The Saucy Wenches Book Club

I am more comfortable with the before-ness or the after-ness of life. I am happier dissecting the past or dreading the future. I really have no proficiency at simply experiencing the present. ~ Louise Erdrich, Future Home of the Living God

“They’d been afloat now without food, water, shelter, or sleep for over forty hours. Of the 1,196 crew members who’d set sail from Guam three days earlier, probably no more than 600 were still alive. In the previous twenty-four hours alone, at least 200 had likely slipped beneath the waves or been victims of shark attack. Since the sinking, each boy had been floating through the hours asking himself the same hard question: Will I live, or do I quit?” In Harm's Way: The Sinking of the USS Indianapolis and the Extraordinary Story of Its Survivors by Doug Stanton

I keep everything hidden because there's nothing about my true self that anyone likes. I'm not difficult , Sebastian. I'm the easiest person around. I don't belong, and I spend all my time pretending I do. Sometimes I get weary of it, and that makes me angry. The Countess Conspiracy ~~Courtney Milan

Florida is a collection of masterfully written short stories about modern uncertainty and anxiety — the uneasy feeling that everything might fall apart with no warning at any minute. Eleven stories are narrated by female characters who don’t seem to have much in common except existential angst, which many readers can probably relate to, and a strong connection to the state of Florida. This is literary fiction that hooked me not with action-packed plots, but with deep-dish servings of the southern psyche, framed by the orchestral chorus of cicadas, stalked by repitilan menace, and fanned by the sway of Spanish moss in sprawling oaks. And because the language of Florida is in turns as lush and threatening and seductive as the ecosystem that infuses these stories, I’d like to share a few photos from one of my favorite northern Florida photographers to illustrate my review.

“I think you’ve been reading too many novels.” Allie raised her head from the pillow. “This from the woman who can quote the entire Outlander series verbatim.” “Only certain lines,” Sarah demurred. “Maybe the occasional paragraph.” ~ Lisa Clark O’Neill, Admit One ( Sweetwater #2)

He knows he's a good guy because he goes to church. It doesn't matter how he treats people. It doesn't matter if he's cruel. He's a God-fearing man, so he's good. I swallow my anger down with my wine. Jane Doe ~Victoria Helen Stone

He showed me his scars, and in return he let me pretend that I had none. ~ Madeline Miller, Circe

“It was actually pretty common for women not to scream or call the cops in rape cases I prosecuted,” Roe said, “at least partly because women aren’t wired to react that way. We are socialized to be likeable and not to create friction. We are brought up to be nice. Women are supposed to resolve problems without making a scene—to make bad things go away as if they never happened.” Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town by Jon Krakauer

"Sometimes love is disguised as something evil. Something horrible." "Yes. It is." "So when you find true love, that makes your heart swell and comforts you, that makes you feel safe and protected, you fight for it, Simon. You fight." "She said she needs time to think." "Give it to her, but then you go after her and you fight for her. Nothing in this world will be more worth it." "I know." Easy Kisses ~~Kristen Proby

Once upon a time there was a silence that dreamed of becoming a song, and then I found you, and now everything is music. ~ Laini Taylor, Muse of Nightmares

‘Which way to the north-east air-raid shelter from here?’ she asked anxiously. ‘I get so muddled in the smoke.’ Maddie pointed: ‘Straight line across the grass. Easy peasy if you’re brave enough — like finding Neverland, “Second to the right, and then straight on till morning.”’ Code Name Verity , Elizabeth Wein

Where does a man go when there are no more corners to turn, when he's running out of hope, out of luck, out of time? In Harm's Way: The Sinking of the USS Indianapolis and the Extraordinary Story of Its Survivors by Doug Stanton

“Booze is universal, it brings people together, and a lot of times it results in the creation of more people. What could be more magical than something that does all that?” Last Call at the Nightshade Lounge , Paul Krueger

“How do you know if you can really trust someone?” I finally ask. Noah raises his eyebrows and takes a sip of his drink. Then he looks into my eyes and the expression in his is so earnest I feel like he’s answering from a deeply personal place. “If you need to ask that question, then you probably already know the answer,” he says. An Anonymous Girl by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen

"I made up my mind because we fit," he said, reaching out  to take my hand, to squeeze it. "You make me better, and I like to think I do the same for you." I thought of the awkward human, then vampire, I'd been, and the slightly less awkward vampire I was becoming. "It's just--you were very unexpected." "That's because you'd only explored one half of yourself, Sentinel. I merely gave you the chance to blossom. To be the person you were always meant to become." Tears rushed into my eyes, and I knuckled them away. "Damn it, Ethan. How do you come up with things like that?" "I keep a notebook." Blood Games ~~Chloe Neill

As mothers and daughters, we are connected with one another. My mother is the bones of my spine, keeping me straight and true. She is my blood, making sure it runs rich and strong. She is the beating of my heart. I cannot now imagine a life without her.... A daughter without her mother is a woman broken. It is a loss that turns to arthritis and settles deep into her bones. ― Kristin Hannah, Summer Island

Emily Dickinson’s beautiful poem is called “Wild Nights—Wild Nights!” and combines two elements of which I am inordinately fond: punctuation, and the theme of finding, at long last, a soul mate. ~ Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine , Gail Honeyman