We made it to Saturday night everyone! So I have for you an exciting list of Saturday night suggestions with author Caroline Taylor. I had the opportunity to review her previous book Loose Ends, and I’m also in progress of reading her latest one Death in Delmarva (my review will come later!). Here’s a bit about the book:
When Beatriz is stabbed to death outside her apartment, Daphne learns the baby has survived and sets out to find the baby’s missing father. She gets sidetracked when a friend facing life-threatening surgery asks Daphne to locate his sister, Charlie. Except for the lip ring and a nasty drug habit, Charlie could be Daphne’s twin.
The search for both people leads Daphne to the Delmarva Peninsula and a woman so desperate to cover her crimes against undocumented workers that she will kill anyone in her way, including Charlie and quite possibly the girl’s mirror image, Daphne Dunn. Be sure to pre-order your copy of this amazing book today!
Milkman, by Anna Burns. This winner of the 2018 Man Booker Prize poses numerous challenges for readers, but it’s worth making the effort. The lead character, a young girl during Ireland’s Troubles, is not named. We only know her as Middle Sister or Middle Daughter. All the other characters are treated in similar fashion with “maybe-boyfriend” being her love interest and Somebody McSomebody being a man she doesn’t care for. Only the mysterious Milkman is named, but even then readers get confused because there is also the actual milkman who delivers milk. I found this story to be a truly authentic account of the terrifying times when gossip was the only way that ordinary people could make sense of the madness around them, where local vigilantes both protected and punished, and where not even the well-connected and deeply feared Milkman could escape the terror.
Saturday Night Movie Suggestion:
The Big Lebowski. This movie, now considered a cult film, is the most realistic depiction of Angelinos who are not involved in the movie business but whose values are definitely influenced by it. I was born in Los Angeles and left at the age of six months. But I’ve visited the city often and stayed long enough to get a sense of the place and its values. Jeff Bridges as Jeff “The Dude” Lebowski is so laid back, he’s the embodiment of couch potato slacker, of which there are many in La La Land. The scene where he winds up at the home of The Big Lebowski always makes me laugh. Those sofas with their angled backs just scream “cocaine den.” Unlike the carton of milk that the Dude guzzles right from the store’s refrigerator in the opening scene, The Big Lebowski continues to entertain long past its sell-by date.
Saturday Night Device Detox:
The weekend has always been a great time to enjoy the company of other people. It doesn’t have to be a date, either. We all spend way too much time staring at our various devices, for work and also for socializing. But they’re a poor substitute for the real thing. There is nothing quite so satisfying as being in the presence of an actual person or group of friends, doing whatever you want to do—dancing, talking, drinking, eating, playing cards or board games, whatever does not involve staring at an illuminated screen. We’re social beings, after all, and studies show that socializing is good for our physical and mental health. Our world today may be dominated by the need to connect on social media, but, as Bruce Springsteen so eloquently put it, “I just want someone to talk to / And a little of that human touch.”
CAROLINE TAYLOR is the author of four mystery novels—What Are Friends For?, Jewelry from a Grave, Loose Ends, and The Typist—and a collection of short stories, Enough: Thirty Stories of Fielding Life’s Little Curve Balls. A longtime resident of Washington, D.C., Caroline now lives in North Carolina. Read more of her numerous short stories and essays featured on her website at www.carolinestories.com.
Good answers!