Where did I hear of Penelope Fitzgerald? I can’t remember, but I believe I read about her recently.

It’s a subtle feeling, one I can’t substantiate. I could, I suppose, spend hours paging through my precarious stacks of magazines. There’s also the finger-snapping quickness of the Internet—which informs me that some 30 New Yorker articles in the past couple decades have made mention of her. None of these, however, jog my memory.

Perhaps this is fitting, as Penelope Fitzgerald is a writer of subtlety, who has herself, as an author, tended to fly under the radar. But she’s far from an unknown: even, apparently, to me. So when I was recently browsing through a little bookshop, and noticed a little book called The Bookshop by Penelope Fitzgerald—I snatched it up.

The Bookshop is about an unassuming woman who opens up a bookshop in a remote corner of England. The novel was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, and rightly so. The following passage, which ends a chapter, is a good example of the subtlety of Fitzgerald’s writing:

“She herself was going to take the ferry across the Laze, as it was early-closing day, to deliver thirty Complete Wild Flower Recognition Handbooks to the Women’s Institute. Remembering this, she took the top book off the crisp pile and looked through the illustrations for the green marsh plant which Raven had shown to her. It was not mentioned.”

Ah! So delicate, this passage. But why was the green marsh plant—the one plant, of all the plants on earth, most meaningful to the protagonist, as it was shown to her by a true friend, of which she had very few—not mentioned in the “complete” guide?

Perhaps the green marsh plant was not scientifically classified as a wildflower. Or perhaps the plant’s omission from the book was an error. But this is beside the point. The point is more filamentary. It has to do with the overlooked, the missing, the forgotten phenomena of the world.

What, after all, is the value of minute remembrance? What is the value of the overlooked, all those who are ignored by the public at large? What, indeed, is the value of books and magazines, when they never seem to contain what you’re really looking for?

Hello, book lovers! Today I’d like to share with you a hodgepodge of tips and reminders.

TIPS: Articles for Lifelong Learners

I am excited to announce that I have added a new page to my website called Tips. It’s in the navigation bar at the top of every page. Here I will offer various articles for lifelong learners. Because these articles are written for specific audiences, each of them may or may not be applicable to you. Thus, I will periodically share with you their existence as I write them, but I will not include them in their entirety in blog posts. That way, if the subject of a particular article interests you, you can click through and read it; but if it is not applicable to you, you will not be burdened by its appearance in your inbox. Here are the first two articles I have posted there:

• How to Comment on a Blog Post – Easy Instructions—This article is for blog readers who would like to comment on a blog post, but aren’t sure how. It contains easy, step-by-step instructions.
• Books to Read Before College – Prime Your Mind!—This article is for high school juniors, seniors, and graduates who plan to go to college. I offer a list of books that teens might read to prepare for university-level coursework.

TIPS: If Statements

Irene commented on my post If vs Whether: Grammar at Work that she would be interested to learn about “if statements” that are contrary to fact and “if statements” that use the subjunctive mood.

• “If statements” can be grammatically correct, and yet be false. For example, take the following sentence: If you decide to go to the theater tonight, (then) I will see you there. According to the sentence’s grammar, which is correct, I will definitely see you at the theater in the case that you decide to go. (The sentence says nothing about what will happen if you decide not to go.) Even though this sentence is grammatically correct, I could say this and yet have no intention of going anywhere near the theater tonight. The sentence could also be false in other ways—for example, we could both end up at the theater but not see each other.
• “If statements” often use the subjunctive mood. The subjunctive mood communicates that something is imaginary or unreal. For example, take the following sentence: If I were to adopt a dog, (then) I would walk my dog every day. This is the subjunctive mood because I am speaking hypothetically about adopting a dog; it is something I am imagining doing, but is not a reality. Once again, though this sentence is grammatically correct, I could be telling the truth, I could be lying, or I could be trying to tell the truth but actually be wrong. One interesting fact about the subjunctive mood in English is that some of its verb forms have fallen out of use over the centuries. People today often substitute was for the technically correct were in such sentences: If I was to adopt a dog . . . And take this famous Shakespeare line (the opening words of Twelfth Night): “If music be the food of love, play on.” Today we would use is instead of be, and that would be perfectly correct. Confusing, right?

REMINDER: Enter the Contest!

I once again invite you to enter the second contest of this blog! It ends one week from today, so you still have time to enter! Click here to see the contest details. Thank you so much for your support!

REMINDER: Daylight Savings Time

Don’t forget (if you live in certain areas of the world, including much of the U.S.) to move your clocks forward on Sunday!

I hope you enjoyed this little mélange of thoughts. Happy Friday!

I’m excited to announce the second contest of this blog! Enter by 11:59 p.m. on Friday, March 15 to win exciting prizes!

As many of you know, I have spent the past 15 years writing, editing, and polishing two books, and I’d love to get them published. But I need your help. One of the best ways you can help me realize my dream is by sharing my writing with your friends. I appreciate your support, and I hope you find my blog and other writings enjoyable, interesting, and informative. Will you help me spread the word? I would be very much honored to receive your help.

To enter the contest, simply have your friends subscribe to the newsletter, and then fill out this form.

If You Refer 1 Friend:

You will receive an advance copy of my upcoming article “Books to Read Before You Die”—months before it is made available to the public!

If You Refer 2 Friends:

You will receive the prize for referring 1 friend, PLUS a coupon to Bards Alley, an indie bookstore and wine bar in Vienna, Virginia. This is one of my favorite places in the D.C. area. If you haven’t been there, it’s definitely worth checking out. Their selection of books is impeccable, and the atmosphere is peaceful, quaint, and fun. Save money while supporting an independent bookseller!

If You Refer 3 Friends:

You will receive the prize for referring 1 friend and the prize for referring 2 friends, PLUS you will be featured in an upcoming story about the inquisitive one!*

Official Contest Rules

1. The contest starts now—Friday, March 1, 2019, at 8:00am EST (UTC−05:00)—and ends on Friday, March 15, 2019, at 11:59pm EDT (UTC−04:00). Your friend(s) must subscribe to the newsletter during this time period. You must also enter the contest during this time period. Subscriptions and entries outside of this time period will not count toward the contest. The exact time for purposes of this contest is determined by the timestamp on this website.
2. Subscribing to the newsletter is a two-step process. First, your friend(s) must fill in the form on the Subscribe to the Newsletter page. Second, they must confirm their subscription by clicking the link in the email they will receive. Only if your friend(s) complete both steps will your contest entry count.
3. Yes, you can refer yourself! However, this only applies to those not already subscribed. You may not unsubscribe and then resubscribe for a contest entry (c’mon, really?!).
4. Your friend(s) may also not unsubscribe and then resubscribe for your contest entry (people, let’s be serious!!).
5. It’s okay to refer a “friend” who is not strictly your friend—for example, your significant other, family member, neighbor, dental hygienist, seatmate on the train, worst enemy, etc.
6. I, Liza Achilles, will be the sole judge as to which entries are counted and which prizes are awarded. Failure to comply with the rules, as judged by me, will result in disqualification.

How to Enter the Contest

First, tell your friends to visit https://lizaachilles.com/newsletter/, fill in the form, and confirm their subscription by clicking the link in an email they will receive.

Second, enter the contest here.

Good luck, and thanks again for your support!

*Props and thanks to the peerless J.B. for coming up with this idea.

There was some kind of trouble with the horses.

I knew this because part one of the novel is called “Trouble with the Horses.” Indeed, by the time I had finished reading the first two pages, I had learned quite a lot—considering the limited number of words there—about certain troubles involving certain horses. And then, to underscore what I had learned, the narrator of The Sisters Brothers ends his initial, little, two-page section by informing me, “This was the trouble with the horses.”

I had to admit—the situation RE the horses did seem troublesome. And in more ways than one.

But so as not to spoil the read for you, let’s talk more generally about The Sisters Brothers. What a delightful title, for a delightful novel, with a delightful cover!

The title refers to the two main characters: brothers whose last name is Sisters. Ha!

The novel is a literary Western. It’s set in 1851, in Oregon Territory and California, during the gold rush; but this is no ordinary shoot-’em-up. It’s too quirky, too comical, too ironic, and too sweet. Ha!

The cover of my paperback copy shows a daguerreotype, circa 1852, titled Portrait of two young men. The two are wearing the old-fashioned suits and hats of the era and holding weapons and glasses of hard liquor. It’s a stunning image, but its most interesting feature is the blood-stained bullet hole in one of the young men’s vests. The Wild West, indeed. Ha!

Though it’s a stunning and historically authentic cover, the image doesn’t match the descriptions of the characters in the book. But that’s all right with me. What sits less well with me is the sticker.

Upon pulling the book from the bookstore shelf, I noticed a circular sticker on the cover that read “SOON TO BE A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE.” This, from my irredeemably literary perspective, was something of a turn-off. However, I persevered in buying the book, since I had read good things about it and its author, Patrick deWitt.

Upon arriving home, I peeled off the sticker: and, lo and behold, guess what was underneath? A circular icon that read “SHORTLISTED for the MAN BOOKER PRIZE.” Whoa—now we’re talking! That’s my favorite literary award! The book would have been a shoo-in for my cart (that is, my arms), had it been visible. But such is our world, that the preferred advertisement for a book is not its recognition by a highly regarded literary award, but its transformation into a new work, in another art form, that may well turn out to be so different from the original as to hardly merit the same title.

That being said, the reading experience was cinematic. It is a book that is eminently worthy, in my opinion, of both prestigious awards and Hollywood.

Have you had any trouble with horses lately?

I am not sure how to write this blog post. The topic is too big and mind-blowing to easily encapsulate in such a short form. But I’ll try. Plus, I’m afraid my language is going to get too corny and New Agey to be taken seriously. But please try to understand.

In all honesty, this blog itself might not have come into existence, had I not discovered an amazing author and university professor who not only conducts in-depth research into courage, vulnerability, shame, and empathy, but also shares her results with the public through delightful and accessible books.

I would even go so far as to say that, since I was falling into a terrifying rabbit hole during the years when I first encountered her, I might today be dwelling at the bottom of it, had I not had the breakthrough realizations she pointed me toward.

I have read many life-changing books over the years. But at the tiptop of my best-of list, when it comes to life-changing-ness, at least as regards my life personally, are the six incredible books published by Brené Brown between 2007 and 2018.

How to Be a Courageous Leader

Brown’s most recent book, Dare to Lead, came out last year and instantly hit #1 on the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Publishers Weekly bestseller lists.

Dare to Lead applies the results of her research over the past couple decades to the topic of leadership. Brown also conducted new research about leadership and details her findings in the book. While her other books were written for a general audience—with the exception of her first one, I Thought It Was Just Me (but it isn’t), which focuses on women—Dare to Lead approaches the concepts from the vantage point of leaders. In the context of this book, a leader is anyone who takes on a leadership role in any aspect of life. This includes not just executives, managers, military commanders, healing professionals, teachers, and the like, but also people who act (or seek to act!) as leaders amidst their families, friends, and communities.

For the most part, the book offers the same lessons Brown has been preaching for years—fascinating, practical, empirically based stuff—just packaged differently. As it turns out, the qualities needed to be what Brown calls a “wholehearted” person are the same as those needed to be an effective leader. This is another way of saying that wholeheartedness involves leadership, and leadership involves wholeheartedness.

This book is also different from Brown’s other books in that it seems to be intended as a companion piece to in-person trainings. This is just speculation on my part; it just reads that way. I could be wrong. But my understanding is that Brown, in addition to being a university professor, bestselling author, in-demand speaker at events around the world, and wife and mother, is also CEO of a company that conducts trainings for organizations and individuals. These events spread the word to helping professionals and other leaders about her research findings. The book seems designed to be read before or after an event. That being said, it can be understood by anyone, whether you have read all of Brown’s other books and heard her speak, or are encountering her for the first time.

The book does pack an awful lot of information into 300 pages. I do not know how it would feel to read it without having encountered her teachings in the past; would it be too much? Having read all of Brown’s other books, I sometimes thought while reading this one, “I’ve heard this before. Let’s move on!” At other times, I thought, “I’ve heard this before; but this is a great reminder, and I wish she would spend more time here, instead of rushing on to the next topic.”

The bottom line is, Dare to Lead is chock-full of research-based profundity as regards managing the complexities of living and, despite troubles and pitfalls, emerging, in the end, balanced and in control. But if you have not read anything by Brown, you may wish to begin at an earlier juncture in her oeuvre to experience the different topics in a more in-depth way.

In What Order Should I Read Brené Brown’s Books?

You can’t go wrong; any order will work. But if you haven’t read any Brené Brown, or have time to read only one or a few of her books, I recommend moving through them in this order:

1. Daring Greatly (2012)
2. Rising Strong (2015)
3. The Gifts of Imperfection (2010)
4. Braving the Wilderness (2017)
5. Dare to Lead (2018)
6. I Thought It Was Just Me (but it isn’t) (2007)

Daring Greatly and Rising Strong go together as a set. The former shows how to dare to put yourself out there and be seen. Then, when you inevitably fall, the latter shows how to get back up again. If you read nothing else by Brown, read these two. They offer a solid, practical structure for navigating life courageously—like all of your favorite heroes throughout history have.

Read The Gifts of Imperfection next. Or, you may want to read this one first. This little book sets out ten guideposts for wholehearted living. It’s a short read, but every guidepost is potentially life-altering. You can go through each one and compare its research-based conclusions to the patterns that you and the people close to you typically engage in. Are they the same? You’re good. Different? Maybe a change would be advantageous (or maybe even, as in my case, several huge, dramatic changes).

Braving the Wilderness delves into the paradox that in order to truly fit in, you must stand alone. It also examines the increasing political polarity we have seen in the U.S. in the twenty-first century from the wholehearted perspective.

Dare to Lead puts everything together in the context of leadership.

I Thought It Was Just Me (but it isn’t) was Brown’s first book, originally self-published as Women & Shame. Its style is more scholarly than the others’.

What Does Research Say About Courage?

Brown has been researching courage for decades—and the results are in! Her amazing news is that courage is not something you were either born with or permanently lack. No—courage is a skill you can practice and learn. Here’s what Brown says in the introduction to Dare to Lead about her research into courage:

“The most powerful part of this process for us was seeing a list of behaviors emerge that are not ‘hardwired.’ Everything . . . is teachable, observable, and measurable, whether you’re fourteen or forty. For the research participants who were initially convinced that courage is determined by genetic destiny, the interview process alone proved to be a catalyst for change. . . . Time can wear down our memories of tough lessons until what was once a difficult learning fades into ‘This is just who I am as a person.'”

This is wonderful to hear, because it means that we can all practice being braver. We can all move toward becoming more wholehearted. Each of us can be the person we always wanted to be; and we can be leaders, guiding others to be the people they always wanted to be.

What Brené Brown Did for Me

As I mentioned above, Brown’s books have been a catalyst for me, resulting in me making several major positive life changes. This stuff is no joke. I feel that I am a completely different person, in completely different circumstances, in comparison to just a few years ago. Some things I found the courage to do include not just starting this blog, but also organizing and hosting a silent book club, learning to be intentional about setting boundaries, and walking away from people who were not willing to respect my boundaries. And I’ve noticed that people reviewing Brown’s books on Amazon and elsewhere have had similar experiences.

I love how Brown ends her introduction to Dare to Lead:

“Basically, and perhaps ironically, we don’t have the courage for real talk about courage. But it’s time. And if you want to call these ‘soft skills’ after you’ve tried putting them into practice—go for it. I dare you. Until then, find a home for your armor, and I’ll see you in the arena.”

LOL.

What have you found the courage to do lately?