatigue etc. I try to keep up a blog in which I do book reviews etc, and I have accepted that my book numbers will be very different to other bloggers'. As I mentioned on your collab video on Amy's channel, I recently read a book called Disabling Characters, which I have reviewed on my blog and I think you'd both really gain a lot from. It is a very interesting book. I really liked your thoughts about feeling productive through reading and reviewing too! I have really been struggling lately because I feel like I have no goal or concrete life plan because of my health. Your concept of achieving something by finishing a book, and then going on to review it, is a really great way of looking at it. Thank you. I will keep that with me. I often feel like there isn't much point of keeping up my blog because I don't have many readers etc. But I like the idea of seeing it as an achievement because I need to read to get to that point of reviewing a book, and perhaps the more I do that, the more people will come to my blog. Audiobooks have been my saviour over the past few years! When my fatigue has been bad, being able to just lie there with my eyes shut but still 'read' has just been great. I agree that sometimes you can miss a bit if you're doing something else, but I also find that I do that when I am physically reading too! I just hit rewind and catch up again. I also love the snooze feature! Ok, I will finish my novel of a comment now!!! Thank you for a great video, and I look forward to more of your content, and Amy's! Bye!

the book I'm reading right now "As I Descended" by Robin Talley has a MC who is permanent on crutches following a childhood accident and who experiences chronic pain, I really like this aspect because it's not a huge aspect it's just there, mentioned when it's relevant but not a huge plot point.

Thought I'd suggest a couple of things to read, they're mainly SCI FI (ish) coz that's been my thing recently? 1) On The Edge Of Gone by Corinne Duyvis it can count as "own voices" sort of YA-ish, about autism, surviving the "apocalypse" and the "worth" of diverse humanity. 2) Border Line by Mishell Baker, probably more "fantasy" than SCI FI ? 3) Planetfall by Emma Newman. I really liked Station Eleven. :) "survival is not enough!"

Hello dear Vix! It is Clara again. Thank you for this debate. I completely felt represented here. As a child, I have CP and I need a powerchair to move, I felt like books were my window to do whatever I wanted (running, fencing, discovering new worlds or new places). Books were my escapism...specially when I went through bone surgery due to scoliosis. My parents read to me as I wasn't able to move from the bed. However, I felt like none of the characters I read where like me: Elizabeth Bennet didn't use a wheelchair, there were no disabled people in Marianne Curley´s books and there was no disabled students in Hogwarts, as you pointed out. And I really needed. As and adult I feel like the stereotypes are basically like sad, rich man that needs the help of an able body person to be happy. I can understand that, for some books that is ok. But it seems to be a trend and I hate it! Why aren´t day disabled badass characters whose disability is secondary? I would love to participate in the search of books with representation. I loved this video, the relaxed atmosphere and how do you interacted! It felt like I was having tea with you too (if you allow me the comment) Great work! I cannot wait to see the next episode. XX Clara

Hello. This video was great, I really loved it. I don't any disabilities, luckily, but I do have a couple of chronic conditions (more to come!), and it was so nice to a video about booktube and chronic illness. I don't have any books to recomend, but there is a must listen to podcast I just have suggest, just to make sure as many people know of it. It's called "In Sickness + In Health". It's great, the podcast is just a woman, Cara Gael, who has Dysautonomia POTS, interviewing other people with other chronic conditions and disibilities.

Spoonie hugs for you two lovelies! My attention was brought to this video by Jen Campbell and I'm so glad I found it. I have chronic pain and am still in diagnosis purgatory, but it's pain on a debilitating and exhausting level that's changed my life, so this was really interesting for me and you said a lot of things that I understood and agreed with. I've been thinking of starting to make videos myself, as it's something I can do from home that could be an interesting challenge. A couple of books I read last year that might interest you both: Holding Up the Universe by Jennifer Niven, in which one of the characters has face blindness. I thought the book was great and it was really interesting to learn about the characters disability and how much it affected his life. The other was A Quiet Kind of Thunder by Sara Barnard in which the main character has selective mutism caused by anxiety and which also features a deaf character. It's a brilliant book, I read it in one sitting because I couldn't stop, with one of the best representations of anxiety that I've ever read. I look forward to seeing more from you two! (On an unrelated to the content note: I love those chairs, they're beautiful.)

I am not disabled, but my Mom had epilepsy. She died in 2002, from an aneurysm in the base of her brain. I grew up taking care of her from the age of 7 until I was 27. Also, I was in an almost four-year relationship with a woman who has cerebral palsy. The only book that I have read about a disability is Joni, which is about a girl named Joni Eareckson who became paralyzed from the neck down in a diving accident. I found your channel via Jen Campbell. I think you are a lovely person.

You're both inspirational and beautiful women

This was an interesting and wonderful conversation

I've been reading a lot for diverseathon this week, and I have run into a lot of books that have diverse characters, but are not *about* diversity. I would be really interested to hear your thoughts on that. The pros/cons to each.

Est ce que tu vas faire des videos en anglais, ou donner des recommendations de livres francophones ?