RealSam UK

07/02/2026

We’re often asked how RealSAM BookClub fits alongside services like RNIB Talking Books. It’s a fair question, and the short answer is: BookClub isn’t here to replace existing libraries, it’s here to bring them together and add something extra.

BookClub combines multiple trusted sources in one voice-first experience, including audiobooks, newspapers, and podcasts, all accessible through simple voice commands and across multiple devices. You can start listening on one device and pick up where you left off on another.

It also adds something libraries can’t: community.

Alongside listening, BookClub offers an online space where people can read alongside others, curated monthly picks, and interesting discussion prompts (plus our first live Zoom discussion on the 5th of March!).

Importantly, RealSAM has worked in partnership with RNIB since 2017. For every BookClub subscription, 20% goes directly back to RNIB, helping support their vital work for blind people across the UK.

If you’d like to understand how it all works — and why BookClub exists — we’ve written a full blog post explaining it in more detail.

👉 Read the full post here: https://realsam.co.uk/more-than-a-library-what-makes-realsam-bookclub-different/

03/02/2026

Looking for an easier way to enjoy reading if you’re blind or partially sighted — or supporting someone who is?

With RealSAM BookClub, your Alexa can now give you access to over 45,000 talking book titles.

You can also listen to your favourite newspapers and magazines, including all UK national broadsheet papers such as The Guardian, The Times, and The Daily Telegraph.

RealSAM BookClub: Your mornings just got easier.

03/02/2026

Our February Pick...

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr, Narrated by Julie Teal | Playing time: 17 hours 03 minutes

We chose this for a few reasons. It’s well known (so the conversation can be open to more people), and it features a blind protagonist, Marie-Laure, whose perspective shapes how the story is told.

What it’s about
Set in occupied France during the Second World War, the novel follows two young people on different sides of the conflict: Marie-Laure, a blind French girl who must navigate a changing world through touch, sound, memory, and sheer determination, and Werner, a German boy with a talent for radios, drawn into something far larger than himself.

To encourage par,ticipation we have also decided to host our first-ever live discussion forum over Zoom. The live BookClub discussion will take place on World Book Day, Thursday 5 March, which gives everyone plenty of time to listen.
We will use the space to talk about All the Light We Cannot See, but we also want to make the discussion bigger than one title. We’re inviting everyone to talk about one book that has impacted them, whether it helped during your sight loss journey, changed how you saw yourself, or simply kept you company when you needed it.

Register to join our live discussion via this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/IQzT2MqVTO2dmcpwuOvy-Q

03/02/2026

This month we’re trying something different in BookClub: one shared read, and one live conversation.

Why? Because we want more people to join in, whether you’ve listened to ten minutes or ten hours. No catching up, and no pressure.

Our February book is All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr.
Narrated by Julie Teal | 17 hours 03 minutes.

It features a blind protagonist, and it’s well known enough that even if you’re still at the beginning, you can still join the discussion.

We’re also building towards a live Zoom discussion on World Book Day (Thursday 5 March). Bring your thoughts on the book, or simply bring one title that has stayed with you, helped you, or been a comfort.

Most importantly, bring yourself!

Register to join our live discussion via this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/IQzT2MqVTO2dmcpwuOvy-Q

29/01/2026

This month, we’re really encouraging everyone to get involved in BookClub discussion — no matter how much (or how little) of the book you’ve read.

You don’t need to have finished. You don’t need to write a lot. One word, a quick thought, or a first reaction is more than enough to get the conversation going.

So if you’re already in BookClub — or you’ve been thinking about joining — this is your sign to jump into this month’s discussion. Click the link in our bio to find BookClub 💬

And keep an eye out… in February, we’ll be trying out an exciting new discussion format, and we’d love you to be part of it.

22/01/2026

22/01/2026

We are so excited to share the full video case study from our collaboration with RNIB, Samsung Electronics UK and Virgin Media O2!

The film showcases RealSAM Pocket in real life — a voice-first accessible mobile solution that helps blind and partially sighted people stay connected, informed and independent without the barriers of traditional interfaces.

Hear from our CEO and partners, and see how accessible technology works when it’s grounded in lived experience and practical design.

10/01/2026

Release the pressure of the new year!

January arrives with a familiar kind of pressure. New habits, new routines, new versions of ourselves we’re supposed to become overnight.

BookClub was never meant to be a resolution or a challenge. You listen when you can, join the conversation when you want, and come back when it suits you. No pressure, no falling behind — just stories and people moving through the month together.

As we head into the New Year, BookClub is growing too. Our BookClub app is coming soon, making it even easier to listen, reflect and stay connected — all in one place, built with accessibility at its heart.

Start the year slowly. Start it together. 📚✨

Read the full article via the link in our bio.

02/01/2026

Pick 3: The Spy Who Loved by Clare Mulley

Narrated by Jenny Coverack | Playing time: 15 hours 2 minutes

A fascinating, deeply human account of a woman who lived — and loved — dangerously.

What it’s about:

Christine Granville, born Krystyna Skarbek, was Britain’s first female secret agent during the Second World War. Fearless, resourceful and endlessly complex, she skied across mountains into occupied Poland, worked in North Africa, and was parachuted into France, where survival was never guaranteed. Clare Mulley’s biography explores not just her extraordinary wartime service, but the cost of living at full intensity — and the tragic end of a life shaped by secrecy and courage.

02/01/2026

Pick 2: The Jump by Martina Cole

Narrated by Annie Aldington | Playing time: 22 hours 8 minutes

A raw, uncompromising crime novel from one of Britain’s most powerful voices.

What it’s about:

Donna Brunos believes completely in her husband — so when he’s jailed for armed robbery, she’s certain he’s been framed. Desperate to save him from a brutal prison sentence, Donna agrees to help plan his escape. What follows pulls her into a violent underworld she never imagined, forcing her to confront truths about love, loyalty and herself that she may not survive. Dark, gripping and relentless.

Contains strong language.

02/01/2026

Pick 1: The Beautiful and Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Narrated by Peter Marinker | Playing time: 14 hours 41 minutes

A glamorous, melancholy portrait of ambition, excess and slow collapse.

What it’s about:

Anthony and Gloria are young, magnetic and convinced the world owes them everything. New York is their playground — full of parties, drinking and big dreams — and their marriage is fuelled by passion and performance. But as money tightens and expectations go unmet, the cracks begin to show. Fitzgerald’s novel charts the gradual unravelling of a life built on beauty, entitlement and delay, asking what’s left when charm runs out, and reality arrives.

02/01/2026

RealSAM BookClub January Picks Are Here!

January is a month for starting again — turning pages, setting intentions, and easing back into routine with a good story in your ears.

This month’s BookClub picks take us from glittering excess to gritty reality, and into the hidden lives behind history.

This month our picks are…

❄️ The Beautiful and Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald — a dazzling, disillusioned Jazz Age classic about love, money and decline

❄️ The Jump by Martina Cole — a dark, fast-paced crime thriller driven by loyalty, desperation and dangerous choices

❄️ The Spy Who Loved by Clare Mulley — a gripping biography of Britain’s first female special agent, full of courage and contradiction

Whether you choose one or tackle all three, these are rich, absorbing listens to carry you through winter days and long evenings.