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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

Little Solaces

November 17, 2021 by Liza Achilles 2 Comments
Life is hard. It can be disappointing, stressful, constrictive. But most of us find solace in some little habit or activity, to sustain us through the dark times, and lift us up during the good times. I don’t condone smoking; as we all know, it is terrible for one’s health. But the protagonist of the novel A Passage North, by...
chia parfait with kiwi and blueberries
Incidental Musings

My Miracle Cure: Gluten Free

October 11, 2021 by Liza Achilles 4 Comments
For years, I have been hearing stories about people who have gained health benefits—even miraculous, lifesaving ones—from going gluten free. I am now one of those people. As I explained in a previous post, my neurologist told me that I have a rare medical condition causing post-concussion syndrome, including the occurrence of severe setbacks that were making it impossible for...
woman with hands on face
Incidental Musings

Concussion Update: Looking for Ideas

July 21, 2021 by Liza Achilles 7 Comments
Things are frustrating on the concussion front. It’s been almost two years since the original injury, but my progress has been like the stock market . . . when it’s plunging. I have made gains in my ability to understand myself and what my triggers are. That’s helpful at least. But it’s complicated stuff, monitoring everything I do, trying to...
The Triumph of Death by Pieter Bruegel the Elder
Book Previews

I Read This Book So You Don’t Have To

September 16, 2020 by Liza Achilles 4 Comments
As a rule, I do not feature books on this blog unless I enthusiastically recommend them. I have read (in their entirety) all the books I feature on this blog, but the opposite is not true; I do not feature on this blog all the books I finish reading. (To learn which books I read but didn’t feature, and why...
head in arms in front of window
News & Events

Concussion and Arms Update

September 14, 2020 by Liza Achilles 4 Comments
It wasn’t until 7 p.m. last Friday that I remembered it was the one-year anniversary of my concussion. This is creepy, because my concussion occurred at 7 p.m. I was very much aware, all last Friday, that it was the anniversary of the infamous terrorist attack on the U.S. By now, 19 years later, we are all used to seeing...
flood street tsunami aftermath
Book Previews

Those Who Stay and Those Who Leave

September 2, 2020 by Liza Achilles 6 Comments
Do you live in the general locale where you grew up? Do you live far from your childhood home? Do you find yourself constantly changing residences? Have you traveled the world? Do you prefer to stay home? The novel Creatures, by Crissy Van Meter, is about those who stay and those who leave. It’s about those who love home, despite...
claws of a bird
News & Events

Hello, Again!!!!

August 17, 2020 by Liza Achilles 15 Comments
I don’t know what to say, . . . other than that didn’t go well. It’s been over two months since I last posted on this blog. Since then, I have been caught up in my by-now too-familiar anti-trifecta of concussion symptoms, arm issues, and mental health crises. I don’t want this blog to be primarily about my health woes....
American flag
Incidental Musings

Happy Memorial Day! Woe Is Us

May 25, 2020 by Liza Achilles 2 Comments
Happy Memorial Day! Hope you are having a wonderful day, despite the challenges of gathering together with other people during this time. Hope you are making it work somehow, celebrating somehow, honoring our military and our country, somehow. If you live in the U.S., that is. I had planned to share with you my big and exciting news today, but...
sapling tree
Incidental Musings

Losing a Fight With a Tree

May 18, 2020 by Liza Achilles 4 Comments
I can’t catch a break. What is going on? Every few days or so, I get myself tangled up in another incident. I used to think one of my brothers was accident prone. Now I know: I must’ve inherited the same family trait. Two days ago, I was trimming bushes in my yard. I was being VERY careful as regards...
cartoon art of the inquisitive one running through trees
Tales

The Inquisitive One Studies Celery, Worms, and Mushrooms

May 4, 2020 by Liza Achilles 2 Comments
A celery plant was growing out of the inquisitive one’s left ear. A worm was living in, and shouting out orders from, the inquisitive one’s bellybutton. Mushrooms were flourishing on the meat underneath the inquisitive one’s toenails and fingernails. Every time the inquisitive one tried to cut off the celery, worm, or mushrooms—which was actually extremely painful—the celery, worm, and...
cartoon art of the inquisitive one running through trees
Tales

The Inquisitive One Finds a Baseball Bat

April 20, 2020 by Liza Achilles No Comments
The inquisitive one was in the back shed, searching for compost soil. It was mid-April: time to plant some seeds! The inquisitive one noticed lots of things in the back shed—a marshmallow roasting kit in a rusted can, a bag of peat moss that was ripped open and spilling out, a large and gaudy lawn ornament that required assembly, and...
three nonhuman primates (apes or monkeys or...)
Book Previews

Want to Be Happy? Rewire Your Mammalian Neurochemistry

April 13, 2020 by Liza Achilles 2 Comments
Help! I’ve been cut off from nearly all of my habitual social gatherings! I feel bad and sad! It’s the feeling of loneliness! I’m craving a hug from someone I know and trust! Where’s my hug?! I’m craving an in-person gathering of my best girlfriends, or an in-person gathering of my book club, or, I mean, anyone up for a...
Brene Ottessa Kamala
Incidental Musings

Daily Quarantine Questions

April 6, 2020 by Liza Achilles 8 Comments
Hi, friends. How are you holding up? Someone dear to me sent me the following image and gave me permission to share it. (I’d love to give attribution if I could learn where it originated. So if you created this, send me a message, and I’ll give proper attribution.) So here are some great daily quarantine questions for all of...
cartoon art of the inquisitive one running through trees
Tales

The Inquisitive One Calls the Doctor

April 1, 2020 by Liza Achilles 6 Comments
The inquisitive one, having called the doctor in a panic, finally got the doctor on the line. “How can I help you?” said the doctor. “I have COVID-19!” shouted the inquisitive one. “Okay. What are your symptoms?” “I’ve been coughing!” “Okay. Anything else?” “I have a stomachache!” “Anything else?” “A plant is growing out of my left ear!” “A plant...
hands of many people on a tree
Incidental Musings

The Placebo Effect. Reiki. The Human Touch. And Quarantine.

March 30, 2020 by Liza Achilles 4 Comments
What works in healing anxiety? Mine and others’? This is the topic I promised to write about in my recent blog post Managing My Anxiety During a Time of Mass Anxiety. What Cures Anxiety for Me Is Generating the Feeling That Someone Cares About Me Feeling that someone gives a sh*t about me is really important to my health and...
hand rising from dark ocean under cloudy sky
Incidental Musings

Managing My Anxiety During a Time of Mass Anxiety

March 23, 2020 by Liza Achilles 21 Comments
I’ve been battling my old anxiety demons continuously since my concussion setback. That was seven weeks ago. The concussion symptoms themselves were sorta kinda back to okay within two weeks, though some of the symptoms persisted a few weeks longer. But the anxiety and panic ballooned and ballooned until they once again started afflicting me with physical symptoms that prevented...
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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 (7)
  • Book Previews (349)
  • Guest Posts (8)
  • Incidental Musings (158)
  • News & Events (70)
  • Tales (82)

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.

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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Best. Modern. Books.

Intellectually great nonfiction. Artistically great fiction and poetry. Get the inside scoop on the best 21st-century books!
 
Your free gift: 20 Best Books in the Last 10 Years