Are you a Chicago Fire fan who’s just gotten to know Alberto Rosende thanks to his character Blake Gallo? Are you a Shadowhunters fan who’s never had the time to join our discussions before? Or are you just looking for some reading buddies? Then Rosende Reads is the place for you.
Rosende Reads is an online book club hosted by actor Alberto Rosende, best known for his role as the lovable vampire Simon Lewis in Freeform’s Shadowhunters. Alberto announced his book club August 25th, 2017, and we had our first official live chat the first week of September 2017.
Alberto during the first Rosende Reads live chat in August 2017 holding Slaughterhouse 5 by Kurt Vonnegut, the first book we read.
But how can you join this book club? Is there somewhere you have to sign up?
Joining Rosende Reads is simple and fun. First of all, make sure to follow Alberto’s book club account on Instagram: @RosendeReads. All the latest news about the books we read and when the discussions will take place can be found there.
First Rosende Reads post on Instagram
Every week, Alberto tells us the chapters we’re going to read for the week after. We try to have a discussion every Sunday, but sometimes Alberto’s filming schedule gets in the way and we have to postpone it to the Sunday after. But don’t worry, he always lets us know in time by posting an Instagram story!
Read the chapters assigned and if you feel like you can’t wait a week to discuss it, sometimes the Rosende Reads members share some of their insights on Twitter by using the #RosendeReads hashtag — with no spoilers, obviously. We wouldn’t want to take away the fun from our weekly discussion!
Alberto interviewed by Basic Stuff Magazine in March 2018. You can read the full interview here.
What are the book discussions like?
Our live chats always start with Alberto asking us our opinion about the book and to describe it in one word. Alberto then shares some background about the author and the time or context the book was written in so we can start diving into the discussion by sharing our thoughts and insights. Before the end of the live chat, we share some of our favorite quotes and the last five minutes are used to plan our reading for the next week.
At the end of every live chat, Alberto shares our Rosende Reads motto: “Keep reading, keep exploring, keep being curious, and keep being positive forces of change in your communities.”
We’ve had several guests during some of our live chats who shared their opinions about some of the books we read.
From left to right: Diego Rosende, Alberto’s younger brother; Jordan Morello, Alberto’s friend; Jade Hassouné and Tessa Mossey.
Shadowhunters fans will recognize Jade Hassouné and Tessa Mossey from their roles as Meliorn and Heidi McKenzie. Tessa often joins our discussions and we all love her insights. She always adds something to the conversation, be that a detail we didn’t notice or a particularly interesting topic. She also suggested our 11th book: The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, our 19th Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery, and our current reading, which is our 21st book: The Testaments by Margaret Atwood.
You can read some of our recent recaps of the Rosende Reads live chats here!
What is the community like?
Rosende Reads is a very active and supportive community full of creative and open-minded people. To get a glimpse of this amazing community, check out Get to Know the Rosende Readers a project organized by RReadsDaily to get to know the people we read with a little better and to help us stay connected. Here’s what some members had to say about their book club experience so far:
Camille (@camille_prdm): “I love talking about books, of course, but also the book club in general. Everyone is incredibly nice, accepting and open-minded. Alberto is also amazing. I don’t think a lot of people would take an hour out of their personal time, every week, to run a book club.”
Anie (@AnieHansen): “Getting to read books I would never have tried otherwise. New perspectives.”
Stephanie (@Tiffy1307Steph): “It’s at first a safe place. Everyone’s opinion gets heard and there’s no wrong answer. I like the lives and to discuss the books. Never joined something like this before and I don’t regret to give it a try.”
Olivia (@oli_b8): “We can discuss a book with people from all around the world! Everybody is really open-minded and listen to each other and that’s precious. People don’t obsess over Alberto and it’s like being surrounded by friends with the same passion for books as yours.”
Alberto interviewed for Get to Know the RosendeReaders by RReadsDaily at #ITAInstituteCon3 in July 2019. You can read the full interview here.
You can read all the other interviews with our members here.
Stay updated
Below you will find the Rosende Reads booklist updated with all the books we’ve read from September 2017 till now.
Here’s the full and updated #RosendeReads booklist. Here you will find all the books we've read since September 2017 and the last title we will read this year. Make sure to follow @arosende’s official Instagram bookclub account: @/RosendeReads to join our weekly discussions 📚🧡 pic.twitter.com/QE4gsQUNSF
— RosendeReads Daily (@RReadsDaily) November 5, 2019
To stay updated, make sure to follow some of these fan accounts about Rosende Reads:
– RReadsDaily (run by yours truly)
– RosendeReads YouTube channel (run by BaneandLewis on Twitter where she posts all the live chats that will disappear from Instagram after 24 hours).
– Our Rosende Reads playlist with all the songs Alberto’s been opening our live chats to so far.
Got some time? Go give a read to our Rosende Reads Recaps!
