Liza Achilles - Literary/Autobiographical Author. The Blog for the Discerning Reader.
  • Home
  • Bio
  • Publications
  • Events
  • Services
  • Press
  • Contact
  • Subscribe
Home
Bio
Publications
Events
Services
Press
Contact
Subscribe
Liza Achilles - Literary/Autobiographical Author. The Blog for the Discerning Reader.

Literary / Autobiographical Author

❤ Books to make you laugh, hope & ponder ❤


Let's be social! Instagram | Facebook | Bluesky | LinkedIn
  • Home
  • Bio
  • Publications
  • Events
  • Services
  • Press
  • Contact
  • Subscribe
four chickens
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...
woman in colorful dress hugging herself
Incidental Musings

Just Be Yourself

May 26, 2023 by Liza Achilles 2 Comments
Have you ever been told to “Just be yourself” when you are nervous about an upcoming social situation? I have—I clearly remember this occurring when I was in high school. And I recently heard this advice given on the TV show Ted Lasso. But what does it mean to be yourself? According to Buddhists, there is no self. I believe...
spinning around in a circle
Incidental Musings

Are We Going in a Circle?

May 19, 2023 by Liza Achilles 2 Comments
I find myself reading a hardcore philosophy book once again. I am drawn to these books. I do not mind working hard to understand a book, but working hard to achieve but little understanding seems futile. And yet, every once in a while, I run across a gem of a quote that I do understand, that I do connect with—and...
stationary bikes
Book Previews

How to Be Perfect by Michael Schur

March 8, 2023 by Liza Achilles 2 Comments
Have you ever tried reading a book of philosophy, written by an actual philosopher? I have, and it’s demoralizing. Here I was, thinking I was a good reader, excellent in fact, but then why can’t I make a single bit of sense out of this text? I am a person who needs a dumbed-down version to understand philosophy. But the...
boulder on hill
Book Previews

What’s the Point, If You Can’t Do What You Love?

March 6, 2023 by Liza Achilles 4 Comments
As I continue to do battle with my concussion, I occasionally sink into despair. What is the point of living, if you can’t do things you love? I found comfort in a 2022 popular philosophy book, How to Be Perfect, by Michael Schur, who created the TV show The Good Place (and worked on many other shows including The Office...
white rooster and hen
Incidental Musings

Hierarchy

August 26, 2022 by Liza Achilles 4 Comments
“No one is immune from acting differently with someone positioned higher than himself than with someone situated lower. The whole world depends on this dynamic, and this hierarchy is deeply ingrained in men.” —Olga Tokarczuk, The Books of Jacob When I was younger, I had a philosophy that I should treat everyone equally and assume that everyone was basically the...
river with pine trees and rocks
Book Previews

Ancient and Modern Flux of a River

September 8, 2021 by Liza Achilles 4 Comments
One thing that stood out to me while reading The History of Philosophy, by A. C. Grayling, is the modern feel of so much ancient thought. The metaphor Grayling uses to define the field of philosophy alludes to both ancient thought (Plato’s allegory of the cave) and modern thought (alternate universes). Similarly, other aspects of ancient thought can be readily...
bubbles
Book Previews

What Is Philosophy?

September 6, 2021 by Liza Achilles No Comments
When I was an undergraduate, I did not know what philosophy was. My ignorant assumption was that the role of a philosopher is to prove the existence of the Judeo-Christian God through specious reasoning. I steered clear of those courses; but now I wish I hadn’t. Because that’s not what philosophy is at all. Having missed a college education in...
chicken with open beak
Incidental Musings

To Beg the Question: Meaning, Please?

April 9, 2021 by Liza Achilles No Comments
The great David Foster Wallace went on a mini-rant about this topic somewhere. And he’s right. In common parlance, people regularly fail to use the term “beg the question” correctly. The meaning of “beg the question” is not generally known. I myself did not know it, until I was informed of it by the great DFW. But now I know....
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...
city with skyscrapers, river, and sun
Book Previews

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...
Elderly man with his hands together, praying or in meditation
Book Previews

Revelations, Dreams, and Decisions

June 24, 2019 by Liza Achilles No Comments
At the heart of the book Under the Banner of Heaven, by Jon Krakauer, is a philosophical problem. Coincidentally, it’s the same philosophical problem I encountered earlier this year, when deciding whether to travel to London and Paris. Revelations In 1984, as Krakauer explains, brothers Ron and Dan Lafferty worked together to murder another brother’s wife and daughter. They took...
Billboard with mountains in the background that says Welcome to UTAH - LIFE ELEVATED
Book Previews

Life Elevated: A Philosophical Journey to the Utah Mountains

June 14, 2019 by Liza Achilles 2 Comments
Welcome to Utah I just learned that the state slogan of Utah is Life Elevated. How ingenious is that?! I am a big fan of double meanings, and this one takes the cake. The whole five-layered, elaborately sculpted, thickly frosted, sugary-as-hell cake. What a great motto! Utah is famous, of course, for its elevation: both physical and metaphysical. The state’s...
Danish cafe in London - view from inside looking out
Incidental Musings

Dreams. . . . An Update!

May 17, 2019 by Liza Achilles 10 Comments
Hello, fellow residents of our beautiful planet! I am writing this blog post from a cute Danish cafe in London. Here is a photo I took from my seat in the cafe. If you know me at least a bit, and if you look closely at the photo, you may be able to guess my favorite part of it. However,...
waiting - a man looking at his watch
Book Previews

In the Meantime

May 10, 2019 by Liza Achilles 4 Comments
During the past few weeks, I attempted, with minimal success, to read two books in French. One was Olivier Bourdeaut’s playful novel Waiting for Bojangles, a recent international bestseller. The other was Samuel Beckett’s haunting play Endgame, which premiered in 1957 and is a literary classic. And so I was surprised, and a little weirded out, to learn that my...
Load more posts
Page 1 of 212»

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 (80)

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.

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

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

Search

Archives

Best modern books

books wrapped with peach colored flowers with heart and sweater - square Get the inside scoop on the best 21st-century books. Your free gift:

20 Best Books in the Last 10 Years

Frequent tags

anxiety art blogs books bookstores brains children comedy communication concussions dating doctors emotions family fear food friends friendship health history humor Internet love memoir mental health music novels philosophy phones poetry politics psychology publishing reading running science self society the inquisitive one truth wisdom women work writers writing

From the book tour

busboys and poets 071424

Recent comments

  • Liza Achilles on What Is Sexual Trauma Healing & How to Heal Sexual Trauma Now
  • Jehane Spicer on What Is Sexual Trauma Healing & How to Heal Sexual Trauma Now
  • Liza Achilles on We’re in the Information Age. Where’s the Information?
  • Bryan Kornele on We’re in the Information Age. Where’s the Information?
  • Liza Achilles on What Is the Fourth Wave of Feminism? Why Is Feminism Important?
  • Luther Jett on What Is the Fourth Wave of Feminism? Why Is Feminism Important?
  • Liza Achilles on The Inquisitive One Enrolls at Harvard
  • Eleanor Elson Heginbotham on The Inquisitive One Enrolls at Harvard

About this site

eco friendly website

This website is eco-friendly. Click the seal to learn more. Do you want a website for your books, art, music, or small business? GreenGeeks offers fast, secure, eco-friendly web hosting.

Author links

     🛒  Buy my debut book Two Novembers at Politics & Prose, The Ivy Bookshop, Bookshop, Beltway Editions, Amazon, or Barnes & Noble.
     🚚  Review Two Novembers on Amazon. This helps more than you know. Thank you.
     📣  Join my street team to help promote my next book, a literary/autobiographical novel.

Blog links

     📩  Subscribe to The Blog for the Discerning Reader to receive it in your inbox on Mondays.
     🎁  Join Patreon to support the blog and get bonus articles, sneak peeks, and postcards.
     ✏️  I'm always looking for writers who wish to write a guest blog post. Here are my guidelines.
     👋  Did you know you can say hi to the i.o.?

Can I help you?

I offer the following freelance services:
     📝  Book editing & writing coaching
     🎤️  Speaking & teaching
     💻  WordPress design
Reasonable rates from a skilled and friendly pro. Visit my Services page to learn more. Or simply contact me and let me know how I can help you.
© 2025 Liza Achilles | Privacy Policy | Disclaimers | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube | Bluesky | LinkedIn | Thanks for visiting my website today!

books wrapped with peach colored flowers with heart and sweater - square

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