The Saucy Wenches Book Club

“There’s a Chinese saying. ‘When is the best time to plant a tree? Twenty years ago.’ ” The Chinese engineer smiles. “Good one.” “ ‘When is the next best time? Now.’ ” “Ah! Okay!” The smile turns real. Until today, he has never planted anything. But Now, that next best of times, is long, and rewrites everything. ~ Richard Powers, The Overstory

“After all, everyone’s entitled to be the hero of their own story. So I must be permitted to be the hero of mine. Even though I’m not. I’m the villain.” ~ Alex Michaelides, The Maidens

Granted, she did fly that bookshop into the Serpentine when they told her they didn’t stock any Dickens novels, but that only shows a praiseworthy enthusiasm for literature. ~ India Holton, The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels

“Yeah, people do bad things to each other. And we remember those stories, we remember the pain, but we remember it because it stands out. It’s the blip in the timeline, the thing that doesn’t fit, and that’s because the rest of the timeline, which is our whole lives really, is made of kindness. That’s what’s normal, it’s so normal we don’t even notice it.” ~ Charlotte McConaghy, Once There Were Wolves

Does letting go mean losing everything you have, or does it mean gaining everything you never had? ~ Miranda Cowley Heller, The Paper Palace

“I missed you every hour. And you know what the worst part was? It caught me completely by surprise. I’d catch myself just walking around to find you, not for any reason, just out of habit, because I’d seen something that I wanted to tell you about or because I wanted to hear your voice. And then I’d realize that you weren’t there anymore, and every time, every single time , it was like having the wind knocked out of me. I’ve risked my life for you. I’ve walked half the length of Ravka for you, and I’d do it again and again and again just to be with you, just to starve with you and freeze with you and hear you complain about hard cheese every day. So don’t tell me why we don’t belong together,” he said fiercely. ~ Leigh Bardugo, Shadow and Bone