Liza Achilles - Literary/Autobiographical Author. The Blog for the Discerning Reader.
  • Home
  • Bio
  • Publications
  • Events
  • Services
  • Press
  • Contact
  • Subscribe
Home
Bio
Publications
Events
Services
Press
Contact
Subscribe
Liza Achilles - Literary/Autobiographical Author. The Blog for the Discerning Reader.

Literary / Autobiographical Author

❤ Books to make you laugh, hope & ponder ❤


Let's be social! Instagram | Facebook | Bluesky | LinkedIn
  • Home
  • Bio
  • Publications
  • Events
  • Services
  • Press
  • Contact
  • Subscribe

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.

  • Recent posts
  • Popular posts
cartoon art of the inquisitive one running through trees
Tales

The Inquisitive One Storms the Capitol

January 11, 2021 by Liza Achilles 8 Comments
A wise ant was living in the inquisitive one’s house. (The wise ant was living there full time, now that it was winter.) “Interesting about all those people storming the U.S. Capitol building,” remarked the wise ant. The inquisitive one was just waking up from a weeklong fest of alternately sleeping and listening to a podcast about how to care...
us capitol building with caution tape
Incidental Musings

Politics as Usual

January 8, 2021 by Liza Achilles 8 Comments
“Shock, fury and horror have been washing over the country in the day since the president incited a mob that attacked the U.S. Capitol.” This is how the New York Times summarized the mood yesterday. And it was shocking. It was shocking to go into my hair appointment thinking about Georgia’s election results, and come out of my hair appointment...
three services in a circle - mix and match
News & Events

New! Writing, Editing, and Coaching Services

January 6, 2021 by Liza Achilles 2 Comments
Dear Blog Readers, Lovers of the Written Word, and Everyone Who Has Something to Say: As of January 2021, I am offering writing, editing, and coaching services! Do you have a book in you? Do you have a story, article, essay, report, or website in you? Is there another piece of writing that you’d like to bring into the world?...
emoji with hearts and smiling blushing face
Incidental Musings

I’m Grateful for This Idea

January 4, 2021 by Liza Achilles 4 Comments
A week or two ago, a friend of mine shared with me that they stopped taking their antidepressant. They had been experiencing a bunch of weird side effects—many of which I had never heard of before—and it sounded awful. When I was on antidepressants, I also experienced numerous frustrating side effects. (I’m on a different class of meds now, complete...
pine tree snow winter scene
News & Events

Liza Needs a Holiday Break

December 25, 2020 by Liza Achilles No Comments
Hi, Blog Readers! As always, thanks for reading my little blog posts. Thanks, also, for reading those of my blog posts that aren’t so little. Much appreciated. I’m feeling the need for a break, so I’ll be in absentia next week. (Patrons will continue to hear from me as usual.) It will be a little holiday break for me. And...
bird flying over ocean with setting sun and pier
Book Previews

What’s Wrong With Doubt and Cynicism?

December 23, 2020 by Liza Achilles 6 Comments
Doubt and cynicism are very, very popular. Doubt and cynicism are very, very cool. Who’s cooler than the rebel without a cause? Who’s cooler than the person who believes in absolutely nothing—not religion, not family, not school, not government, not occupation, not friendship, not art, not hope, not love? Who sits in the corner with some sort of mood-enhancing drink...
snowflake
Incidental Musings

2nd Annual Christmas Rant!!!!

December 21, 2020 by Liza Achilles 2 Comments
Oh boy, oh boy, get yourself ready. It’s that time of year, folks. Christmas lights hanging like icicles! Children making snowgentlemen and snowladies! And the shimmering, frosty release of the bitter, angry, pissy, woebegotten, godforsaken annual Christmas rant!!!! I bet you didn’t even know there was ANY such THING as an annual Christmas rant. Well, that’s because I just now...
microphone
Incidental Musings

The Best Podcasts of All Time

December 18, 2020 by Liza Achilles 6 Comments
A little secret: I haven’t listened to all of the podcasts ever made. But in the spirit of year’s end ranking lists, here are the best podcasts of all time, according to the extremely limited knowledge, and fully admitted bias, of your host, Liza Achilles. But first, a Q&A (literally just a single one) for any old-schoolers and holdouts out...
people in silhouette raising hands at dusk
Incidental Musings

It’s the Village, People

December 16, 2020 by Liza Achilles No Comments
“You have to engineer a village for yourself, because it won’t happen otherwise.” —Dr. Kirk Honda on his podcast Psychology in Seattle It’s the village, people. It seems that the folks behind the song “Y.M.C.A.,” Hillary Rodham Clinton, and all of the people who passed along the traditional African proverb “It takes a village to raise a child” were on...
laptop magazine and tea on round wooden table
News & Events

Both Meetup Groups Are Back!

December 14, 2020 by Liza Achilles No Comments
I’m excited to announce that both of my Meetup groups are back in business! Silent Book Club of Rockville held its first meeting in months on December 6, 2020. The next meeting will be on December 20, 2020. Shut Up & Write! Gaithersburg will be holding its first meeting in months on January 2, 2021. Both groups follow a similar...
popcorn
Book Previews

When Life Pops Like Popcorn

December 11, 2020 by Liza Achilles No Comments
Jay Michaelson is surely a contender for the most interesting and accomplished person alive. His areas of expertise are so wide-ranging that one wonders how they can occur in a single human being. He is an attorney who also has a PhD in religion. His areas of expertise include Judaism, Buddhism, law, politics, meditation, and mysticism. He has been a...
hand reaching up toward crescent moon
Book Previews

The Finger Pointing at the Moon

December 9, 2020 by Liza Achilles No Comments
The other day, I attended a Meetup group on Zoom. It was one of those groups that has a policy of respecting the anonymity of all who participate. We were told that what was said in the Zoom group should stay in the Zoom group. Fine. I won’t share with you exactly what happened. (So painful as a blogger! lol)...
cartoon art of the inquisitive one running through trees
Tales

The Inquisitive One Doesn’t Do Laundry

December 7, 2020 by Liza Achilles No Comments
The inquisitive one’s personality, unbeknownst to the inquisitive one, according to my sources, has changed since the pandemic hit the United States. (My sources are mainly butterflies.) According to the butterflies who live in the inquisitive one’s house, and who occasionally escape out of doors to bring me secret reports, the inquisitive one used to be neat and tidy. Everything...
yellow leaves by brick wall
Book Previews

The Two Opposing Ways to Live

December 4, 2020 by Liza Achilles No Comments
There are two opposing ways to live. One: logic, rationality, practicality, groundedness Two: imaginativeness, emotionality, creativity, inquiry Would you place yourself in camp one or two? Are there people in your life who clearly belong to one camp and not the other? Is one camp better than the other, in terms of living the good life, whatever that means to...
woman boxer
Book Previews

A One-Two Punch

December 2, 2020 by Liza Achilles No Comments
When I was halfway through writing my last blog post, I took a break from the computer. I went for a run. Thoughts on the novel Death in Her Hands, by Ottessa Moshfegh, were flowing through my mind. Revelation As I was running, it came to me. The loose pieces of the novel came together. It made sense. Finally! This...
labrador retriever near forest path with daffodils
Book Previews

Hog-Wild

December 1, 2020 by Liza Achilles 3 Comments
I debated for days about whether to feature this novel on the blog. Usually, by the time I’m a quarter of the way through a book, I know whether I’m going to feature it or not. My requirements are (1) it must impart wisdom of some sort, and (2) I must deem it worthy of my enthusiastic recommendation to others....
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...
Load more posts
Page 20 of 41« First...10«19202122»3040...Last »

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

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

Search

Archives

Best modern books

books wrapped with peach colored flowers with heart and sweater - square Get the inside scoop on the best 21st-century books. Your free gift:

20 Best Books in the Last 10 Years

Frequent tags

anxiety art blogs books bookstores brains children comedy communication concussions dating doctors emotions family fear food friends friendship health history humor Internet love memoir mental health music novels philosophy phones poetry politics psychology publishing reading running science self society the inquisitive one truth wisdom women work writers writing

From the book tour

busboys and poets 071424

Recent comments

  • Liza Achilles on The Vegetarian by Han Kang: Analysis of the English Translation
  • Robert Wachholder on The Vegetarian by Han Kang: Analysis of the English Translation
  • Liza Achilles on Top 10 Best Podcasts 2025 for Readers, Writers, & Thinkers
  • Liza Achilles on Top 10 Best Podcasts 2025 for Readers, Writers, & Thinkers
  • LEE HURWITZ on Top 10 Best Podcasts 2025 for Readers, Writers, & Thinkers
  • LEE HURWITZ on Top 10 Best Podcasts 2025 for Readers, Writers, & Thinkers
  • Liza Achilles on Top 10 Best Podcasts 2025 for Readers, Writers, & Thinkers
  • David Reed on Top 10 Best Podcasts 2025 for Readers, Writers, & Thinkers

About this site

eco friendly website

This website is eco-friendly. Click the seal to learn more. Do you want a website for your books, art, music, or small business? GreenGeeks offers fast, secure, eco-friendly web hosting.

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.
     šŸ“£  Join my street team to help promote my next book, a literary/autobiographical novel.

Blog links

     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.?

Can I help you?

I offer the following freelance services:
     šŸ“  Book editing & writing coaching
     šŸŽ¤ļø  Speaking & teaching
     šŸ’»  WordPress design
Reasonable rates from a skilled and friendly pro. Visit my Services page to learn more. Or simply contact me and let me know how I can help you.
Ā© 2025 Liza Achilles | Privacy Policy | Disclaimers | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube | Bluesky | LinkedIn | Thanks for visiting my website today!

books wrapped with peach colored flowers with heart and sweater - square

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