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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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Book Previews

How to Be Vulnerable When You’re Angry, Sad, or Frustrated

January 13, 2025 by Liza Achilles 4 Comments
You’ve heard the news that vulnerability is good for your mental health, while wearing emotional armor is harmful. That’s all fine and good—but what if you’re having a bad day? What if you’re feeling upset, anxious, depressed, or under pressure? What if you’re having a bad year? It’s easy to be generous, open, and honest when you’re feeling upbeat and...
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...
old books and old light
Incidental Musings

Most Memorable Books of 2023

December 27, 2023 by Liza Achilles No Comments
2023 was a standout reading year for me. I almost made it to my annual goal of reading 50 books per year. For me, anything in the 40s counts as great. This year, I’m on track to make it to 48. So many of the books I read this year were fabulous. Instead of making a “best of” list that...
reading by an afghan
Incidental Musings

A Nonfiction Kick

September 13, 2023 by Liza Achilles No Comments
Dear Blog Readers, Clearly, I’m on a nonfiction kick. Eight out of the last nine previewed books have been nonfictional (and most of these have been memoirs). My original concept for this blog was to keep it 50-50 fiction and nonfiction. But there are no rules here, folks. Or rather, there are no unbreakable rules. To any fiction lovers out...
bouquet of flowers with variety
Incidental Musings

The Variety Pack

April 3, 2023 by Liza Achilles No Comments
Like a bouquet of flowers that are all different and make a stunning arrangement, variety in book reading creates a pleasing and grounded balance. Some people adhere to only one genre and derive much pleasure from their all-alike bouquet of roses. But this strategy risks a loss of worldliness and understanding that a variety pack might bring. I personally try...
woman in black hijab scarf by chain link to tennis court
Book Previews

How to Live in America

March 18, 2021 by Liza Achilles 2 Comments
The task of living in America, after 9/11, as a Muslim-American, sounds daunting. News reports in the “aughts” were particularly bleak on the subject. Then there was the moment in 2017 when President Trump instituted a travel ban affecting several Middle Eastern countries. I haven’t heard much about Muslim-Americans in the news recently, as the #metoo and #blacklivesmatter movements have...
castle in Spain
Book Previews

What’s the Wisdom of Don Quixote?

February 17, 2021 by Liza Achilles No Comments
Don Quixote is one of the greatest masterpieces of Western literature. But what does that mean, exactly? What’s great about this book? What wisdom does it have to offer? That’s what I’d like to briefly answer in this blog post. For a fuller answer?—you’ll have to read the book yourself. Don Quixote satirizes melodramatic books (and people who take such...
three black women in white walking out of the ocean
Book Previews

All of the Real People

January 22, 2021 by Liza Achilles 2 Comments
Bernardine Evaristo is one of the smartest writers out there today. Here I am, writing the third of three previews of her Booker-prize-winning novel, Girl, Woman, Other, and I’m noticing that the first two previews were more about larger themes than the book itself. That’s because this book has a multitude of big themes! This is a book that prompts...
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...
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Book Previews

Men and Women, Good and Bad, and Pleasure

April 3, 2020 by Liza Achilles No Comments
I would like to nominate the following sentence for the award of Best First Sentence of a Work of Fiction That I’ve Read in the Last Year. Brace yourself. This is a great first sentence: “Joey felt that his romance with Daisy might ruin his life, but that didn’t stop him.” Wow—it feels so good to write about something other...
all white and empty art museum room
Book Previews

Performance Art: the Beauty, the Pain, the Reality

January 17, 2020 by Liza Achilles No Comments
Performance Art, Life as Performance I want to tell you about one of the most unique and powerful books I have ever read. Paradoxically, its uniqueness and power arise not from something exotic, but from what’s literally everywhere, all around us. A lot of books lift you out of your ordinary, blah life and drop you into a fantastical or...
coal mine, a view from underground
Book Previews

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...
Yoda dog blanketed in a forest
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...
Yoda dog blanketed in a forest
Tales

The Inquisitive One Calls Me

February 4, 2019 by Liza Achilles 6 Comments
My phone rang, and “The Inquisitive One” appeared on the screen. “Hey you!” I said, upon answering. “Hey Liza!” said the inquisitive one. “I’m calling because I’m concerned about something, and I want to discuss it with you. Do you know?—people keep saying you and I are the same person!” “Oh, well, it happens,” I said. “Honestly, I’m flattered when...
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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) 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 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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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