Reading List
Gentle things to read.
These books and gentle reads have supported us through overwhelm, quiet struggles, and moments of rebuilding. We’ve chosen titles that feel soft, accessible, and grounding, especially for people navigating trauma, grief, sensory overload, or hard days. Take what feels helpful. Leave what doesn’t. Move slowly.
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This list is a starting point, not a prescription. Some titles are widely available in paperback, e-book, and audiobook. Others may be harder to find - we have noted UK Deaf writers and anthologies where we can.
If a book isn’t right for you today, that’s okay. You can come back another time.
Gentle Wellbeing & Overwhelm
A warm, honest memoir about navigating breast cancer with humour, vulnerability and strength. Hayley writes openly about fear, identity, treatment and finding moments of softness during a hard season.
A practical and gentle guide to breast cancer treatment, written from lived experience. Sara offers checklists, emotional support, and calm explanations to help people feel less overwhelmed.
Trauma‑Informed & Nervous System Care
Grief, Tenderness & Emotional Softness
Short, Calm Reads
Deaf Culture & Lived Experience
Jodie Ounsley - Hear Me Out
A memoir exploring Deaf identity, resilience, sport and navigating hearing‑centric environments with humour and determination.
Rose Ayling‑Ellis - The Silent Child
A reflective book about Deaf identity, communication, barriers and belonging, written by British Deaf actor and advocate Rose Ayling‑Ellis.
Gentle Self‑Support Tools
UK Deaf Writers
We also celebrate Deaf writers whose work reflects identity, culture, and lived experience.
Jodie Ounsley - Hear Me Out
A memoir from British Deaf athlete Jodie Ounsley, exploring Deaf identity, resilience, sport and navigating hearing‑centric environments with humour and determination.
Rose Ayling‑Ellis - The Silent Child
A reflective book about Deaf identity, communication, barriers and belonging, written by British Deaf actor and advocate Rose Ayling‑Ellis.
Raymond Antrobus (UK) - The Perseverance, All the Names Given
Poetry exploring Deaf identity, family, trauma, and tenderness.
Deafinitely Theatre (UK) - Deaf playwrights
Stories and scripts created by Deaf writers across the UK.
Sophie Stone (UK) - Can You Hear Me Now?
Memoir exploring Deaf identity, motherhood, and navigating the hearing world.
Anthologies
International Deaf writers widely read in the UK
Have a gentle read you think should be here? Email us a suggestion.