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 workshop on having a successful book launch or memoir writing. Sign up for a class on Shakespeare’s Sonnets. Go to a poetry reading featuring Two Novembers. Get involved in the literary community! View my 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 on (some) Mondays. Scroll down to read the most recent posts.

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cartoon art of the inquisitive one running through trees
Tales

The Inquisitive One Blunders Into a News Cycle

October 5, 2020 by Liza Achilles 6 Comments
For fun, the inquisitive one strapped on a mask and took the Metro into the heart of Washington, DC. The inquisitive one strolled past the White House. The inquisitive one ambled around the Washington Monument. The inquisitive one shimmied along the Reflecting Pool. The inquisitive one labored up the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Having gazed in reverence at the...
mask dark
Book Previews

The Question of Liberty

October 2, 2020 by Liza Achilles No Comments
There is a third question in the raging virus debate of 2020: 3. Should each of us have the right to make our own choices during an epidemic, in the name of independence, liberty, and freedom? (See my previous blog post for a discussion of the first two questions.) One Strategy: Target the Sick Let’s start by examining people’s liberty,...
bubonic plague bacteria microscope
Book Previews

Dragons, Snakes, Serpents, and Devils

September 25, 2020 by Liza Achilles 6 Comments
Here in 2020—as you well know—there is a debate about whether or not to wear a mask in public. At the core of this debate is how to answer the following questions: Do we trust what scientists are telling us about the virus? It’s clear that scientists do not know everything about this virus; do they know enough that we...
The Triumph of Death by Pieter Bruegel the Elder
Book Previews

I Read This Book So You Don’t Have To

September 16, 2020 by Liza Achilles 4 Comments
As a rule, I do not feature books on this blog unless I enthusiastically recommend them. I have read (in their entirety) all the books I feature on this blog, but the opposite is not true; I do not feature on this blog all the books I finish reading. (To learn which books I read but didn’t feature, and why...
head in arms in front of window
News & Events

Concussion and Arms Update

September 14, 2020 by Liza Achilles 4 Comments
It wasn’t until 7 p.m. last Friday that I remembered it was the one-year anniversary of my concussion. This is creepy, because my concussion occurred at 7 p.m. I was very much aware, all last Friday, that it was the anniversary of the infamous terrorist attack on the U.S. By now, 19 years later, we are all used to seeing...
underwater deep blue sea
Book Previews

Pressure on Me, Pressure on You (Part 2)

September 11, 2020 by Liza Achilles 4 Comments
But just as often, I am able to identify primary causes of anxiety that are more substantial. The feeling of pressure is not always caused by a relatively simple matter like trying to decide which mobile phone to get (as I wrote about in the first part of this two-part blog article). After all, my mobile phone dilemma is a...
underwater deep blue sea
Book Previews

Pressure on Me, Pressure on You (Part 1)

September 9, 2020 by Liza Achilles 4 Comments
As a person who suffers from anxiety, I understand the feeling of pressure. It hovers in the background of my days and dreams. Sometimes I’m aware of its presence; often I’m not. Often it’s just this invisible thing propelling me forward, or rather, away from the agony of the pressure, which doesn’t necessarily lead to anyplace that can be called...
black fingernail painted fingers on keyboard goth
Incidental Musings

Dear Liza

September 7, 2020 by Liza Achilles 16 Comments
The Rejection Dear Liza, Thank you for sending us “TWO NOVEMBERS: A Memoir of Love ’n’ Sex in Sonnets.” We enjoyed reading your manuscript, but it did not quite make it to the finalist round . . . The Hurt I receive emails like this on a regular basis. It’s part of being a writer. Yeah, it hurts. But it’s...
open laptop
Incidental Musings

This Is a Blog Post

September 4, 2020 by Liza Achilles 4 Comments
This is a blog post. A blog post is extant in cyberspace. The title of said blog post in cyberspace is This Is a Blog Post. This blog post is digitally located on a web server, somewhere on planet Earth. This blog post may have made its way into your email inbox, through means that are quite cryptic to me,...
flood street tsunami aftermath
Book Previews

Those Who Stay and Those Who Leave

September 2, 2020 by Liza Achilles 6 Comments
Do you live in the general locale where you grew up? Do you live far from your childhood home? Do you find yourself constantly changing residences? Have you traveled the world? Do you prefer to stay home? The novel Creatures, by Crissy Van Meter, is about those who stay and those who leave. It’s about those who love home, despite...
shallow water ocean boats
Book Previews

Not Really About Whales or Creatures

August 31, 2020 by Liza Achilles 2 Comments
This is a hard one. It’s not a hard book to read; that’s not what I mean. It’s a hard book to write about. As I explained last week, this is a book about whales—but it’s not really about whales. It’s called Creatures, and it’s about creatures that live in the sea—but it’s not really about that, either. It’s about...
humpback whale underwater
Incidental Musings

In the Bellies of Whales

August 28, 2020 by Liza Achilles 2 Comments
Have you ever wondered what whales eat? What’s in those big-ass bellies? Big fish? Little fish? Lobster with butter? Shrimp cocktail with lemon slices? Lots of men named Jonah? A report from this week’s New Yorker answers this pressing—I use this word completely unironically—question for us: “In 2017, a beaked whale washed up onshore near Bergen, Norway. In its stomach...
cartoon art of the inquisitive one running through trees
Tales

The Inquisitive One Wakes Up . . . Again!

August 26, 2020 by Liza Achilles 8 Comments
THE EYES OPENED . . . again!! The inquisitive one could see only one thing—white, silky, cottony stuff. The inquisitive one felt unwell. “Urrrghhh. . . .” said the inquisitive one. “Get up, now!!” yelled the worm living in the inquisitive one’s bellybutton. “I’m starving!! Give me pizza!!!!” “Pizza sounds really good,” admitted the inquisitive one. “Then get on it!!...
cartoon art of the inquisitive one running through trees
Tales

Journalistic Integrity and the I.O.

August 24, 2020 by Liza Achilles No Comments
Good day, blog readers. I write today to relay some news. That is to say, I have been working hard on a piece about the inquisitive one. Yes, I’ve been snooping about the inquisitive one’s house, endeavoring to learn just what the i.o. has been up to. I’ve been communicating with multiple sources. (While I can’t give away the identities...
mops on red wall
Book Previews

Angry, Angry, Angry!

August 21, 2020 by Liza Achilles 10 Comments
WOW, there’s a lot of anger out there. And in here. And everywhere. It’s nearly impossible to go on the Internet, join a Zoom call, or chat with a friend without someone—maybe even you or me!—bursting out in a diatribe of some sort. Yep, we’re all angry, . . . but what is the root cause of this anger? And...
washing a fork over a sink
Book Previews

How to Make a Friend

August 19, 2020 by Liza Achilles 8 Comments
There’s something strange about friendship. I used to think, in the ignorance of youth, that it wasn’t possible to be true friends with someone unless there were common interests and beliefs. I used to think that there could be cooperation between such people, but not true friendship. As a result, I shied away from people a lot . . ....
three monkeys in India
Incidental Musings

Not My Circus, Not My Monkeys

November 4, 2020 by Liza Achilles 30 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 8 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 12 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 (7)
  • Book Previews (349)
  • 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)Ā will not work until I have published the corresponding blog post.

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 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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     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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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