RosendeReads is officially back from the Summer hiatus! For those not in the know, Rosende Reads is an online book club hosted by actor Alberto Rosende (best known for his roles starring in Shadowhunters and more recently Chicago Fire), where we read an assigned book and have weekly discussions on Instagram.
A fan-run Twitter account (by yours truly) dedicated to Rosende Reads updates.
The official Rosende Reads Instagram account (where you can join in on the live chats!).
On Sunday, we had our first live chat back to discuss our bookclub’s 19th book, Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery. Here is a recap on what was covered!
Scenes from this week’s live chat, featuring a special guest: Alberto’s cat Stella!
One of our favorite Rosende Reads traditions are the songs Alberto opens the live chat with, and this time it was to the tune of “Overture/Great Workers/For the Cause/Where Is Matthew Going?” by The Charlotte Town Festival, which is from the Anne of Green Gables musical they attended while recently visiting Prince Edward Island, Canada (PEI).
Tessa Mossey (best known for playing the role of Heidi Mckenzie in Shadowhunters and Jenny Quinn from the mini-series The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair) joined Alberto to discuss this book. Tessa is particularly attached to Anne of Green Gables because the book takes place in Prince Edward Island and she grew up in Charlottetown, which is the capital. She shared some personal experiences from PEI and some background on the story and the author. Tessa shared that she was so obsessed with this book and this character growing up that she used to wear a straw hat with braids sticking out of it at dinner; and she still has no idea why her parents let her do that, because looking back “it was embarrassing.”
The book touches on a lot of different topics such as friendship, the concept of home and belonging, religion, growing up, and imagination.
Anne is a very particular and unique child. To borrow a quote from the book, she says about herself, “People laugh at me because I use big words. But if you have big ideas, you have to use big words to express them, haven’t you?” We walk Anne through her journey in her new town of Green Gables, where she just moved in from foster care. We see how she deals with new experiences and feelings she’s never felt before because she’s never had the chance. For a simple tea date with a friend, Anne has to dress up for the occasion, making sure everything is perfect – even picking up flowers to make a nice centerpiece. Over the course of the book, we see how she grows into the hearts of the people in Green Gables, while still getting into trouble.
During the live chat, Rosende Reads members shared their favorite quotes from the chapters we read, one fan shared, “How are you going to find out about things if you don’t ask questions?” (from Chapter 2 “Matthew Cuthbert Is Surprised”); they said it reminded them of Alberto because of the Rosende Reads’ motto that he always says at the end of every live chat – “Keep exploring, keep learning, keep being curious, keep questioning things, keep being a positive force of change in your community and world.”
My favorite quote from the reading: “There’s such a lot of different Annes in me. I sometimes think that is why I’m such a troublesome person. If I was just the one Anne it would be ever so much more comfortable, but then it wouldn’t be half so interesting.”
Got some time? Check out videos of each Rosende Reads live chat here (run by @BaneAndLewis).
You can find the full and updated Rosende Reads booklist with all the books we read from September 2017 to the ones we will read in the next months below (or check it out on Twitter here):
Tune in next Sunday, October 6th, for our last live chat about Anne of Green Gables. Make sure to follow Alberto’s book club account on Instagram for the latest updates @RosendeReads. See you next time. And remember, stay curious.
