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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

Should We All Go Vegan? Animal Rights & Human Animals

April 14, 2025 by Liza Achilles 6 Comments
This blog post will annoy all of you. I apologize in advance. Annoyance is the usual response I get when I talk about my food choices. Vegans get annoyed when I admit that, while I often order vegan in restaurants, I’m not a vegan. Non-vegans get annoyed when I attempt to order vegan. Depending on the venue, this tends to...
cartoon art of the inquisitive one running through trees
Tales

The Inquisitive One Eats at a Restaurant

March 31, 2025 by Liza Achilles No Comments
The inquisitive one picked up the menu and scanned through it. Unbelievably, there was only one item on the menu that did not include gashbphigi berries. That item was the boiled leeches, which the i.o. wasn’t in the mood for. “Do you know what you’re going to order?” the inquisitive one inquired. “The gashbphigi berry special looks great!” said the...
planner with pencil and phone and glass of water in bright home office
Incidental Musings

2024 Resolutions

January 1, 2024 by Liza Achilles No Comments
I had an epiphany a few weeks ago. It was one of those epiphanies rooted in ugliness and despair. I had made some bad decisions and landed myself in misery for several days. From this came the understanding that I can prevent a similar situation in the future by implementing better rules for myself and boundaries with others. I started...
camera men and woman by window
Book Previews

TV and Disordered Eating

September 18, 2023 by Liza Achilles No Comments
Shockingly, Jennette McCurdy’s mother teaches her an eating disorder when she is a child: anorexia. Later in her life, McCurdy goes through a time of binge eating. And later, a time of bulimia. Her memoir I’m Glad My Mom Died is a sad but courageously true account of these disorders from a first-person perspective. McCurdy writes about a meal she...
cartoon art of the inquisitive one running through trees
Tales

The Inquisitive One Goes on Yet Another Date

April 28, 2023 by Liza Achilles 2 Comments
The inquisitive one arrived at the appointed restaurant at the appointed time. The date had already arrived and was sitting at a quaint wooden table adorned with a little candle. “Hello, nice to meet you!” said the inquisitive one, sitting down at the table. “Greetings,” said the date. “Would you like to order a drink?” said the i.o., picking up...
leeks and carrots and other vegetables at market
Incidental Musings

It Bears Repeating

October 14, 2022 by Liza Achilles No Comments
“The food I eat and the amount I exercise are antidepressants that I prescribe.” —Alex Riley, A Cure for Darkness We have all heard that a healthy diet and enough exercise are good for you. But it bears repeating that they are really, really, really good for you. I keep reading about this, over and over, in various books and...
healthy colorful salad
Incidental Musings

Neurology News

August 26, 2021 by Liza Achilles 6 Comments
After almost two years of suffering, I finally have a diagnosis and a treatment protocol! My neurologist did an extensive review of my medical history. He determined that I have a rare medical condition that doesn’t have a name (other than the catchall term of post-concussion syndrome) and is poorly understood. Here is my attempt at describing his diagnosis of...
blue tilapia fish black background
Book Previews

Simple + Sophisticated = Smart

March 1, 2021 by Liza Achilles 4 Comments
Some books are easy to read but lack depth. Other books are difficult to read but contain great wisdoms. Every once in a while, however, someone writes a book that is simultaneously simple and sophisticated. That’s always something to celebrate! Books like this have something for everyone. They can be read on multiple levels. There’s the simple, fun story; and...
hiding in dark place peeking through hole into light
Book Previews

The Thanksgiving Hermitage

November 25, 2020 by Liza Achilles No Comments
I am digging in and hunkering down. Armed with a new lease on life, as they say, I’m pulling my blanket over my head and staying inside its delicate warmth. Yes, I am able to drive again. One year and two months after the incident, I can get around the local terrain fairly well on four wheels. And I’m not...
elephant with white birds on brown brush with blue sky with white puffy clouds and distant mountains
Book Previews

Dishing Up the Elephant in the Room

November 12, 2020 by Liza Achilles No Comments
Turn on the Food Network, or browse the cooking section of a bookstore, and you’ll find a satisfying glut of famous chefs who pride themselves on specializing in the food of their heritage. Are you interested in the traditional cooking of Italy, Japan, or Lebanon? You can find personalities and recipes to satisfy your interest in the commixture of food...
A man walks on the street in Macau, China wearing a protective mask to prevent infection by the coronavirus.
Book Previews

When Fiction Gets a Little Too Close to Nonfiction . . .

February 12, 2020 by Liza Achilles 2 Comments
The novel Severance, by Ling Ma, is a fast-paced, apocalyptic story. It was the perfect novel for me to read while recovering from my concussion. I read it way back in the early days of my recovery, when my brain was having trouble processing anything difficult or deep. But this novel is suddenly way deeper than I had bargained for....
cartoon art of the inquisitive one running through trees
Tales

The Inquisitive One Eats Corn on the Cob on a Date

August 23, 2019 by Liza Achilles 11 Comments
The first date was a dinner date! When the waitress came, the inquisitive one ordered the Sloppy Spaghetti With Corn on the Cob. The waitress’s face acquired a look of uncertainty. She said, “Are you sure you would like to order the Sloppy Spaghetti With Corn on the Cob?” The inquisitive one proclaimed, “Yes!” Soon, the food arrived. The inquisitive...
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...
Cute bakery in London with a nook for working and fabulous wifi. Also shown: carrot cake and English tea with milk
Incidental Musings

What to Eat in London

May 27, 2019 by Liza Achilles 10 Comments
What should one eat while traveling in London? I’m glad you asked! I have been overwhelmed, actually, by requests from family, friends, blog readers, acquaintances, and strangers who heard that I am traveling in London. “Okay, so you are in Europe,” they say to me. “Okay, so there’s art and culture and fascinating people and bloody weird language permutations and...
A difficult book to read may be a book worth reading - published in Bologna, 1694
Incidental Musings

How to Read a Difficult Book

April 10, 2019 by Liza Achilles No Comments
Humor me for a moment, and mentally discard all those books that are, in your opinion, page-turners. Any reads that you find to be quick, easy, fun, fascinating, lovely, exciting, or otherwise engrossing are irrelevant to this discussion. Next, add to that discard pile all those books that lack redeeming qualities, as far as you can tell. You’ve read a...
Yoda dog blanketed in a forest
Tales

The Inquisitive One Revises the Resolution

January 11, 2019 by Liza Achilles 3 Comments
On New Year’s Day, the inquisitive one sat down with a brand new pad of paper and brand new pen, both received as gifts the previous month. The inquisitive one thought very seriously for a few minutes, biting softly on a thumb. Then suddenly, the inquisitive one removed the thumb from the mouth, picked up the pen, and wrote a...
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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 (5)
  • Book Previews (337)
  • Guest Posts (6)
  • Incidental Musings (157)
  • News & Events (66)
  • Tales (79)

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.

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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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