The Joy of a Hearing Loss Book Club

Do you have a hearing loss book club? I highly recommend it.

Mine started several years ago with a few friends from my local Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA) chapter. We all loved to read, but needed the extra motivation of a scheduled meeting time to help us find the time to do it. Well, at least I did!

At first, our meetings rotated among each of our homes. Surroundings were quiet, and food was simple. When the pandemic hit, we moved book club online, aided by auto-captioning and speech-to-text apps.

Whether in-person or online, the first few moments are spent arranging ourselves for optimal communication: Who should be facing who? What tech tools need to be set up and tested? Are the auto-captions enabled?

We started with hearing loss related books, but soon turned to other topics. Because of my book club, I have read many fascinating books I would never have chosen. The other members have been equally willing to read some of my favorite dystopian tales. The best part is the camaraderie and support we glean from this shared activity that we all enjoy.

woman-in-large-sunhat-reading-book-and-smiling
Book clubs can be fun for people with hearing loss

Start Your Own Hearing Loss Book Club

Book clubs are well suited to people with hearing loss. Most take place in a quiet setting and because the topic is known, communication is easier. Plus, you can often pick and choose the members who make it easiest for you to participate.

Structure Your Book Club for Success

Whether your book club contains people with hearing loss or not, good communication is essential. Follow these tips for an optimal set-up.

  1. Keep the group small. A book club of four has worked well for us.
  2. Sit in a circle whenever possible to improve sight lines for speechreading.
  3. Set communication ground rules, like speaking one at a time and enunciating well. Some book clubs even use a talking stick or pillow to control crosstalk.
  4. Use a book club discussion guide. This helps organize the conversation, making it easier to know the context for other people’s comments.
  5. Keep food simple to minimize distractions that make conversation more difficult.

Book Club Guides Enhance the Experience

Our book club uses a discussion guide whenever possible. While we don’t always follow it to the letter, the guide often sparks interesting conversation and keeps us on track. Google “book club guide” and the name of the book and you are sure to find one. Most are free.

When Gael Hannan and I wrote our book, “Hear & Beyond: Live Skillfully with Hearing Loss,” we created a discussion guide for our book too. Get your FREE Hear & Beyond Discussion Guide on our book website.

Readers, do you have a hearing loss book club?

Related Posts

Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter

Never miss a post! Sign up for email alerts. 

Book: Hear & Beyond: Live Skillfully with Hearing Loss

10 thoughts on “The Joy of a Hearing Loss Book Club

  1. Susan Berger – Blogging is one big experiment for me. Will it work? Who knows. I'll link websites that have published my essays and maybe I'll write original posts. My topics will be observations, points of view and life as I see it. I'm still marinating...
    Susan Berger says:

    Thanks, Shari. When you mentioned having a talking stick, the Qball came to mind. It’s basically an amplified talking stick (ball)! It may be perfect for a book club setting.

    1. Shari Eberts – NYC – Shari Eberts is a passionate hearing health advocate and internationally recognized author and speaker on hearing loss issues. She is the founder of Living with Hearing Loss, a popular blog and online community for people with hearing loss, and an executive producer of "We Hear You," an award-winning documentary about the hearing loss experience. Her book, "Hear & Beyond: Live Skillfully with Hearing Loss," (co-authored with Gael Hannan) is the ultimate survival guide to living well with hearing loss. Shari has an adult-onset genetic hearing loss and hopes that by sharing her story, she will help others to live more peacefully with their own hearing issues.
      Shari Eberts says:

      Yes! Good suggestion. Thanks for your comment.

  2. Great post. I love my hearing loss book club too (9 of us!) It’s a great way to socialize and learn new ideas with people who know how to support each other’s hearing loss. And you’re not talking about hearing loss all the time!

    1. Shari Eberts – NYC – Shari Eberts is a passionate hearing health advocate and internationally recognized author and speaker on hearing loss issues. She is the founder of Living with Hearing Loss, a popular blog and online community for people with hearing loss, and an executive producer of "We Hear You," an award-winning documentary about the hearing loss experience. Her book, "Hear & Beyond: Live Skillfully with Hearing Loss," (co-authored with Gael Hannan) is the ultimate survival guide to living well with hearing loss. Shari has an adult-onset genetic hearing loss and hopes that by sharing her story, she will help others to live more peacefully with their own hearing issues.
      Shari Eberts says:

      So glad you have one too! Thanks for your comment.

  3. Perhaps your book club readers would be interested in my new series which features a main character who has hearing loss. The first in the series is titled: Seeing in the Quiet and the next, coming out this fall, will be titled: Finding Rosey. They can be found both as paperbacks and eBooks on Amazon.

    1. Shari Eberts – NYC – Shari Eberts is a passionate hearing health advocate and internationally recognized author and speaker on hearing loss issues. She is the founder of Living with Hearing Loss, a popular blog and online community for people with hearing loss, and an executive producer of "We Hear You," an award-winning documentary about the hearing loss experience. Her book, "Hear & Beyond: Live Skillfully with Hearing Loss," (co-authored with Gael Hannan) is the ultimate survival guide to living well with hearing loss. Shari has an adult-onset genetic hearing loss and hopes that by sharing her story, she will help others to live more peacefully with their own hearing issues.
      Shari Eberts says:

      Thanks for providing the information.

  4. Hi, Shari, what a wonderful idea! If you are now meeting in person, is there any concern about masking? Or whether the participants have been fully vaccinated and boosted? Thank you.

    1. Shari Eberts – NYC – Shari Eberts is a passionate hearing health advocate and internationally recognized author and speaker on hearing loss issues. She is the founder of Living with Hearing Loss, a popular blog and online community for people with hearing loss, and an executive producer of "We Hear You," an award-winning documentary about the hearing loss experience. Her book, "Hear & Beyond: Live Skillfully with Hearing Loss," (co-authored with Gael Hannan) is the ultimate survival guide to living well with hearing loss. Shari has an adult-onset genetic hearing loss and hopes that by sharing her story, she will help others to live more peacefully with their own hearing issues.
      Shari Eberts says:

      That is something each book club would need to work out for themselves based on personal preferences. Thank you for your comment.

Leave a ReplyCancel reply

%%footer%%