The Saucy Wenches Book Club

"A poet as well as an artist? I'm impressed." "And I'm flattered, but it's a matter of cruel necessity." He rubbed his red head against a wall, scritch-scratch , and tapped an agitated fingertip on the bricks beside his thigh. "I have no paints. No tools . My inspiration overflows and runs to ruin. Alas, one must make do. And now here you are," he added with a cunning grin. "My muse, delicate as a rose and clever as thorns. And all I have are words. What a shocking waste." The Diabolical Miss Hyde by Viola Carr. 

Some folks may have grokked my second hat by now, but if you haven't already, I'm about to put that sucker on and rave-rave-rave about our new favorite movie: Big Hero 6 ! In my daily life, I'm a homeschooling mother to a twice-exceptional (gifted+learning disabled) child. I'm a housewife of the weird order, with crazy   paintings  on my walls and a personality that fills spaces quite handily. But, the bulk of my time is spent navigating gifted and twice-exceptional issues, and that shines through here.

“I knew-I knew I was headed down a path that would likely end in my mortal heart being left in pieces, and yet…And yet I couldn’t stop myself. I hadn’t been able to since that day with the naga. But seeing that head… the games these courts played, with people lives as tokens on a board… it was an effort to keep food down whenever I thought about it” A court of Thorns and Roses,  Sarah J. Maas

“There was something in the pages of these books that had the power to make him feel better about things, a life raft to cling to before the dark currents of memory washed him downstream again, and on brighter days, he could even see himself going on this way for some time. A small but passable life. And then, of course, the end of the world happened.” 

I met Jamie Fraser when I was nineteen years old. He was tall, red-headed, and at our first meeting at least, a virgin. I fell in love hard, fast, and completely. He knew how to ride a horse, wield a sword, and stitch a wound. He was, in fact, the perfect man. That he was fictional hardly entered into it. ~ kc dyer, Finding Fraser Finding Fraser is a light-hearted tale of discovery centered around a die-hard Outlander book series fan, Emma Sheridan, who decides to chart a crazy brave, new, Outlander -inspired course for her life. She is newly divorced and dreading a lonely life as her 30th birthday looms. Her family is not close, her job is uninspiring, she’s shy, naive, and reclusive, and she longs for a deep romantic connection and trusted life partner. She is not meeting the caliber of men she’d like to in Chicago. Which, to be honest, is Jamie Fraser — Outlander ’s hunky, Highlander heartthrob — or a current incarnation thereof. I think that many Saucy Readers can ...

This week, we've been reading a lot of each other's recommendations, rereading and listening to Wench favorite series, and discovering lots of new worlds and characters! We're also EXCITED we got a chance to read the very awesome Chloe Neill's brand new series, The Veil! Yay! Let us know what you've been up to, readers! Click through to see what we've been reading. 

I pulled out my copy of OUTLANDER . Well, come on. Where do YOU go when your heart is broken? This is not a rhetorical question. Some people hit the bar. Some throw themselves into their work. Some just leap into the arms of the first non-homicidal-looking person they find. Me? I go to the bookstore. ~ kc dyer, Finding Fraser

"Why are the pulleys at the bottom?" King Anheg demanded suspiciously. King Rhodar shrugged. "How should I know? I'm not an engineer." "All right, if you're going to be that way about it, I'm not going to let your people touch a single one of my ships until somebody tells me why the pulleys are down here instead of up there." King Rhodar sighed and beckoned to an engineer who was meticulously greasing a huge pulley block. "Have you got a sketch of the rigging handy?" the portly monarch asked the grease-spattered workman. The engineer nodded, pulled a rolled sheet of grimy parchment out from under his tunic, and handed it to his king. Rhodar glanced at it and handed it to Anheg. Anheg stared at the complex drawing, struggling to trace out which line went where, and more importantly why it went there. "I can't read this," he complained. "Neither can I," Rhodar told him pleasantly, "but you wanted...

The Diabolical Miss Hyde by Viola Carr Readers, I'm going to tell you right off the bat. I highly recommend this book . I'm not going to beat around the bush and keep you waiting till after the cut like I usually do (I'm usually so mean!)  I literally picked it up on a whim. I was making my way through countless terrible erotica and I NEEDED something different. And voila! There it was. I won't lie. The cover kinda spoke to me. But it was fate. I'm a bit of an ass when it comes to a retelling of one of my favorite books. I won't usually pick them up unless they come HIGHLY recommended. I don't know what it was that made me go "You. You're the book I'm reading next." * cough Destiny cough * but here we are. Click through to read my mostly non-spoilery review!

Today, I’m going to talk about fangirling…fangirling! You can call it obsessing. You can call it being passionate about something. You can call it whatever words you feel fit your emotions. Whatever you choose to call it, fangirling is FUN! Join me after the jump to either understand why obsessions are fun, OR to validate your own obsessive personality! 

There are only shades of gray. Black and white are nothing more than lofty ideals in our minds, the standards by which we try to judge things, and map out our place in the world in relevance to them. Good and evil, in their purest form, are as intangible and forever beyond our ability to hold in our hand as any Fae illusion We can only aim at them, aspire to them, and hope not to get so lost in the shadows that we can no longer aim for the light. Bloodfever ~~Karen Marie Moning

In other news, I got email from Venkat Kapoor: Mark, some answers to your earlier questions: No, we will not tell our Botany Team to “Go fuck themselves.” I understand you’ve been on your own for a long time, but we’re in the loop now, and it’s best if you listen to what we have to say. The Cubs finished the season at the bottom of the NL Central. The data transfer rate just isn’t good enough for the size of music files, even in compressed formats. So your request for “Anything, oh god ANYTHING but Disco” is denied. Enjoy your boogie fever. Also, an uncomfortable side note... NASA is putting together a committee. They want to see if there were any avoidable mistakes that led you to being stranded. Just a heads-up. They may have questions for you later on. Keep us posted on your activities. -Kapoor  My reply: Venkat, tell the investigation committee they’ll have to do their witch-hunt without me. And when they inevitably blame Commander Lewis, be advised I’ll publicly refute i...

“Isn't it odd how much fatter a book gets when you've read it several times?" Mo had said..."As if something were left between the pages every time you read it. Feelings, thoughts, sounds, smells...and then, when you look at the book again many years later, you find yourself there, too, a slightly younger self, slightly different, as if the book had preserved you like a pressed flower...both strange and familiar.”  ~~ Cornelia Funke, Inkspell Click through to see what the Wenches are reading this week.

“Children see magic because they look for it.”

Mainly, I will admit, I smile because he's gorgeous. Distractingly gorgeous, the kind of looks that make your eyes pinwheel, that make you want to just address the elephant -- "You know you're gorgeous, right?"-- and move on with the conversation.  ~Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn 

Winds of Winter by George R.R. Martin. Well it looks like Winds of Winter isn't going to be out in 2015 with Martin's publisher saying at least 2016 as per the UK paper The Independent   . I'm all for a writer writing whatever they want. I don't really care how long it takes as long as it's a great book. I have very few book series I read as soon as they hit the shelves. This is one of them. I regularly check GRRM's This is not a Blog  in my fervent wish that a release date is announced there. Plus I know GRRM isn't going to spoil the readers. Of course for the 1000's of times I've checked there and the multiple of other projects GRRM is involved in, it became clear that Book #6 wasn't going to be out anytime soon.

Raffe puts his hands on my forehead. "You humans are so fragile. If time doesn't kill you off, it's germs or sharks or hypothermia." "Or blood-crazed angels." He shakes his head. "One minute you're fine, the next minute you're gone forever." He stares broodily into the flickering fire. World After by Susan Ee.

My daughter playing with a silly Ipod app and this is what comes out of it.  I dare you not to laugh. It's been a while since my last post but today it's my turn to fangirl and I'd been having trouble finding a topic to fangirl over for days until one morning my younger daughter woke me up early because she just HAD to show me "something SOOO funny [she'd] created" on her Ipod. Mind you, I had gone to bed wayyy too late the night before so I was pretty tired and had to rub my eyes so I'd be able to focus them on the screen, and when I finally did, I started laughing and after a while she went on her merry way back to her bedroom and now there was no way I could go back to sleep. Still giggling at her silliness I admitted to myself that this was a pretty awesome way to wake up... even if it was way too early and my day off... and that little scene gave me the idea for my next fangirl post. My minions... a.k.a. my kids.

The alarm bells shriek again, echoing off the walls. “The hell is that?”asks Tattoo.  “And why does it keep going off?” “There’s some crazy lady on the loose,” says Doc. “Keeps propping open emergency exits. Triggers the alarm. Are you going to let me go?” Well, at least my mother must be doing okay. World After, Susan Ee

“You are never to be alone in a bedroom with a male.” She snorted. “You have no say over who I have in my bedroom. If I want to invite the entire Miami Dolphins team into my bed and have a big orgy while covered in chocolate sauce, you have no say in that whatsoever.” The brief image set fire to his blood, but he kept his temper on simmer, unwilling to let her bait him. Still, he kind of wanted to hunt down every player on the football team and turn them into stains on the Astroturf. “My house,” he gritted out, “my rules. No chocolate NFL orgies in my keep. I think that’s a reasonable request.”  Lethal Rider (Lords of Deliverance #3) by Larissa Ione

Madeline L'Engle source “Do not read as children do to enjoy themselves, or, as the ambitious do to educate themselves. No, read to live.” ―  Gustave Flaubert     Click through to see what we're reading this week, and be sure to share your selections and suggestions in the comments below!

Pizza with various toppings by Pizza Masetti Craiova from Craiova, Romania “I just don’t really see carrots on pizza, or radishes.” I had an unpleasant memory of Catcher eating “shepherd’s pie” pizza covered in mashed potatoes, peas, and meat. I wasn’t exaggerating to say it was a felony against pizza, and the mere idea of it put me off vegetable toppings completely. If it wasn’t meat or cheese, it had no business atop a pie. ~ Chloe Neill, Dark Debt

End Of Days : A Review Collage by the fantastic Olga. It's not often I'm THIS excited to gush endlessly about a book. But let me tell you, End of Days is a book release I have been WAITING for since reading the last words in World After "It's a new day in the World After."  Needless to say, I was ecstatic when Susan Ee released details about End Of Days . And the countdown began. And soon after that, I basically died a little when I was given the opportunity to read the ARC of End Of Days for the Wenches months before release day! I am going to try and keep my fangirling to a minimum right now, since this is a review. ( And allow me to say, THANK GOD release day is finally here!))  But there WILL be posts dedicated to squealing about how amazing this author, her team, and these books are in the near future! NO SPOILERS FOR END OF DAYS in this review! But I will assume you have read both Angelfall and World After . BE WARNED! (You can read the Wenc...

To one side of the legions rode the glittering Mimbrate knights, their varicolored pennons snapping in the breeze from the up-raised forest of their lances. Their faces shone with enthusiasm and little else. Ce'Nedra privately suspected that a large part of their fearsome reputation stemmed from that abysmal lack of anything remotely resembling thought. With only a little encouragement, a force of Mimbrates would cheerfully mount an assault on winter or a changing tide. Enchanter's End Game  by David Eddings

WORLD AFTER : A REVIEW I first started Penryn and the End Of Days after Wench Merit's excellent review of Angelfall . The fact that I was very much an adult (most of the time) and it was YA didn't put me off, good stories are timeless and appeal to all ages. And I wanted to know if this was one of those.  I was hooked before the first chapter was up, and by the end of that book I could not believe how addicting the story was! That ending! Phew! I would argue that Angelfall has one of the best second halves of any book I've ever read in the fantasy genre! And one of my absolute favorite books ever.  Needless to say, I had barely put down the first book before I HAD to start World After  . Click through to read this review! It will be mildly spoilery !

I was about to look away when he reached across the seat, touched my jaw with his long, strong, beautiful fingers, and caressed my face. Being touched by Jericho Barrons with kindness makes you feel like you must be the most special person in the world. It's like walking up to the biggest, most savage lion in the jungle, lying down, placing your head in its mouth and, rather than taking your life, it licks you and purrs. Bloodfever ~~Karen Marie Moning

“He’s stuck out there. He thinks he’s totally alone and that we all gave up on him. What kind of effect does that have on a man’s psychology?” He turned back to Venkat. “I wonder what he’s thinking right now.”  LOG ENTRY: SOL 61 How come Aquaman can control whales? They’re mammals! Makes no sense.”  The Martian by Andy Weir Source

“Some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again.”   ~C.S. Lewis Click through to see what we're reading this week, and share your selections in the comments below!

“Don’t ever fight with Lisbeth Salander. Her attitude towards the rest of the world is that if someone threatens her with a gun, she’ll get a bigger gun.”

A lot of people lacked that gift: knowing when to fuck off. People love talking, and I have never been a huge talker. I carry on an inner monologue, but the words often don't reach my lips.  ~ Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Book world is falling apart. So what are the signs that this is happening to you? You could be displaying symptoms and not ever realise it. The cure may be difficult to prescribe depending on what level of book meltdown you are going through. Maybe you scoff in disbelief. Maybe you think you have some unedited version of a story. Maybe you try to erase what you just read from your memory. You know my last point is impossible, don't you? I've tried it and it never, ever works. Books series end up ruined forever.

Source. "I am the sum of many parts." "We all are." I smiled. "True." "Some of my parts would like to get to know some of yours a lot better," Niall said. I laughed again, shaking my head. "Bad, bad, bad. So bad." "You like a bad boy, though," he told me. "No," I said, leaning closer. "I like a very good boy." Vanilla , by Megan Hart.

I thought what better idea for a Fangirl Friday than to fangirl over some of my favourite lesser known authors. By lesser known, I mean authors that you may not have heard of and I wouldn't have either if it wasn't for my wonderful book reading friends. These are all authors that have delighted me in various ways. If you haven't read any of these author's work than I can't recommend highly enough that you give them a try. Whether it's urban fantasy, fantasy, mystery or romance. I hope that if you are looking for something new to read that one of these authors might just tick that box for you. Let's check them out.