Liza Achilles

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illustration of a man pulling off his face to reveal wires . . . he is a robot

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Replaced by an Identical Robot

August 5, 2019 by Liza Achilles 7 Comments

Schizophrenia runs in my family. To learn more about this mental illness is, for me, a way of trying to understand a piece of my family history. So when I saw a book called The Collected Schizophrenias featured at my local indie bookstore, cute cover and all, I had to buy and devour it. The Collected Schizophrenias is a collection...

clean energy - renewable energy - wind turbine - solar panels - fighting climate change and global warming in the snow

Incidental Musings

Climate Change: What Can One Person Do?

August 2, 2019 by Liza Achilles 5 Comments

The problem of climate change is disconcerting. Many people are frustrated. They would like to do something, but are uncertain about whether any action they take can make a difference. A couple dozen—myself included—of these millions of concerned people gathered together at a recent Meetup event in my community, Rockville On Tap. The topic of the evening was “Climate Change...

woman lying on the ground under a chair talking on an old-fashioned phone with a cord

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My Kingdom for Mother’s Approval

July 31, 2019 by Liza Achilles 2 Comments

One of the most frustrating situations in life is that of knowing you are having an illogical emotion, but having it anyway. The tragedy of this situation is perhaps second only to that of watching yourself act in accordance with that illogical emotion. In the wonderful collection of short stories Your Duck Is My Duck, by Deborah Eisenberg, many of...

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What’s a Duck Got to Do With It?

July 29, 2019 by Liza Achilles 4 Comments

I’m not going to tell you what a duck has to do with it. Obviously, you’ll enjoy the first story in the collection better if you discover the answer for yourself. The title of the short story collection Your Duck Is My Duck, by Deborah Eisenberg, is also the title of the first story in the collection. While the story...

cartoon art of the inquisitive one running through trees

Tales

The Inquisitive One Has Lunch With a Friend

July 26, 2019 by Liza Achilles 8 Comments

The inquisitive one met a friend for lunch at their favorite restaurant. They were seated next to a big, light-filled window. “It’s been too long!” said the inquisitive one. “What have you been up to?” As the friend told the inquisitive one about her career and family life, a fly was buzzing nearby. The fly kept on slamming itself into...

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Gears, Levers, Pulleys, and Other Deep Inner Workings

July 24, 2019 by Liza Achilles No Comments

Why are things the way they are? I recently wrote a post about someone who answers this question on a grand scale, encompassing all of humanity and time. But it’s also valuable to answer this question on a small scale: the scale of one person’s life. It’s especially valuable when that one person is you. Fiction helps here. No one—not...

Incidental Musings

“Yes, And . . .” – How to Successfully Build a Friendship

July 22, 2019 by Liza Achilles 6 Comments

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the mantra improv comics like to repeat: “Yes, And . . .” Washington Improv Theater has a show running through August 4 called Starship Odyssey: The Final Mission (Improv Saves the World). I found it to be, as advertised, a funny sci-fi adventure. And I was astonished, as always while watching improv, by...

Table set with breakfast of fruit, tea, and cakes

Incidental Musings

Moments of Wit and Jocularity With Oscar Wilde

July 19, 2019 by Liza Achilles 2 Comments

Unlike most people I know, I’m not a fan of quotable quotes. More than one sentence is usually needed to fully express an idea. Plus, quotable quotes are often taken out of context and assumed to have a meaning that was never originally intended. And then there is the rampant problem of the misattribution of quotes on the Internet. However,...

News & Events

How to Start a Silent Book Club

July 17, 2019 by Liza Achilles No Comments

A new article, written by yours truly, is live on the Silent Book Club blog. It’s called How to Organize and Host a Book Club. If you’ve ever considered starting a local chapter, this article is for you. Silent Book Club is an international organization with dozens of chapters around the U.S. and world. At a Silent Book Club event,...

News & Events

Exciting News: Article Published Today

July 15, 2019 by Liza Achilles 22 Comments

I’m excited to share that an article I wrote was today published in the Washington Independent Review of Books. Read the article here!

Tales

The Inquisitive One Gets a New Look

July 12, 2019 by Liza Achilles 4 Comments

The inquisitive one had been spending a lot of time on social media. The herbs in the garden were documented on Instagram. The new kitchen gadget and new running shoes were documented on Facebook. The vintage furniture steal was documented on Pinterest. And every waking thought was documented on Twitter. All of this photo posting and thought tweeting was starting...

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The Only Glue That Holds Strangers Together

July 10, 2019 by Liza Achilles 6 Comments

A relative of mine recently emailed me and other relatives to ask a philosophical question: Does it matter whether people actually believe the tenets of their religious faith? I wrote back with a response, which went something like this: Our beliefs and the stories we tell are extremely important. These cannot be discounted as superfluous aspects of a religion. They...

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The Biggest Ethical Dilemma of Modern Times

July 8, 2019 by Liza Achilles 6 Comments

Yuval Noah Harari, in his brilliant book Sapiens, makes the surprising claim that we live in an era of unprecedented peace and prosperity. It’s easy to get wrapped up in daily news that recounts shootings, terrorism, and international words and acts of aggression, as well as economic crises, downturns, and instabilities. But here’s the reality, looking through a wide-view lens...

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The Perfect Nonfiction Book Exists: It’s About Everything

July 5, 2019 by Liza Achilles 6 Comments

Not long ago, as I explained last week, I discovered a perfect novel. Virtually simultaneously, I made another discovery: a perfect nonfiction book. (I’m on a roll!) So what does a perfect nonfiction book look like? Well, the purpose of nonfiction is to illuminate real-world phenomena. It follows that a perfect nonfiction book would illuminate, incredibly clearly, not just one...

Tales

I Call the Inquisitive One

July 3, 2019 by Liza Achilles 4 Comments

Frustrated, I scooped up my phone and told it to call the inquisitive one. The inquisitive one answered on the second ring. “Hey, it’s Liza,” I said. “I know,” said the inquisitive one. “Oh,” I said. “I know.” “What’s up?” said the inquisitive one. “I’m in the middle of something.” “Remember when you called me that one day?” “That day...

chicly dressed woman and tattoed barechested man leave a building

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This Extraordinary and Quintessential Use of Language

July 1, 2019 by Liza Achilles 6 Comments

Before moving on to a topic other than the extraordinary novel Milkman by Anna Burns, I feel obliged to point out one of the quintessential aspects of her style in this masterwork. And this is, Burns has a way of amusing me to a ridiculous degree . . . though never enough that I actually crack a smile. This novel...

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...

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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...

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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...

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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

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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...

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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...

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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Featured books

candlestick with lit candle on round table with books in living room

Note that the link for the most recently added book(s) 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 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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