Liza Achilles - Literary/Autobiographical Author. The Blog for the Discerning Reader.
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Liza Achilles - Literary/Autobiographical Author. The Blog for the Discerning Reader.

Literary / Autobiographical Author

❤ Books to make you laugh, hope & ponder ❤


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Modern Shakespearean love sonnets

TWO NOVEMBERS by Liza Achilles - front cover - square transparentTwo Novembers: A Memoir of Love ’n’ Sex in Sonnets is available at Bookshop, Beltway Editions, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and wherever books are sold. This candid and humorous book chronicles my love life in Shakespearean sonnets. Learn more.

Events in Washington, DC, & beyond

Liza Achilles performing at a micAttend a memoir writing workshop. Learn about Shakespeare and his timeless love sonnets. Meet fabulous modern authors and hear them read from their books. Get involved in the literary community in 2025! View all upcoming events.

Welcome to the Blog for the Discerning Reader

This blog features the best books of modern times. Intellectually great nonfiction. Artistically great fiction and poetry.
What’s new in the literary book world? Find out here, every Monday. Scroll down to read the most recent posts.

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pills in a cup with faint reflection
Book Previews

What Happens When You Stop Taking Psych Meds?

May 19, 2025 by Liza Achilles No Comments
Huge numbers of Americans take psychiatric medications to treat mental health conditions. I’m one of them, and maybe you are, too. One-quarter of all adults experience a diagnosable mental health condition in any given year, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine. According to the CDC, in 2020, 16.5 percent of American adults took prescription medication for their mental health within the...
cherry blossoms and a book
News & Events

Spring in Washington, DC, for Readers, Writers, & Thinkers

May 12, 2025 by Liza Achilles No Comments
The weather is nice, and many literary events are happening in and around the city! This blog post is for all you readers, writers, and thinkers looking to participate in bookish opportunities this spring and summer. Most of these opportunities are for people in the Washington, DC, area, but some are virtual and available to anyone with an electronic device....
Very large tree with many branches in a forest
Book Previews

The Vegetarian by Han Kang: Analysis of the English Translation

May 5, 2025 by Liza Achilles 2 Comments
South Korean author Han Kang won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2024. Since then, her most famous novel, The Vegetarian, has been all over American bookstores. But when I read The Vegetarian, something seemed off. Upon reaching the end of this slim book, I realized that it is indeed a masterpiece. But I wondered how the English translation compares...
Chloe Yelena Miller headshot and Viable cover, a book that can help people looking for ways to heal emotionally from a miscarriage
Author Interviews

How to Heal Emotionally from a Miscarriage

April 28, 2025 by Liza Achilles No Comments
There’s nothing like poetry for emotional healing. I’d like to share a book of poetry written by my friend Chloe Yelena Miller. Titled Viable, it’s a slim collection that packs powerful emotions and reflections. It’s also witty, in a serene and contemplative way. If you’re wondering how to heal emotionally from a miscarriage, this is a fabulous place to turn....
man and woman talking into mics maybe on a podcast, maybe on a top 10 best podcast 2025
Incidental Musings

Top 10 Best Podcasts 2025 for Readers, Writers, & Thinkers

April 21, 2025 by Liza Achilles 6 Comments
This is a blog about the best books. But we book lovers can’t always be reading. We’d like to. But sometimes we need to do household chores, drive, or do other activities that occupy our arms and eyes, but not our full headspace. Yes, there are audiobooks for that. But I swore I’d never again listen to an audiobook while...
four chickens
Book Previews

Should We All Go Vegan? Animal Rights & Human Animals

April 14, 2025 by Liza Achilles 6 Comments
This blog post will annoy all of you. I apologize in advance. Annoyance is the usual response I get when I talk about my food choices. Vegans get annoyed when I admit that, while I often order vegan in restaurants, I’m not a vegan. Non-vegans get annoyed when I attempt to order vegan. Depending on the venue, this tends to...
sad man sitting on couch in dark room
Book Previews

All’s Fair in Love and Abuse

April 7, 2025 by Liza Achilles 2 Comments
Hey blog readers, book lovers, and thinkers! Major! Trigger! Warning! Today, I’d like to share with you a very long book that I immersed myself in for three weeks straight. At 720 pages, this was an investment. Was it worth it? I debated myself for a long time about whether I should write about this book on the blog. I...
cartoon art of the inquisitive one running through trees
Tales

The Inquisitive One Eats at a Restaurant

March 31, 2025 by Liza Achilles No Comments
The inquisitive one picked up the menu and scanned through it. Unbelievably, there was only one item on the menu that did not include gashbphigi berries. That item was the boiled leeches, which the i.o. wasn’t in the mood for. “Do you know what you’re going to order?” the inquisitive one inquired. “The gashbphigi berry special looks great!” said the...
veranda with plants and comfy chairs.
Book Previews

Love Letter to a Small Publishing Company: And Other Stories

March 24, 2025 by Liza Achilles No Comments
While browsing in The Ivy Bookshop in Baltimore, my eye caught some books with a fascinating appearance. Gorgeously displayed with their covers facing out, these books were clearly all published by the same quirky small publishing company. No large publishing company would dare to do anything so unusual. The books were paperback with sturdy matte covers. They were just barely...
Decorative item that says, One small positive thought in the morning can change your whole day.
Book Previews

Cynical vs Skeptical Showdown & Examples of a Positive Attitude

March 17, 2025 by Liza Achilles 4 Comments
Which life philosophy is better: to be cynical, or to be hopeful but skeptical? Is this something that can be objectively judged, or are these simply different preferences, one no better than the other? I definitely have a history of being cynical. As a teenager, I played trumpet. Sitting in the back of the band room with mostly boys, I...
cartoon art of the inquisitive one running through trees
News & Events•Tales

The Inquisitive One Gets Laid Off

March 10, 2025 by Liza Achilles 8 Comments
The inquisitive one, having taken some vacation time off work, ran to Nashville, hung around in honky-tonks for a couple days, and then ran back home to the DC area. Now, at 11am on the last day of the mini vacation, the i.o. relaxed into a bouncy red movie theatre seat, in a venue just outside DC. The i.o. tapped...
An explosion of particles at night
Book Previews

Midnight in Chernobyl, Ukraine, & Is Chernobyl Still Radioactive?

March 3, 2025 by Liza Achilles No Comments
A book hasn’t blown my mind this explosively in a long time. (Sorry!—that joke was in extremely bad taste. . . . But every joke has a truth behind it—dare I say an atom of truth, at its core?) (Sorry, again!) Midnight in Chernobyl: The Untold Story of the World’s Greatest Nuclear Disaster, by Adam Higginbotham, is insightful, instructive, and...
Two people lying on the ground in a forest wearing jeans and sneakers
Guest Posts

Navigating Life as an Aroace – Aromantic and Asexual

February 24, 2025 by Liza Achilles No Comments
The following is a guest post by Patrick Bex. He reached out to tell me about his debut book of poetry, Limitless, which was published last week. I reviewed his book for my paid subscribers. (Click here to join and unlock this and other bonus articles for only $4/month!) Intrigued by the concept of aromanticism and asexuality, I invited Patrick...
Wine bottles stacked in triangular shelves.
Book Previews

Wine 101: How to Taste Wine & How to Learn About Wine

February 17, 2025 by Liza Achilles No Comments
How’s the mood today? Are you in need of a drink? Me, too. If you have a history of alcoholism, click here to view an adorable photo of a newborn chicken. If you are able to drink safely and responsibly, read on! This article is your Wine 101 intro class on how to taste wine like a pro, and how...
Headshot of Jean Dudek. Book cover of her novel The Scent of Bright Light.
Author Interviews

You Know Sarah From Genesis? What Was Her Side of the Story?

February 10, 2025 by Liza Achilles 2 Comments
It’s one of the most ancient stories of the Western world: the story of Abraham, Sarah, and Hagar. It’s from Genesis. It includes the story of the near-sacrifice of Abraham and Sarah’s son Isaac. It includes the story of Abraham’s other son Ishmael, whose mother is not Sarah but Hagar, whom Sarah gives to Abraham because she is apparently infertile....
cartoon art of the inquisitive one running through trees
Tales

The Inquisitive One Gets an Email

February 3, 2025 by Liza Achilles 2 Comments
The inquisitive one heard a DING! So the i.o. clicked and read the following email: This is a message from your employer. In case you were wondering, we would like to state upfront that THIS EMAIL IS LEGAL AND TRUSTWORTHY. We feel compelled to tell you this because we got word that some people no longer think we are acting...
three monkeys in India
Incidental Musings

Not My Circus, Not My Monkeys

November 4, 2020 by Liza Achilles 26 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...
windmills in Consuegra Spain
Book Previews

Don Quixote: What’s the Best Translation?

February 10, 2021 by Liza Achilles 6 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...
sunset over ocean, dark aesthetic.
Book Previews

Everyone’s Asking: Should I Read Huckleberry Finn Before James?

December 16, 2024 by Liza Achilles 8 Comments
A classic has been born. Yeah, I know—you’ve heard that before. It’s on the back cover of practically every book you pick up. But this time, it’s for real. The 2024 novel James, by Percival Everett, isn’t just destined to become a classic of American literature; it already is one. And now everyone’s asking me the same question: Should I...
riding a horse in front of the sun
Book Previews

Three Don Quixote Translations: Spanish to English

February 12, 2021 by Liza Achilles 16 Comments
Let’s take, as a sample, the first sentence of chapter IV of the first part of Don Quixote, by Miguel de Cervantes. This great and classic novel was written and published in the early 1600s in Spanish. Part I was published first. Ten years later, part II was published. The two parts are now together known as Don Quixote and...
woman shocked with hands to head - for blog post on it's all in your head meaning
Incidental Musings

“It’s All in Your Head!” . . . Meaning . . . What?

September 9, 2024 by Liza Achilles 4 Comments
Is there someone in your life you’d like to insult, but can’t decide how? For maximal negative impact—if not maximal logic—I humbly suggest, to all jerks and bullies, “It’s all in your head!” For some reason, unkind people like to throw around “It’s all in your head,” meaning by this, “You’re imagining something with no basis in reality!” Or, more...
small room in winter as woman drinks hot beverage on a bed in a tiny house
Book Previews

The Psychological Effects of Living in a Small Space

February 3, 2021 by Liza Achilles 4 Comments
What’s it like to have your world confined to a small space? I think most of us know, having lived through the past year. As I mentioned in a previous blog post, I read the book Solitary, by Albert Woodfox, out of curiosity as to whether there were any lessons to be learned in looking at the pandemic experience through...
sheep
Book Previews

Why Is It Called Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

August 4, 2021 by Liza Achilles 2 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...
deck of cards thrown randomly down
Incidental Musings

You Play Stupid Games, You Win Stupid Prizes

March 16, 2020 by Liza Achilles 8 Comments
Do you remember that card game called War? Was it only Gen X’ers like me who played this game as a kid? Do you older and younger folk also remember draggingly long afternoons when Mom was taking forever to start making dinner, and there was nothing on TV, and you had no one to play with except your staggeringly stupid...
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Hi! I’m Liza

selfie of Liza Achilles literary and autobiographical author writer blogger

About this blog

THE BLOG FOR THE DISCERNING READER: This blog will feed your mind and soul, plus the soles of your feet, if you're ticklish there. Read previews of intellectually and artistically great books, as well as insights on living life well, always with sprinkles of humor.

Categories of posts

  • Author Interviews (4)
  • Book Previews (334)
  • Guest Posts (5)
  • Incidental Musings (156)
  • News & Events (66)
  • Tales (78)

Featured books


candlestick with lit candle on round table with books in living roomNote that the link for the most recently added book(s)Ā will not work until I have published the corresponding blog post.

Unshrunk Laura Delano
The Vegetarian Han Kang
Viable Chloe Yelena Miller
Animal Liberation Now Peter Singer
A Little Life Hanya Yanagihara
Ghost Pains Jessi Jezewska Stevens
Hope for Cynics Jamil Zaki
Midnight in Chernobyl Adam Higginbotham
Cork Dork Bianca Bosker
The Scent of Bright Light Jean K. Dudek
Rejection Tony Tulathimutte
Intermezzo Sally Rooney
Do I Know You? Sadie Dingfelder
James Percival Everett
There Is No Ethan Anna Akbari
The Other Significant Others Rhaina Cohen
Slow Productivity Cal Newport
Blue Ruin Hari Kunzru
Get the Picture Bianca Bosker
Lawn Boy Jonathan Evison
Congratulations, The Best Is Over! R. Eric Thomas
Kairos Jenny Erpenbeck
Exhibit R.O. Kwon
All Fours Miranda July
The Year of Living Constitutionally A.J. Jacobs
Ghosted Jana Eisenstein
Disease Of Kings Anders Carlson-Wee
Why We’re Polarized Ezra Klein
Molly Blake Butler
The Big Bang of Numbers Manil Suri
Truth Is the Arrow, Mercy Is the Bow Steve Almond
Doppelganger Naomi Klein
King Jonathan Eig
The Rachel Incident Caroline O’Donoghue
The End of Loneliness Benedict Wells
Poverty, by America Matthew Desmond
The Trees Percival Everett
The Great Experiment Yascha Mounk
Study for Obedience Sarah Bernstein
Some People Need Killing Patricia Evangelista
The Words That Remain StĆŖnio Gardel
Pageboy Elliot Page
Post-Traumatic Chantal V. Johnson
Stuart: A Life Backwards Alexander Masters
The Girls / The Guest Emma Cline
Bottoms Up and the Devil Laughs Kerry Howley
The Collected Tales of Nikolai Gogol Nikolai Gogol
I’m Glad My Mom Died Jennette McCurdy
Unlearn Your Pain Howard Schubiner with Michael Betzold
The Way Out Alan Gordon with Alon Ziv
The Best Minds Jonathan Rosen
Monsters Claire Dederer
Spare Prince Harry
As I Lay Dying William Faulkner
Rebuilt Michael Chorost
Losing Music John Cotter
Kokoro Natsume Sōseki
Party Going / Living / Loving Henry Green
Chatter Ethan Kross
Tender Is the Night F. Scott Fitzgerald
Stay True Hua Hsu
The Invisible Kingdom Meghan O’Rourke
How to Be Perfect Michael Schur
Orfeo Richard Powers
Unwinding Anxiety Judson Brewer
The Confidence Men Margalit Fox
Liberation Day George Saunders
Pandora’s Jar Natalie Haynes
Night of the Living Rez Morgan Talty
The Journalist and the Murderer Janet Malcolm
Mislaid Nell Zink
Exercised Daniel E. Lieberman
Lapvona Ottessa Moshfegh
Empire of Pain Patrick Radden Keefe
Furious Hours Casey Cep
First Person Singular Haruki Murakami
Klara and the Sun Kazuo Ishiguro
Dead Souls Sam Riviere
The Pale King David Foster Wallace
Lightning Flowers Katherine E. Standefer
Beautiful World, Where Are You / Normal People / Conversations With Friends Sally Rooney
Swan Dive Georgina Pazcoguin
A Passage North Anuk Arudpragasam
Lucky Jim Kingsley Amis
Projections Karl Deisseroth
The Indian Lawyer James Welch
Atomic Habits James Clear
The History of Philosophy A. C. Grayling
Dusk, Night, Dawn Anne Lamott
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 EsmƩ 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
EugƩnie Grandet HonorƩ 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 BrenƩ Brown
My Year of Rest and Relaxation Ottessa Moshfegh
Almost Everything Anne Lamott
Born to Run Christopher McDougall, Bruce Springsteen
The Ladies’ Paradise Ɖmile 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 SeaĀ Jean Rhys
Infinite Jest David Foster Wallace
A Room of One’s Own Virginia Woolf

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From the book tour

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Author links

     šŸ›’  Buy my debut book Two Novembers at Politics & Prose, The Ivy Bookshop, Bookshop, Beltway Editions, Amazon, or Barnes & Noble.
     šŸšš  Review Two Novembers on Amazon. This helps more than you know. Thank you.
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     šŸ“©  Subscribe to The Blog for the Discerning Reader to receive it in your inbox on Mondays.
     šŸŽ  Join Patreon to support the blog and get bonus articles, sneak peeks, and postcards.
     āœļø  I'm always looking for writers who wish to write a guest blog post. Here are my guidelines.
     šŸ‘‹  Did you know you can say hi to the i.o.?

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Best. Modern. Books.

Intellectually great nonfiction. Artistically great fiction and poetry. Get the inside scoop on the best 21st-century books, every Monday!
 
Your free gift: 20 Best Books in the Last 10 Years