The Saucy Wenches Book Club

He said it’s easier for girls to dress modestly than for boys to behave. And so I told him I wasn’t interested in following rules that make life harder for girls so it can be easier for boys. ~ Kirsten Miller, Lula Dean’s Little Library of Banned Books

He made me feel alive. He’d dragged me out of the gray world I’d been living in and taught me how to see colors again. In a sea of men who barely put in any effort, this man stood out for going above and beyond. He was the definition of “If he wanted to, he would.” Because he’d done for me what no one else ever had: he not only met but exceeded my needs, both physically and emotionally. He kept me on my toes, never knowing what he would do next. And he did it all while making me blush and laugh, often at the same time. ~ Navessa Allen, Lights Out

It is a terrible thing, this kindness that human beings do not lose. Terrible, because when we are finally naked in the dark and cold, it is all we have. We who are so rich, so full of strength, we end up with that small change. We have nothing else to give. ~ Ursula K LeGuin, The Left Hand of Darkness

A new feeling floods me: That he and I are on the same side of an invisible line, and the rest of the world is elsewhere. Our very own Isola Bella. Sandbar accessibility subject to changes in sea levels. ~ Ali Hazelwood, Problematic Summer Romance

The ghosts laugh, not unkindly, despite my own cruelty. Bad things happen when women go looking in this story, they say, like in every other story. Don’t you know this? ~ Natalia Theodoridou, Sour Cherry

Bury my bones in the midnight soil, plant them shallow and water them deep, and in my place will grow a feral rose, soft red petals hiding sharp white teeth. ~ V.E. Schwab, Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil

Continents and countries come one after the other and the earth feels – not small, but almost endlessly connected, an epic poem of flowing verses. It holds no possibility of opposition. ~ Samantha Harvey, Orbital

“Belly laughs are one of the best things about being sentient, and you should never miss a chance for one.” ~ Dennis E. Taylor, We Are Legion (We Are Bob)

That was how it was. One day you had your own country. The next day you were a refugee. You were in a line, waiting to be someone again. To be legal again. Not to be nothing. ~ Ray Nayler, Where the Axe Is Buried

Under the subtle influence of the hare, my own wants have simplified. To be dependable in love and friendship more than in work. To leave the land in a more natural state than I found it. And to take better care of what is to hand, seeing beauty and value in the ordinary. ~ Chloe Dalton, Raising Hare

We can go on building and destroying until we either destroy ourselves or destroy the ability of our world to sustain us. Or we can make something more of ourselves. We can grow up. ~ Octavia E. Butler, Parable of the Talents

“I saw a man who couldn’t keep his eyes off you. A man who hasn’t looked so happy in a very long time. I saw a man who finally found the kind of person he always wanted for himself. A best friend. A smart-ass. A brilliant, talented, caring woman, who deserves so much more than me.” ~ Carley Fortune, One Golden Summer

“I washed the Divining robes this morning.” The gargoyle led me down the nave. On the final pew, six silk robes waited. “It was an abundant chore. I am within myself with fatigue.” “Beside,” I murmured, peeling off my clothes. “‘Beside myself with fatigue’ is the proper expression.” The gargoyle’s stone brow knit. “If I were beside myself, there would be two of me, and the washing would have taken half the time.” ~ Rachel Gillig, The Knight and the Moth

I’ve heard it said that the sorrow of human life is that it ends. But I don’t think that’s the source of our sorrow. Everything ends, not just human lives. Days end. Species disappear. Planets die. No, the real sorrow of human life is that we feel. That’s our affliction. ~ Amity Gaige, Heartwood

“But to love Frances was to be always saying goodbye to the girl Frances used to be and falling in love again with the girl Frances was becoming.” ~ Taylor Jenkins Reid, Atmosphere