The Saucy Wenches Book Club

“Poke around in murky waters, and things will rise to the surface. Truth is buoyant.” ~ Hernan Diaz, Ply

“To love a human, to fall for a human, there’s nothing like it. It’s risky, yes. But to risk is to hope, and without hope, well, we are done as a species.” He waved in the general direction of the cantina and shook his head. “A robot ... that is giving up. You’re too young to give up. I can’t let you do it.” ~ Deb Olin Unferth, Earth 7

Come the first of October, no matter the weather, day of the week, or physical condition of the cadets, so long as they have reached the age of twenty, the first-years of Basgiath War College’s Riders Quadrant walk into the forest in hopes of being chosen as a bonded rider by a dragon of the Empyrean. We call this monumental event Threshing . ~ Rebecca Yarros, Threshing Day

She let him know, in no uncertain terms, what she thought of his loyalty to a government that prioritized its own greatness over the well-being of its people — but her disapproval only fueled his. ~ Lily Brooks-Dalton, Ruins

“Friends are like oxygen. If you’ve been blessed enough to have always been surrounded by friends, you might think I’m overplaying this. I don’t blame you. If you’d always been surrounded by air, you wouldn’t think to credit it for your very existence either. But I’ve spent much of my life gasping for breath, so I promise you, it’s true. Friends are like oxygen.” ~ Sally Hepworth, Mad Mabel

So blind we humans are — so blind. To each other and to ourselves, moving through life as though through shadows, putting out a hand in the dark and thinking we have touched someone.... But mostly we travel through life unsighted, grasping only the smallest details of one another’s selves, including our own. Thinking all the while that we can see. ~ Elizabeth Strout, The Things We Never Say