Elayne McCarthy of Potomac, MD belongs to a very unique and admirable book club called "Reading for Life." She and her fellow members all have aphasia, which is the partial or total loss of the ability to articulate ideas or comprehend spoken or written language. In this interview Elaine shares details about her club's meetings (which are led by a speech therapist), including their favorite books and snacks, and how they keep the proceedings lighthearted and positive.

Q: Does your group have a name and/or a theme? How long has your group been in existence?

A: Reading for Life --- I joined it about 1 year ago.

Q: How many members do you have? How many men, how many women? What age are most of your members?

A: 4 members (2 men, 2 women), all 55 years old.

Q: How often do you meet? Where do you meet?

A: Monthly --- at a local Community Center in Potomac, MD from 1:30pm to 3:00pm.

Q: Do you eat at your meetings? What do you eat? Who brings the food?

A: Yes. Cookies, brownies and water. We takes turns bringing the food.

Q: Who leads the discussion? Do you use reading group guides?

A: Jennifer (our speech therapist) leads the group. We all have aphasia. After the book is read, we answer the list of questions.

Q: What kind of books do you read?

A: Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand, Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, Skipping Christmas by John Grisham, and Circuit.

Q: How do you choose your books? Do you choose one new book at each meeting, or do you choose the books for a number of meetings ahead of time?

A: We pick out the book, otherwise Jennifer has to pick it.

Q: What were some of the best discussions or favorite books the group read?

A: Seabiscuit

Q: How do you keep things fun?

A: We laugh a lot.

Q: What advice would you give to other reading groups?

A: Have lots of laughs.

Q: Is there anything else unique or noteworthy about your group that you would like to share?

A: It is an aphasia book club.

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