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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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pug dog with pink glasses and pink bow tie
Book Previews

Funny Wisdom Quotes About Life

September 16, 2024 by Liza Achilles No Comments
Here’s a fun book. About serious life issues. Treated in a humorous way. Today I’m bringing you funny wisdom quotes about life from a great humor writer. Because (and I really believe this; it’s not just a clichΓ©) laughter is the best medicine. Congratulations, the Best Is Over! Congratulations, The Best Is Over! is a collection of humor essays by...
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...
Young woman and middle aged man
Book Previews

A Dating Age Gap . . . Is a 34-Year Difference Too Much?

September 1, 2024 by Liza Achilles 6 Comments
She’s 19. He’s 53. This is an acceptable dating age gap, am I right? No moral judgment here. And there is definitely no moral judgment from the author of a gut-wrenching new novel from Germany. An East German couple with a large dating age gap Kairos, by Jenny Erpenbeck, translated by Michael Hofmann, is set in East Germany before the...
Woman crying with a tissue
Book Previews

Oh No, I Have a Napkin

August 26, 2024 by Liza Achilles 2 Comments
Reaching backward in time, you discover who you are. Stumbling forward in time, you discover who you are becoming. I enjoyed the beautiful literary novel Exhibit,Β by R.O. Kwon. The protagonist, Jin, is a Korean American art photographer. The story of Jin’s life is interwoven with an ancient Korean tale, half legacy and half curse, that she sometimes treats reverently and...
Mysterious woman by the water
Book Previews

Mystery Like a Great Sea (LBC)

August 19, 2024 by Liza Achilles 2 Comments
It’s Liza’s Book Club day! Did you read All Fours by Miranda July along with me? Like all of July’s books, this one did not disappoint. Or I should say—it did not disappoint once I got going. I found the first few chapters puzzling. I was expecting weirdness and comedy, because that’s July’s usual schtick. But this protagonist was weirder...
Two Novembers book crossed out
News & Events

Top 10 Reasons NOT to Read Two Novembers

August 12, 2024 by Liza Achilles No Comments
You want to support my writing endeavors by reading my book. But there’s a leeetle problem. Or 2. Or 10. Here are the top 10 reasons NOT to read Two Novembers: A Memoir of Love ’n’ Sex in Sonnets! 10. Your copy of Two Novembers was stolen by a suspected criminal. A bizarre series of events led to your copy...
Photo of Constitution
Book Previews

The Constitution and You. (And This Ridiculous Guy.)

August 5, 2024 by Liza Achilles No Comments
Some people geek out over the Constitution. Not me. I think it’s a bit of a snoozer. But I do recognize its great importance in my life and many other people’s lives, and so I was delighted to learn that A.J. Jacobs had written a new book called The Year of Living Constitutionally: One Man’s Humble Quest to Follow the...
Author Interview with Jana Eisenstein for Ghosted
Author Interviews

Single, Dating, and Writing in DC

July 29, 2024 by Liza Achilles 4 Comments
What’s the best way to navigate dating life in modern times? Are happiness and marriage the same thing? What’s it like to be a dating memoirist when family members are interested readers? Learn the answers to these questions and more in this interview with DC-area author (as well as my friend and market booth partner) Jana Eisenstein. This post is...
Lots of books side view
Incidental Musings

Book Publishing Types

July 22, 2024 by Liza Achilles No Comments
I received a topic request from blog reader Sandra. She asked me to explain the book publishing types. She wants to know the different ways a writer can change a manuscript into a published book. Book publishing is a large and complex topic, one that I’ve just dipped my toes into myself. In this post, I’ll share how I think...
rat drinking from Starbucks cup
Book Previews

Rich as Royalty

July 15, 2024 by Liza Achilles No Comments
I’m picky about reading poetry. Novelists and nonfiction writers can sometimes get away with sloppy writing, boring passages, even entire incomprehensible pages, if their book overall has a great plot and fascinating characters (for novels) or new findings and insightfulness (for nonfiction). But in poetry, the artistry of language and meaning isn’t a cherry on top. It’s the whole deal....
American Flag jigsaw puzzle piece
Book Previews

Political Puzzles

July 8, 2024 by Liza Achilles 2 Comments
A puzzle in my brain for a long time has been, how was Abraham Lincoln in the Republican Party? He led the North against the South in the Civil War and proclaimed emancipation as a . . . Republican? How and when did the two American political parties flip? Another puzzle in my brain for a long time has been,...
Two Novembers Selected for DCTRENDING's Summer Booklist 2024
News & Events

It’s Book Launch Day!!!!!!!

July 1, 2024 by Liza Achilles No Comments
I don’t know what to say. . . . I’m officially a published author of an actual book. Look, Mom!!! It only took me, oh, 24 years from when I decided that I wanted to be a published book author to become one. But I am proud and excited. What’s 24 years of hard labor, crippling (literally) anxiety, and the...
woman relaxing at the beach with a book
Incidental Musings

Midyear Check-In & *NEW* Liza’s Book Club

June 24, 2024 by Liza Achilles 8 Comments
Hello my bookish friends! It’s that time of year again! That time of year when everybody does . . . nothing. Everyone I know has left for the beach, a theme park, or some exotic locale halfway around the world. (Great time for a book launch? Er. . . . We’ll see. But let’s talk about that in one week,...
cartoon art of the inquisitive one running through trees
Tales

The Inquisitive One Talks With Jeff Bezos

June 17, 2024 by Liza Achilles No Comments
Hey, this is Liza. Just a quick note before we get into today’s tale. My new book Two Novembers is not currently buyable from Amazon due to a mixup in Amazon’s computer system. People who order from Amazon are being shipped a different book. My publisher and I have been trying to resolve this problem for weeks. I apologize for...
gun lying in the grass
Book Previews

Pulling the Trigger (Warning)

June 10, 2024 by Liza Achilles 4 Comments
Are we still using trigger warnings, as a society? On a podcast I was listening to the other day (Search Engine), the guest pointed out that trauma triggers are often specific to the individual. For example, if a book mentions hanging a wooden object using poster tape, that’s going to trigger anxiety in me, since that’s what caused my concussion...
Liza Achilles reading poetry from Two Novembers at the Writer's Center in Bethesda Maryland
News & Events

Upcoming Author Events

June 3, 2024 by Liza Achilles No Comments
I’m officially on book tour during the upcoming months. Whether you live in the DC area or elsewhere in the U.S. or world, I have just the event for you! You’ll enjoy attending my author events because I’ve prepared presentations that will entertain you with personal anecdotes, comedic interludes, and sonnet readings. Plus, you’ll get to be a voyeur into...
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)Β 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 StΓͺnio 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 EsmΓ© 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
EugΓ©nie Grandet HonorΓ© 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 BrenΓ© Brown
My Year of Rest and Relaxation Ottessa Moshfegh
Almost Everything Anne Lamott
Born to Run Christopher McDougall, Bruce Springsteen
The Ladies’ Paradise Γ‰mile 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 SeaΒ Jean Rhys
Infinite Jest David Foster Wallace
A Room of One’s Own Virginia Woolf

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     πŸ›’  Buy my debut book Two Novembers at Politics & Prose, The Ivy Bookshop, Bookshop, Beltway Editions, Amazon, or Barnes & Noble.
     πŸšš  Review Two Novembers on Amazon. This helps more than you know. Thank you.
     πŸ“£  Join my street team to help promote my next book, a literary/autobiographical novel.

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     βœοΈ  I'm always looking for writers who wish to write a guest blog post. Here are my guidelines.
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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