The Saucy Wenches Book Club

You cannot buy the Revolution. You cannot make the Revolution. You can only be the Revolution. It is in your spirit, or it is nowhere. Ursula Le Guin's The Dispossessed 

One of the things I've learned in raising a child is that you can learn more about yourself helping them than you ever knew you were missing before they were there. In raising my son, I've learned that he is, in fact, dyslexic. At the same time, though, I recognized his struggles as my own. Words that dance on pages, letters that bounce around in words... It's a giant mess is what it is.

“It’s simple guy logic: If a woman is angry? It means she cares. If you’re in a relationship and a chick can’t even be bothered to yell at you? You’re screwed. Indifference is a woman’s kiss of death. It’s the equivalent of a man not interested in sex. In either case—it’s over. You’re done.”  Tangled, Emma Chase

"I just met my new boss," she groaned into the phone. "Or more specifically, I threw an industrial-strength stapler at his head." Rock Hard by Nalini Singh

Wench favorites, one of literature's greatest sleuths, and a couple of new worlds have captured our attention this week. Click through to see what we're reading! 

“I’m honest enough to say that I dinna care what the right and wrong of it may be, so long as you are here wi’ me, Claire,” he said softly. “If it was a sin for you to choose me ... then I would go to the Devil himself and bless him for tempting ye to it.” He lifted my foot and gently kissed the tip of my big toe. {snip} “I don’t think it was wrong,” I said softly. “But if it was ... then I’ll go to the Devil with you, Jamie Fraser.” ~ Dragonfly in Amber , Diana Gabaldon

C'mon," Apollo said. "How old are you?" Thalia hesitated, "I don't know." It was sad, but true. She'd been turned into a tree when she was twelve, but that had been seven years ago. So she should be nineteen, if you went by years. But she still felt like she was twelve, and if you looked at her, she seemed somewhere in between. The best Chiron could figure, she had kept aging while in tree form, but much more slowly. Apollo tapped his finger to his lips, "You're fifteen, almost sixteen." "How do you know that?" "Hey, I'm the god of prophecy. I know stuff." The Titan's Curse (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 3) by Rick Riordan

I stalked into Chester's in a shit of a mood, leaving Christian at the Sinatra club with yet another whiskey in his hand. He'd declined my invitation to join our meeting. Said he had more immediate problems than the fate of the world and he was sure we'd figure it out, considering how controlling and micromanaging Ryodan was about everything he owned--and as he believed he owned the entire world and everything in it, and could play with it all like his personal chess set--the bastard would surely find a way to patch things up to his liking...[snip]...I wasn't sure who was pissier, him or me. He was certainly more loquacious about it.  ~ Feverborn by Karen Marie Moning

Goodnight, Sweet Prince. Was there really anything else we could talk about today? The universe has lost it's most unique star, and it's hard to really think about a world in which Prince isn't around erasing labels and boundaries, being his amazing self, awakening things in people they can't even name, and creating music that transcends genres. And yet, here we are.  Click through to read more.

It's no secret that many of us adore Chloe Neill's Chicagoland Vampires series since we've talked about it early and often as long as we've been a blog. But even those of us who are superfans don't often agree on our favorite characters, let alone our favorite book of the series. And that's okay, because we can appreciate one another's tastes. For the record, my favorite character is Merit (which I told you about when I shared my favorite UF heroines ) with Ethan coming in a very close second. Twelve books in, though, my favorite installment in the series remains the third chapter in Merit's tale, Twice Bitten . While this book is almost six years old now, and nine books and three novellas have come out since then, this one contains my very favorite quotes from the series, my favorite scenes, and the moments that laid the foundation for the Methan we would all come to adore. I talked about the journey Methan took to get to one another, here , and Tw...

“There is an oath upon her,” he said to Arch, and I realized dimly that he was still speaking in Gaelic, though I understood him clearly. “She may not kill, save it is for mercy or her life. It is myself who kills for her.” “And I,” said a tall figure behind him, softly. Ian. Arch nodded understanding, though his face was still in darkness. Someone else was there beside him—Fergus. I knew him at once, but it took a moment’s struggle for me to put a name to the streaked pale face and wiry figure. “Madame,” he said, and his voice was thin with shock. “Milady.” A Breath of Snow and Ashes by Diana Gabaldon Source

“Nothing and nobody could aggravate you the way your child could aggravate you.”

Mysteries, vampire favorites, assassins, Highlanders, classics, and romances are filling up our reading lists this week. Click through to see what we're reading. And give us some suggestions in the comments below. We're running out of books to read! Okay, you know that's a lie, but make some suggestions, anyway! 

"It is an apology," he said, "for not believing in you...or in us. Yesterday, I thought that I'd lost you, and then we fought together," he said. "I pushed you away for fear of what our relationship would do, could do, to this House. And then we protected this House together. That is the true measure of what we could do." He paused, then tapped a finger against the box. "This is a wish," he said quietly, "that even after four hundred years of experience, a man can be strong enough to accept the gifts he's given." "Ethan--," I began, but he shook his head. "I'm prepared to wait for a positive response." "That's going to take a while." Ethan lifted a single eyebrow, a grin lifting one corner of his mouth. "Sentinel, I am immortal." Twice Bitten ~~Chloe Neill

The Sebastian St Cyr's continues its reign as one of the top mystery series for me. The mysteries continue to be intriguing and mind baffling. Once again I had no clue who the murderer was, but when all the pieces were laid out before me, it made sense. When Falcons Fall is the eleventh instalment in the Sebastian St Cyr series and once again it lives up to the books which have gone before. I often get series fatigue in many book series after book 5. That's never been the case here. I wait with anticipation for the next book to be out in 2017. A couple of spoilers for other books in the series after the jump.

“K-dar,” Nora said and tapped the side of her nose. “Kinksters can smell it on each other. And my Wesley smells like warm vanilla.”   “Wonder what I smell like.” Zach cursed himself for accidentally speaking the words aloud.   Nora cocked her head at him; Zach’s heart started to race. She rose up out of her chair and slid onto the top of the kitchen table. She stretched across it and put her nose at his neck. Slowly, she inhaled. A slight rush of air whispered over Zach’s skin and he immediately knew what every muscle in his body was doing.   “Not kink. But not vanilla, either. Smells like…curiosity. It killed the cat, you know.”   “Nora,” Zach said in a warning tone. J.P. would yank him off Nora’s book in a heartbeat if he saw them right now.   “S&M is as psychological as it is physical and sexual, Zach. Imagine being as deep inside a woman’s mind as you are inside her body.”   The Siren (The Original Sinners #...

Back in January, I decided to start a 2016 Reading Challenge .  There were twelve categories, so all I needed to do was choose one for each. The interesting part was finding books from different genres. I wouldn't be able to select only books published this year (although that won't stop me from getting new releases from my fav authors!). I've been able to check another three off the list, with the following categories complete. Click through to see where I stand!

If Valek discovered my magic, I was dead.  If I didn’t find a way to go to Sitia, I was dead.  If someone poisoned the Commander’s food, I was dead.  If Brazell built his factory and sought revenge for his son, I was dead.  Dead, dead, dead and dead. Poison Study, Maria V.  Snyder  

"She was beautiful, but she was beautiful in the way a forest fire was beautiful: something to be admired from a distance, not up close." Good Omens by T. Pratchett and N. Gaiman

Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief Okay, so technically children's literature. And theoretically, junk lit at that. But honestly? I cannot tell you how much I love it, and for many, many reasons.

“I’ll leave it to you, Sassenach,” he said dryly, “to imagine what it feels like to arrive unexpectedly in the midst of a brothel, in possession of a verra large sausage.” My imagination proved fully equal to this task, and I burst out laughing. “God, I wish I could have seen you!” I said. “Thank God ye didn’t!” he said fervently. A furious blush glowed on his cheekbones. Ignoring remarks from the fascinated inmates, Jamie had made his way awkwardly through what he described, shuddering, as “tangles o’ bare limbs,” until he had spotted Fergus against one wall, regarding the intruder with a round-eyed astonishment. Seizing upon this unexpected manifestation of maleness, Jamie had gripped the lad by the shoulder, and fervently implored him to show the way to the nearest exit, without loss of a moment. “I could hear a hurly-burly breakin’ out in the hallway,” he explained, “and I kent they were in after me. I didna want to be having to fight for my life wi’ a lot ...

I would read with Hugh Dancy ANY day. The Wenches are all over the place with their reading choices this week. Don't you love that about us? We keep mixing it up! Whether you're looking for Urban Fantasy series, historical fiction, regency romances, dark adult fiction, erotic fiction, classics, or just something fun to read between chores, we have got you covered! No need to thank us! Click through to see what we've been reading. And feel free to share your weekly reads with us in the comments below!

But if you recognize yourself in these pages— if you feel something stirring inside— stop reading immediately. You might be one of us. Rick Riordan - The Lightning Thief

Source Season 2 of Outlander is upon us. It's a must-see series for many of the Wenches, and you can guarantee that most of us have read some, if not all, of the books to date. With that in mind, we thought it would be a perfect time to discuss what we are dying to see transferred from the book to the screen. Plus we're just a little bit curious as to what the writers might have changed to meet the requirements of adaptation. After all, television is a different medium to books, and what works in the books doesn't always work on screen. Join us after the jump for our thoughts on season 2. If you haven't read Dragonfly in Amber yet, be warned that we do talk about events in that book, so spoilers abound! The rest of you, follow Jamie through the cut!

The reading roundup after three months of the year. There have been books that have rocked my world and books that have been so so. I made a vow to myself that this year I would read more books by male authors. So far I've read 16 books and 6 have been by male authors. Which is pretty good as the book I'm currently reading will take me up to 7 and I only read 7 books by male authors last year! Way to go me.  So let's see what I've been reading in 2016 after the jump.

I caught myself sighing, terminated it halfway through. I forced myself to smile instead. Attitude is everything.  There was always a bright side or two somewhere; I could light the gas fires, dry off, prop a book on a pillow, sprawl out on the chesterfield with my favorite throw and lose myself in a story...[snip] ~Feverborn by Karen Marie Moning

When he and Ethan had finished their manly handshake, Gabriel looked over at me. "What's the going rate for a loner Sentinel these days?" "Patience," said Luc and Ethan at the same time. A hint of a smile crossed Gabriel's face. I rolled my eyes. Twice Bitten by Chloe Neill Source

Frank Einstein books. Another round of education-in-entertainment... Edutainment done well! Frank Einstein books each cover a different area of science (this one covering matter!), and uses it to pull together a great invention, fuel a plot, and actually teach!

"Let me enjoy my fan-wanking." "Your what?" "Let me arrange the story to meet my own personal needs."

Source. “Any book that helps a child to form a habit of reading, to make reading one of his deep and continuing needs, is good for him.” Happy Birthday, Maya Angelou!

"...there are always consequences to war, even when we think we've won."  Target On Our Backs ~~J.M. Darhower

You may have seen my post on questions I had from my reread of Some Girls Bite ​. I'm here today with the questions I had while rereading Friday Night Bites . I actually have so many this is only part one of two for just this book! It has been a little while since I reread these early books. It was nice to get back into them. It also made me think of a lot of things that happen down the road in this series and, things that haven't happened yet. I don't know if the lovely Ms. Neill has seen these posts, but feel free to answer as many of these questions as you'd like! :) Anyway, keep reading after the jump to see what my Friday Night Bites questions are.

“That was the thing about love, though, wasn’t it? When you loved somebody, you wanted to give them everything you could. You wanted what was best for them, no matter what. You wanted them to move beyond what was awful and terrible, beyond anything that had ever hurt them.”    Hold Me Close by Megan Hart

​I've mentioned this before in various other posts, but I am a theatre nerd. I've been involved  in theatre since junior high and I actually have a Bachelor's degree in theatre. Before you get the wrong idea, I'm not an actor. I'm trained as a stage manager, which is basically the theatrical term director of operations for a production. I made the decision to move to Box Office work after college and I greatly miss being more intimately involved in productions. But, my love of theatre continues to this day. So, I always try to keep up with any news in the theatre community. I have recently become acquainted with a little musical you may have heard of called, Hamilton . It is INCREDIBLE. I am completely obsessed and am dying to see it. When I realized my turn at Fangirl Friday was coming up, I knew exactly what to write about. Keep reading after the break to hear me continue to gush about Hamilton !