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

Literary / Autobiographical Author

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Incidental Musings

Sitting All Day

October 9, 2023 by Liza Achilles 6 Comments
Did you catch the recent Washington Post article about the dangers of sitting too much? “The negative effects of extended sitting can be so strong, researchers found, that even people who exercise regularly face higher risk if they sit for much of the day.” —Sitting All Day Increases Dementia Risk — Even If You Exercise, The Washington Post Apparently, sitting...
reading by an afghan
Incidental Musings

A Nonfiction Kick

September 13, 2023 by Liza Achilles No Comments
Dear Blog Readers, Clearly, I’m on a nonfiction kick. Eight out of the last nine previewed books have been nonfictional (and most of these have been memoirs). My original concept for this blog was to keep it 50-50 fiction and nonfiction. But there are no rules here, folks. Or rather, there are no unbreakable rules. To any fiction lovers out...
palm trees and sky
Incidental Musings

I’m Cured!! – My True Story About Chronic Pain

August 9, 2023 by Liza Achilles 10 Comments
Hello from Florida! I never thought I’d be able to travel in an airplane again, due to symptoms that I recently discovered were due to chronic pain. And yet here I am. In sunny and very hot and very humid Florida, visiting family. My first vacation in over four years. And I’m perfectly well. I used to have post-concussion syndrome,...
laptop pad pen glasses
Incidental Musings

Plotters and Pantsers

July 14, 2023 by Liza Achilles 4 Comments
I did it! I wrote chapter 1 of my new novel. I don’t know exactly where the book is going, though I have a general outline in my head. But that’s as it should be, at least for me. When I write a book, I like to see where it goes of its own accord. If it goes in a...
tea notebook pen flowers
Incidental Musings

Procrastination aka Need for Space

July 12, 2023 by Liza Achilles No Comments
Now that my book of poetry is on its way to publication, I know I should start another book. This is common advice given to writers. Once you finish one book, don’t sit around and wait for publication, or for you to become an overnight millionaire. (Right!) Don’t dwell on the specifics of the last book. Start your next book....
June calendar with the last day circled
Incidental Musings

The Year Is Half Over

June 30, 2023 by Liza Achilles 2 Comments
The year is half over; how are you doing on your New Year’s Resolutions? (If you made any, of course. I know that not everyone does.) I made six resolutions, and I *may* have already achieved one of them! One of my resolutions was to watch a movie all in one sitting. This is a challenge for me because of...
three candles
Incidental Musings

Biopsychosocial

June 28, 2023 by Liza Achilles 4 Comments
I was reading about psychiatry and came across something interesting. There is a concept known as the biopsychosocial model—see the short article from the University of Rochester called The Biopsychosocial Approach. According to this model, there are three ways to look at mental health. Each of these perspectives is useful in its own way: Biological Psychological Social So for example,...
snake in Africa
Incidental Musings

What About Snakes?

June 26, 2023 by Liza Achilles No Comments
I was recently reading stories by Hemingway. The writing was great. But I did not get swept away by the thought of hunting large game. I’ll view my large game from the other side of a strong set of bars, or an unscalable wall, thank you. Just a personal preference. I have never been on a safari, never wanted to...
woman holding a phone
Incidental Musings

A Bad Habit Sneaking Up

June 12, 2023 by Liza Achilles 4 Comments
A bad habit has been sneaking up on me lately. I have noticed that, while reading, I have been checking my phone every page or so. Sometimes I’ll check it after each paragraph. That’s a bad habit that didn’t haunt me for a long time. Especially during the dark days of my post-concussion syndrome, when I had trouble reading more...
open red black white book
Incidental Musings

A Behind-the-Scenes Look at Book Publishing

June 7, 2023 by Liza Achilles 6 Comments
My first book is coming out in 2024, and so I’ve been plunged into the exciting and slightly scary world of book publishing. I thought I’d share with you some of the activities going on behind the scenes to move the book through the publishing process. I signed a contract with my publisher, Beltway Editions. I hired a lawyer who...
notifications on a phone
Incidental Musings

Intentionally Broken

June 5, 2023 by Liza Achilles 2 Comments
Have you noticed that notifications, by and large, don’t work properly? Social media notifications will continue popping up after you have cleared them, or they show irrelevant information that aren’t actual notifications. Phone notifications don’t appear when they should. My dating app only notifies me about a new message half the time. Is it really possible that this technology is...
woman in colorful dress hugging herself
Incidental Musings

Just Be Yourself

May 26, 2023 by Liza Achilles 2 Comments
Have you ever been told to “Just be yourself” when you are nervous about an upcoming social situation? I have—I clearly remember this occurring when I was in high school. And I recently heard this advice given on the TV show Ted Lasso. But what does it mean to be yourself? According to Buddhists, there is no self. I believe...
two plus size women in a pool hugging
Incidental Musings

A Healthy, Natural Attraction

May 24, 2023 by Liza Achilles 2 Comments
“But why is a healthy, natural attraction to fat bodies so difficult for us collectively to believe? Why do we so readily accept that thin bodies are universally desired and lovable, while so certainly rejecting the same prospect for fat bodies?” —Aubrey Gordon, What We Don’t Talk About When We Talk About Fat Anti-fat bias is a huge problem in...
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Incidental Musings

Prince Harry’s Ghostwriter

May 22, 2023 by Liza Achilles No Comments
The New Yorker article was so good it made me want to buy the book. So I placed it on hold at the library, and I’m now waiting behind hundreds of people. I’m talking about the New Yorker article “The Ghostwriter” (published online as Notes From Prince Harry’s Ghostwriter), by J. R. Moehringer, who ghostwrote Prince Harry’s memoir, Spare. Moehringer...
spinning around in a circle
Incidental Musings

Are We Going in a Circle?

May 19, 2023 by Liza Achilles 2 Comments
I find myself reading a hardcore philosophy book once again. I am drawn to these books. I do not mind working hard to understand a book, but working hard to achieve but little understanding seems futile. And yet, every once in a while, I run across a gem of a quote that I do understand, that I do connect with—and...
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Incidental Musings

How to Tackle a Hard Problem

May 17, 2023 by Liza Achilles 4 Comments
A quotation by Descartes popped up twice in my reading for the week, in two different sources. I feel like the universe is trying to tell me something. The quotation in question is the second of four points that Descartes made in 1637 in part II of his work Discourse on Method: “The second, to divide each of the difficulties...
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Hi! I’m Liza

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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 (7)
  • Book Previews (351)
  • Guest Posts (8)
  • Incidental Musings (158)
  • News & Events (70)
  • Tales (82)

Featured books


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

Lion Sonya Walger
On the Calculation of Volume III / On the Calculation of Volume IV Solvej Balle
Joyride Susan Orlean
Vigil George Saunders
When Nothing Feels Real Nathan Dunne
Just Love Me for Who I Am James Styers
The Glory of Giving Everything Crystal Haryanto
Strange Houses Uketsu
On the Calculation of Volume II Solvej Balle
The Literati Susan Coll
Bring the House Down Charlotte Runcie
A Swim in a Pond in the Rain George Saunders
Intimacies Katie Kitamura
On the Calculation of Volume I Solvej Balle
Hunchback Saou Ichikawa
Pop! Mark Polanzak
Dreaming Reality Steven Jay Lynn & Vladimir Miskovic
Audition Katie Kitamura
Free Amanda Knox
The Pleasure Plan Laura Zam
Shakespeare’s Sisters Ramie Targoff
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 Stênio 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 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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Best. Modern. Books.

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