I Love My Book Club – OSRBC Rocks!

The first rule of Book Club: You do not talk about Book Club. The second rule of Book Club: You do not talk about Book Club.

“What happens in the book club, stays in the book club.”

Ha! I’m going to break these alleged rules and blab about the Old School Romance Book Club. So there!

OSRBC is a Facebook group created by Best-selling author Sarah MacLean in July 2014.

Description

We choose one romance novel (published pre-2000, the crazier the plot, the better!) at the beginning of every month to read and discuss, but we talk all kinds of romance all the time.

I joined in August 2014 while I was in Bangkok, one of the first 50 to do so. Three years later, the group has 5,300+ members from all over the world. In the club are some of my favorite romance writers: Sarah MacLean, Sophie Jordan, Kerrigan Byrne, Lorraine Heath, and Cathy Maxwell. Many of my co-members have become my personal friends, not just on Facebook, but in real life as well. Mostly women, we are military spouses, doctors, lawyers, teachers, librarians, nurses, full-time housewives and mothers, artists, students, writers. All of us are readers.

This group is my tribe. They speak my language, they understand me. There is no book-shaming, everyone’s opinions are respected. The group members are respectful, fun, and funny. They reinforced my love for my old school loves: Judith McNaught, Julie Garwood, Nora Roberts, Linda Howard, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Lisa Kleypas, Sandra Brown. They introduced new-to-me authors who have become instant favorites. Aside from the ones I already named as members of the club, I also discovered Tessa Dare, Eloisa James, Julia Quinn, Courtney Milan, Kate Meader, Sherry Thomas, and Laura Florand.

More than enabling my book addiction and thereby causing my to-be-read pile to become a mountain, OSRBC is the reason I became a writer. This group put the idea in my head that I can turn one paragraph into a whole novel. This book club encouraged me and cheered me on as I pantsed my way around NaNoWriMo in November and Camp NaNo in July. They believed I can do it. Because of their confidence, I too, believed and completed my first novel.

This week, I’ll be doing final self-editing before I send Boracay Vows to a professional editor (a co-member at OSRBC, naturally). After that will be securing an ISBN, engaging a cover artist, more revisions and proofreading. Then, my book baby will be born.

One thing I will always remember is that it was conceived with the help of the Old School Romance Book Club. And that is why I love my book club. OSRBC Rocks!

Photo credits: I Love My Book Club -cafepress.com, Rules of Book Club – Tumblr.com, What happens… – Zazzle.com, OSRBC logo – Facebook.com

My Name Is Maida And I’m A Bookaholic

I am not exaggerating when I say I have a To Be Read mountain–ok, fine, hill–rather than a mere pile. There are a couple of hundreds of paper books on the floor of my home library and a few hundreds each of ebooks on Amazon Kindle, Apple iBooks, and Nook. Add to these my membership to the San Antonio Public Library and Houston Area Digital Media Catalog and I have an unlimited access to thousands of books

Does that stop me from buying more? Heck, no! Yesterday, May 30, was release day for some of my favorite romance authors–Lorraine Heath, Eva Moore, Julia Quinn, and Nora Roberts. Naturally, I bought them all.

Bibliophile. Book Collector. Book Hoarder. No matter the label, that’s me. As another Bookaholic said, I’m “Addicted. Obsessed. Passionate.” about books and I’m proud of it.

“No two persons ever read the same book.”

The quote was attributed to Edmund Wilson, a noted American writer, editor, and critic. I agree with him.

This year, I have decided to write a short review of every book I read or reread and post it on Amazon/Goodreads. Before 2017, I used to only rate the books without giving my reasons for the number of stars. After posting my rating, then and only then will I check out other people’s reviews. I always look for the ones that are most diametrically opposed to mine and just shake my head and smile at the reasoning behind their grades.

Here are a couple of examples:

The Hating Game by Sally Thorne

M: “Five flamethrowing stars. This book is fresh and young, utterly delightful. Josh and Lucy are fantastic characters, their chemistry is electric. I adore their conversations. I didn’t want the book to end. One of my new favorites.”

S: “DNF. Lucinda and Joshua are extremely annoying. I don’t care about how much she hates Josh 4Ever.”

The Duke and the Lady in Red by Lorraine Heath

M: “Five heartrending stars. This novel broke my heart and put it back together again. Avendale – he’s so flawed and yet so amazingly heroic. Rose — a swindling angel. Harry — the best part, the heart of the book.”

E: Two stars. DNF. Barf. Cannot stand the prose.

We’re all different and what appeals to one may not be attractive to others. This brings to mind another (cliché) quote, “One (wo)man’s trash is another (wo)man’s treasure.” This is one of the reasons why I appreciate my favorite Facebook Group–Old School Romance Book Club (OSRBC)–so much. We all just agree to disagree. The members’ thoughts and opinions are respected and supported. They might have been the cause of my out-of-control TBR pile, but I won’t ever regret joining them. #OSRBCRocks