Liza Achilles - Seeking wisdom through books and elsewhere.

What is this blog about?

This blog is about seeking wisdom through books and elsewhere, while embracing compassion. In other words, it's about sharing exciting ideas that can enhance our lives in unexpected ways.

The blog is located here on the Home page. (Scroll down!) New posts come out on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings (usually). To receive blog posts in your inbox, subscribe to the newsletter.

Here are the categories of posts:

  • BOOK PREVIEWS—I write about wisdom I discovered in books.
  • GUEST POSTS—Guest bloggers write about wisdom they discovered in books.
  • INCIDENTAL MUSINGS—I write about wisdom I discovered elsewhere.
  • NEWS & EVENTS—I share news and events.
  • PHOTOGRAPHY FRIDAY—I feature a beautiful and artistic photo.
  • TALES—The inquisitive one has mythopoetic adventures.

    • A note about the first category: Unlike book reviews, my book previews are not comprehensive. They do not attempt to describe the entire book. Also, my book previews do not contain spoilers. My goal is merely to seek out interesting and unexpected wisdom and share it with the world.

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    What is this website about?

    This website is about me, Liza Achilles, (hi!!) and how I can help you through writing, editing, coaching, events, and general friendly human being stuff.

    If you're curious about who I am and how I got here, check out the BIO page.

    If you're curious about what I've published, what I've not published, and what projects I'm working on now, check out the PUBLICATIONS page.

    If you're seeking professional writing, editing, or coaching assistance, check out the SERVICES page. You can learn about my services and request a free consultation.

    You can learn about past and future poetry readings and other performances and presentations on the EVENTS page.

    If you're mainly here because you want to say hi to the inquisitive one, you can do so on the THE I.O. page.

    But if you want to say hi to me, or leave me a message of any sort, head on over to the CONTACT page.

    And you'll definitely want to subscribe to the newsletter on the SUBSCRIBE page.

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    sheep
    Book Previews

    Why Is It Called Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

    August 4, 2021 by Liza Achilles No Comments
    This is something of a convoluted story. The famous 1968 science fiction novel by Philip K. Dick has an unusual title. It’s quite long for a book title, and it ends with a question mark. What’s more, there are few clues within the book itself as to why it’s titled as it is. And so, the question of the hour...
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    Reading time: 2 min
    The Directrice in Beautiful Yellow in DC
    Photography Friday

    Stylish and Floral in DC

    July 30, 2021 by Liza Achilles No Comments
    Photo by Michael Chorost. Washington, DC. Portfolio. Welcome to Photography Friday! This is a chance to relax and enjoy a beautiful and artistic photo at the end of the week. For me, it is a chance to catch up on some projects I have been wanting to accomplish for a long time, including finding a publisher for my poetry collection...
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    Reading time: 1 min
    woman sitting in chair hugging legs and looking out window
    Book Previews

    A Voluntary Depression

    July 26, 2021 by Liza Achilles 1 Comment
    You may have experienced depression. But have you ever experienced the wish to experience depression? What a strange wish! In his endlessly creative novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Philip K. Dick imagines a futuristic world (oddly enough, set in 2021) in which a character chooses voluntarily to be depressed. She chooses voluntarily to be depressed! What could cause...
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    Reading time: 1 min
    full moon in black and white
    Photography Friday

    Tonight the Moon Will Be Full

    July 23, 2021 by Liza Achilles No Comments
    Photo by Mike Petrucci. Delaware. Portfolio. Welcome to Photography Friday! This is a chance to relax and enjoy a beautiful and artistic photo at the end of the week. For me, it is a chance to catch up on some projects I have been wanting to accomplish for a long time, including finding a publisher for my poetry collection and...
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    Reading time: 1 min
    woman with hands on face
    Incidental Musings

    Concussion Update: Looking for Ideas

    July 21, 2021 by Liza Achilles 6 Comments
    Things are frustrating on the concussion front. It’s been almost two years since the original injury, but my progress has been like the stock market . . . when it’s plunging. I have made gains in my ability to understand myself and what my triggers are. That’s helpful at least. But it’s complicated stuff, monitoring everything I do, trying to...
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    Reading time: 1 min
    police car
    Incidental Musings

    Mixed Feelings

    July 19, 2021 by Liza Achilles No Comments
    Every once in a while, The New Yorker publishes a series of little vignettes, often by famous authors. Each vignette tells a story about the writer’s life. These are true stories on a theme, . . . and these little pieces often pack a large punch. My favorite vignette from a recent issue is called Lone Star, by David Wright...
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    Reading time: 1 min
    colorful bird
    Photography Friday

    Photography Friday Is Stunning

    July 16, 2021 by Liza Achilles No Comments
    Photo by Boris Smokrovic. Taiwan. Portfolio. Welcome to Photography Friday! This is a chance to relax and enjoy a beautiful and artistic photo at the end of the week. For me, it is a chance to catch up on some projects I have been wanting to accomplish for a long time, including finding a publisher for my poetry collection and...
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    Reading time: 1 min
    dictionary page
    Guest Posts

    Words, Words, Words – The Book That Made Me a Writer

    July 14, 2021 by Liza Achilles No Comments
    The following is a guest post by Lisa Tulfer, a writer and blogger based in England. As a child, I didn’t have much access to books. I was home educated, living in a foreign country with little interaction with that country’s language or culture, and English-language books were simply not available to buy. This was in the 1970s and early...
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    Reading time: 6 min
    two women in fantasy world
    Book Previews

    The Future Is Now!!!!!!!!

    July 12, 2021 by Liza Achilles No Comments
    It’s the year 2021. . . . It’s THE FUTURE!!!! Imagine. . . . Humans have created fake humans with machine parts so sophisticated that they are all but indistinguishable from real humans. . . . Imagine. . . . It’s 2021, and yet gender roles in America have, for some unknown reason, not progressed beyond the mid-1960s. . ....
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    Reading time: 1 min
    super cool man and woman
    Photography Friday

    Photography Friday Is Super Cool

    July 9, 2021 by Liza Achilles No Comments
    Photo by Anastasia Gepp. Chelyabinsk/Russia. Portfolio. Welcome to Photography Friday! This is a chance to relax and enjoy a beautiful and artistic photo at the end of the week. For me, it is a chance to catch up on some projects I have been wanting to accomplish for a long time, including finding a publisher for my poetry collection and...
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    Reading time: 1 min
    brown and green contrast
    Book Previews

    No Idea

    July 7, 2021 by Liza Achilles 3 Comments
    We’re all human. And when you pan out, and pan out, and pan out the view, we’re all the same. Yet each one of us is unique. We’re all the same, and we’re all different. Obvious? Yes. Maybe. Actually, not at all, when you’re just trying to survive your day. Now check out this lovely passage from the novel Nothing...
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    Reading time: 1 min
    woman and man sitting in a field laughing
    Incidental Musings

    Did You Notice My Joke?

    July 5, 2021 by Liza Achilles 4 Comments
    I embedded a joke—or anyway, my idea of a joke—into my blog post 20 Common Spelling Mistakes in English. Did you catch it? A total of zero people contacted me saying they got the joke. So now I’m wondering, are people not realizing I’m joking? Or maybe no one caught it. Or maybe no one said anything. Because why would...
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    Reading time: 1 min
    windmills in Consuegra Spain
    Book Previews

    Don Quixote: What’s the Best Translation?

    February 10, 2021 by Liza Achilles 4 Comments
    I have read the masterpiece Don Quixote, by Miguel de Cervantes, twice in my life. The two experiences were quite different. This was in large part due to the fact that I read two very different translations of the book. Don Quixote Reading #1: Bargain-Bin Translation The first time, I was in my early 30s. I had picked up the...
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    Reading time: 4 min
    three monkeys in India
    Incidental Musings

    Not My Circus, Not My Monkeys

    November 4, 2020 by Liza Achilles 8 Comments
    I recently met a guy who disclosed to me that his personal motto is “Not my circus, not my monkeys.” Despite this expression having been popular for a number of years—it’s all over the Internet—I did not remember hearing it before. But I instantly took to it. What lovely imagery. And what lovely meaning: so metaphorical, yet so obvious. At...
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    Reading time: 4 min
    Baker Street - London Underground - London Tube
    Incidental Musings

    Mind the Gap: British Slang in an American Mind

    May 22, 2019 by Liza Achilles 6 Comments
    Mind the gap! This I will do. Yes, sir; yes, ma’am! It would be a shame to drop a personal item between the platform and the train—or, God forbid, a body part. I am finding that the gaps here in London are more irregular than in Washington, D.C., and truly do require some minding. Sometimes the train is flush with...
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    Reading time: 4 min
    tall stack of chocolate bars . . . to eat in moderation
    Incidental Musings

    Everything in Moderation, Including Moderation

    April 22, 2019 by Liza Achilles No Comments
    Everything in moderation, including moderation. Heard that before? Now you have, in any case. Feel free to attribute that quote to me. After all, I wrote it. (Look above, if you don’t believe me.) Take it and run with it, Internet! Origin of the Quote Oh, so you require more persuasion before quoting me on that? You wish to know...
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    Reading time: 3 min
    A difficult book to read may be a book worth reading - published in Bologna, 1694
    Incidental Musings

    How to Read a Difficult Book

    April 10, 2019 by Liza Achilles No Comments
    Humor me for a moment, and mentally discard all those books that are, in your opinion, page-turners. Any reads that you find to be quick, easy, fun, fascinating, lovely, exciting, or otherwise engrossing are irrelevant to this discussion. Next, add to that discard pile all those books that lack redeeming qualities, as far as you can tell. You’ve read a...
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    Reading time: 7 min
    Converse Chuck Taylor All Star sneaker shoe
    Book Previews

    The Comfort of Your Clothing

    January 20, 2021 by Liza Achilles No Comments
    I got into a minor Facebook spat with a friend. I had posted an image of Kamala Harris wearing the Converse sneakers she has become famous for wearing. And I wrote that I was excited about this clothing choice by a woman at the top levels of government. My friend objected. She said, why are people commenting on a female...
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    Reading time: 3 min
    purple woman in room
    Incidental Musings

    A Young Woman With Spiky Purple Hair

    December 18, 2019 by Liza Achilles 12 Comments
    One A tall, paunchy man stood next to the wall. No one could see him, except for me. I was afraid of him. I tried to stuff him into a large trunk and close the lid. The lid would not completely close. I was afraid, knowing he would emerge again. Later, I was in a bedroom packed with people. The...
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    Reading time: 6 min
    sending an email for the purpose of business communications can result in if vs whether grammar pitfalls
    Incidental Musings

    If vs Whether: Grammar at Work

    February 20, 2019 by Liza Achilles 6 Comments
    The following is a true story about if vs whether grammar pitfalls that can happen in business communications. The First Email A few weeks ago, one of the leaders of the company I work for sent all employees an email announcing an upcoming company event and listing possible dates on which it might be held. The leader also wrote this:...
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    Reading time: 4 min
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    Books previewed

    Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Philip K. Dick
    Nothing to See Here Kevin Wilson
    Change Damon Centola
    Homeland Elegies Ayad Akhtar
    Becoming Attached Robert Karen
    Piranesi Susanna Clarke
    Don Quixote Miguel de Cervantes
    Solitary Albert Woodfox
    Girl, Woman, Other Bernardine Evaristo
    Enlightenment by Trial and Error Jay Michaelson
    Death in Her Hands Ottessa Moshfegh
    The Cooking Gene Michael W. Twitty
    The First Bad Man Miranda July
    Upheaval Jared Diamond
    A Journal of the Plague Year Daniel Defoe
    Creatures Crissy Van Meter
    Indelicacy Amina Cain
    Say What You Mean Oren Jay Sofer
    Habits of a Happy Brain Loretta Graziano Breuning
    Bad Behavior, This Is Pleasure Mary Gaitskill
    The Brother Gardeners Andrea Wulf
    Severance Ling Ma
    How to Be an Antiracist Ibram X. Kendi
    The Museum of Modern Love Heather Rose
    Why I Write George Orwell
    The Woman Destroyed Simone de Beauvoir
    Educated Tara Westover
    The Gift Hafiz
    The Collected Schizophrenias Esmé Weijun Wang
    Your Duck Is My Duck Deborah Eisenberg
    Sapiens Yuval Noah Harari
    Milkman Anna Burns
    Under the Banner of Heaven Jon Krakauer
    Waiting for Bojangles Olivier Bourdeaut
    A Mind Unraveled Kurt Eichenwald
    Eugénie Grandet Honoré de Balzac
    The Body Keeps the Score Bessel van der Kolk, M.D.
    The Bookshop Penelope Fitzgerald
    Digital Minimalism Cal Newport
    The Sisters Brothers Patrick deWitt
    Dare to Lead Brené Brown
    My Year of Rest and Relaxation Ottessa Moshfegh
    Almost Everything Anne Lamott
    Born to Run Christopher McDougall, Bruce Springsteen
    The Ladies’ Paradise Émile Zola
    The World Beyond Your Head Matthew B. Crawford
    All the Birds, Singing Evie Wyld
    Barracoon Zora Neale Hurston
    Dandelion Wine Ray Bradbury
    JavaScript & jQuery Jon Duckett
    Home Fire Kamila Shamsie
    The Weather Detective Peter Wohlleben
    Play It As It Lays Joan Didion
    The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck Mark Manson
    Convenience Store Woman Sayaka Murata
    Perfect Me Heather Widdows
    Sorry to Disrupt the Peace Patty Yumi Cottrell
    Why Buddhism Is True Robert Wright
    What Is Real? Adam Becker
    Kudos Rachel Cusk
    The Days of Abandonment Elena Ferrante
    F*cked Corinne Fisher & Krystyna Hutchinson
    Searching for Stars on an Island in Maine Alan Lightman
    Wide Sargasso Sea Jean Rhys
    Infinite Jest David Foster Wallace
    A Room of One’s Own Virginia Woolf

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