The Saucy Wenches Book Club

“We are all flawed, complicated, wounded dreamers; we have more in common with one another than we don’t. Sometimes making the world a better place just involves creating space for the people who are already in it.” ~ Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan, Mad Honey

‘You’re going to let Professor Rapson tinker with your chair? You’ll probably go into orbit. What sort of idiot are you?’ ‘I’m hoping I’m the idiot who works for you, Dr. Maxwell.’ ‘So am I. You sound too good to be true. What’s your position on chocolate?’ ‘You can never have enough,’ he said, pulling a handful of miscellaneous chocolate bars from mysterious depths. ‘You’re hired,’ I said. ‘Starting now.’ ~ Jodi Taylor, A Symphony of Echoes ( The Chronicles of St. Mary’s #2)

“I yearn to know the people I love deeply and intimately—without context, without boxes—and I yearn for them to know me that way, too.” ~ Jennette McCurdy, I’m Glad My Mom Died

“Watching him closely after he paid for the books and took the package into his hands, I saw his pupils dilate the way a diner’s do when food is brought to the table.” ~ Louise Erdrich, The Sentence

“But knowing everything is too much like knowing nothing; without a story, it’s all just information.” ~ Jennifer Egan, The Candy House

“You know your problem?” “A predilection for first editions and women who like to lecture me about myself? “An unhealthy respect for the rules.” ~ Leigh Bardugo, Hell Bent

“Each time you do something generous, you’re shaping yourself into someone who’s more likely to be generous next time, and that matters.” ~ Ted Chiang, Exhalation

I suppose people who love a book always think they understand it best, when the whole point is that the author clamps a ring through the reader’s nose and leads him by a rope exactly where he wants to go. ~ Alice Elliott Dark, Fellowship Point

The only bubble in the flat champagne of February is Valentine’s Day. It was no accident that our ancestors pinned Valentine’s Day on February’s shirt: he or she lucky enough to have a lover in frigid, antsy February has cause for celebration, indeed. ~ Tom Robbins, Jitterbug Perfume

For Ms. Pac-Man, Anna thought, life was cheap and filled with second chances. ~ Gabrielle Zevin, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow

“If I knew that this would be the last time I would hear your voice, I’d take hold of each word to be able to hear it over and over again. If I knew this was the last time I’d see you, I’d tell you I love you, and would not just assume foolishly you know it already.” ~ Stephen Markley, The Deluge

The King lived here, you say? Really? I stood in one tiny room with loud furniture and shag carpet and thought: The King’s interior designer must’ve been on acid. ~ Prince Harry, Spare (first impression of Elvis Presley’s home, Graceland)

“There comes a point where you have to make the choice to be happy, because being sad for too long is exhausting.” ~ Josie Silver, One Day in December

“It was a scandal, calling out women for changing the rules on men with no warning because of their vapid women’s lib and their stupid sexual awakenings. Sexual awakenings were not supposed to extend beyond what was merely an upgrade in enjoyment for men.” ~ Taffy Brodesser-Akner, Fleishman Is in Trouble

“The need for personal glory is like cigarette addiction: a habit that feels life-sustaining even as it kills you.” ~ Jennifer Egan, The Candy House

“When she told me it was her favorite, it suggested to me strange and wonderful things about her character that I had not guessed, dark places that I might like to visit ... You know everything you need to know about a person from the answer to the question, What is your favorite book? ” ~ Gabrielle Zevin, The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry